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    Janet Thompson Affidavit

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    Jessica Schulberg
    1) The affiant, Janet Thompson, is an attorney in Missouri who was formerly employed as an appellate attorney specializing in capital cases. 2) She received a call from Brian Dorsey's trial attorney Chris Slusher who said he was considering pleading Dorsey guilty to two counts of murder without a waiver of the death penalty. Thompson advised against this plan. 3) Thompson later learned that Slusher had sprung the plea idea on Dorsey with little time to consider, and Dorsey relied on Slusher's judgment. Thompson expressed concerns about the representation to her supervisor.

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    Janet Thompson Affidavit

    Uploaded by

    Jessica Schulberg
    276 views2 pages
    1) The affiant, Janet Thompson, is an attorney in Missouri who was formerly employed as an appellate attorney specializing in capital cases. 2) She received a call from Brian Dorsey's trial attorney Chris Slusher who said he was considering pleading Dorsey guilty to two counts of murder without a waiver of the death penalty. Thompson advised against this plan. 3) Thompson later learned that Slusher had sprung the plea idea on Dorsey with little time to consider, and Dorsey relied on Slusher's judgment. Thompson expressed concerns about the representation to her supervisor.

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    Janet Thompson Affidavit

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    1) The affiant, Janet Thompson, is an attorney in Missouri who was formerly employed as an appellate attorney specializing in capital cases. 2) She received a call from Brian Dorsey's trial attorney Chris Slusher who said he was considering pleading Dorsey guilty to two counts of murder without a waiver of the death penalty. Thompson advised against this plan. 3) Thompson later learned that Slusher had sprung the plea idea on Dorsey with little time to consider, and Dorsey relied on Slusher's judgment. Thompson expressed concerns about the representation to her supervisor.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    276 views2 pages

    Janet Thompson Affidavit

    Uploaded by

    Jessica Schulberg
    1) The affiant, Janet Thompson, is an attorney in Missouri who was formerly employed as an appellate attorney specializing in capital cases. 2) She received a call from Brian Dorsey's trial attorney Chris Slusher who said he was considering pleading Dorsey guilty to two counts of murder without a waiver of the death penalty. Thompson advised against this plan. 3) Thompson later learned that Slusher had sprung the plea idea on Dorsey with little time to consider, and Dorsey relied on Slusher's judgment. Thompson expressed concerns about the representation to her supervisor.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    AFFIDAVIT

    STATE OF MISSOURI )
    ) ss:
    COUNTY OF BOONE )

    I, Janet M Thompson, being duly sworn, do hereby state upon penalty of perjury that:

    1. I am an attorney in good standing, licensed to practice law in the State of Missouri

    since 1984. My Missouri Bar No. is 32260.

    2. I am currently the District II Commissioner for Boone County, Missouri. My office

    address is Boone County Government Center, 801 East Walnut, Room 333, in Columbia,

    Missouri. I was elected to that position in November 2012 and sworn into office on January 1,

    2013.

    3. Prior to my election to Commissioner, I was employed as an appellate attorney with

    the Office of the State Public Defender, Woodrail Centre, 1000 West Nifong, Building 7, Suite

    100, in Columbia, Missouri. In that capacity, I specialized in direct appeals in capital cases, and

    had been doing so full-time since 1989.

    4. I represented Brian J. Dorsey on his direct appeal from his convictions and death

    sentence in Boone County Case No. 07BA-CR01875.

    5. In the early fall of 2007, prior to my direct involvement in Brian's case, I received a

    telephone call from Chris Slusher, who was Brian's trial attorney. Mr. Slusher told me that he

    was considering pleading Brian guilty to two counts of first degree murder without any

    negotiated agreement with the State to waive the death penalty, and he wanted to know my

    opinion. I do not recall that Mr. Slusher articulated any strategy or rationale for this proposed

    course of action.· I recollect that Mr. Slusher only told me that "they" - Mr. Slusher and Scott

    McBride - were representing Brian, and that this was what they were thinking about doing. I told

    05456
    Mr. Slusher that I thought it was a very bad idea to plead guilty without a waiver of the death

    penalty, and that he should read the Worthington case as an example of why it was a bad idea.

    6. I met Brian Dorsey for the first time on December 18, 2008, after being assigned as his

    direct appeal attorney following the imposition of a death sentence. I became very concerned

    after learning from Brian that Mr. Slusher had sprung the plea idea on him as they were going

    into the courthouse for the hearing at which Brian subsequently entered a guilty plea, and that

    Brian had little time to consider things but instead relied on Mr. SI usher's judgment as to the best

    course of action. I was also concerned that, according to Brian, Mr. Slusher had told him that Mr.

    Slusher had consulted with other attorneys who concurred that pleading Brian open was a valid

    course of action.

    7. On December 19, 2008, I reported these concerns, as well as my earlier telephone

    conversation with Mr. Slusher, in an email to my supervisor, Greg Mermelstein, who was the

    Director of the Appellate/Post-Conviction Division of the Office of the State Public Defender. I

    also expressed these concerns to several office colleagues, including transfer attorney Barbara

    Hoppe, and told them there was no reason to waive guilt with no guarantee of waiving the death

    penalty. I further opined that the System should not hire Mr. Slusher nor Mr. McBride for death

    penalty cases again.

    FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NOT.

    ~~
    SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEF

    DEBORAH A. SPRAGUE
    Notary Public - Notary Seal
    State of Missouri
    County of Boone
    My Ccmmission Expires August 10, 2016
    Ccmmlssion #12379046
    05457

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