Mo. death row inmate to get hearing

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ST. LOUIS, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- A special hearing is set to be held this week to consider whether a Missouri man convicted in the 1991 rape and murder of two sisters should go free.

About 150 people gathered Saturday to show their support for Reginald Clemons, one of four defendants in the case of Julie and Robin Kerry, who were forced to jump to their deaths from a bridge over the Mississippi River after being sexually assaulted.

A special master is to conduct an evidentiary hearing Monday ordered by the state Supreme Court that could determine if the now-41-year-old Clemons should remain on death row at the state correctional center in Petosi, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

One of Clemons' co-defendants has been executed, a second is serving life in prison and the third is on parole after testifying against the others.

Clemons' supporters, including Amnesty International, contend he was wrongly convicted.

"For 21 years we have fought at a terrible disadvantage, not having the funds to fight this kind of injustice," Pastor Reynolds Thomas, Clemons' stepfather, told those at the rally Saturday.