Christopher Simmons was a disturbed and abused child who committed a horrible crime at age seventeen. He murdered a woman. His case has major significance to the juvenile justice system. He eliminated the possibility of a juvenile to be sentenced to death. He was sentenced to death row and after multiple appeals and a writ of habeas corpus; his charge was reduced alive in prison without possibility of parole. However, based on the mitigating circumstances of his prior history, the violation of his rights and the ineffective assistance of counsel, his sentence of life in prison will not seem justifiable.
Christopher Simmons had an idea. His plan was to commit a burglary, primarily. After he and his friends committed the burglary, he'd tie the person up and throw them off a bridge. He was sure he would not get caught due to his age; however things did not turn out as planned. Chris intended on burglarizing a "voo-doo man" because he was considered to have a lot of money. However their victim turned out to be Shirley Crook.
It was September 8, 1993 at two in the morning. Chris Simmons, Brian Moomey, and his friend Benjamin went to Shirley's house. They entered through the back door that was easily opened due to a window being open. As Christopher went at home he went to the bedroom of Shirley Crook. She awoke from bed and Chris recognized her quickly on the account that had gotten into a vehicle accident with prior. Next, Chris visited get duct tape while Benjamin watched over her. Chris then taped Crook's eyes and mouth. She had been tied with electric cable, leather straps and duct tape. The boys put her into a mini-van and drive her to a railroad trestle in Castlewood Park positioned in St. Louis County. "There, Simmons bound her hands and feet together, hog-tie fashion, with the electrical cable and covered Mrs. Crook's face completely with duct tape. Simmons then pushed her off the railroad trestle in to the river below. " Her body was found the very next day and Christopher Simmons was arrested. Her reason behind death was regarded as drowning. Christopher Simmons was picked up by the cops and questioned, but not properly in line with the U. S. Constitution. His rights were violated. He was interrogated without advice of counsel or a guardian. Chris confessed, but not all too willingly. Though, he did cooperate, he was forced to confess. He felt as if he had no choice. He was told he must confess if not he'd be facing life in prison or the death penalty otherwise. Little did he know that by confessing he would have to handle both those sentences.
The District Attorney offered Chris a pea bargain to life in prison. Chris declined and the case visited trial. There that they had shown a video tape reenactment, of the night Crook was murdered, that Chris performed at the crime scene. A witness testimony that came from his friend stating that it was planned and thus proving there is premeditation making any crime an initial degree. Simmons moved for the trial court to create aside conviction and sentencing for he had ineffective assistance of counsel however the court denied him. The trial continued and in the end the jury came back with your choice that Simmons was guilty of the charges. "The evidence presented was so minimal that at least one member of the jury, that James V. Biundo, a professor at Southeast Missouri State University, was left wondering how it was possible that Simmons, a loving brother and good neighbor, could have participated in such a crime. " The jury recommended that Chris Simmons be sentenced to death row. Chris appealed and filed for a writ of habeas corpus. His defense lawyer never brought up his life at home, only that he was a "loving person"
Chris was a product of abuse and an extremely broken family. His mom and dad divorced and re-married. His living situation was along with his mother, Cheryl Hayes, and stepfather, Bob Hayes. He did however keep in connection with his father. His parents divorced when he was just a young kid. When his mother got re-married, she married a guy that could abuse Chris to the point of insanity. Bob Hayes had two children of his own, both which were not treated anywhere as badly as Chris had suffered. He was viewed like a slave. During the evaluation by way of a psychologist during his sentence, Bob Hayes admitted to tying Chris up to tree while he went fishing, intentionally, so he didn't have to watch him or worry of him wandering. There is also witness to Chris getting hit in the ear, by his stepfather, so hard it drew blood and damaged his ear drum. Exactly the same witness, Christie Brooks, also confessed that she saw Chris sob due to the torturous treatment of his stepfather (IJP). Chris was disciplined with "whooping's" and Bob later started to torture Chris about his acne. He would regularly hold him down squeezing all of his pimples until they bled. For his mother, she felt like a helpless victim as well. She was too afraid to intervene with Bob and Chris and stop the abuse (American Bar Association).
Chris also faced drug and alcohol problems. According to a psychologist, given his environment where Simmons grew up and his family's prior generational history of psychiatric illnesses and substance abuse, which is reported by his family, Christopher Simmons was predisposed to developing a psychiatric illness. When Chris was a teenager he drank and smoked weed every day. He also did LSD and shrooms. He turned to alcohol and drugs not only because of bad genes but also because of the lack of support from his family and his dependence on escape. It had been ways to reduce his anxiety. The psychological effects on Christopher of growing up in this alcoholic and abusive environment provide mitigating factors which a jury should have had available when asked to consider why a seventeen year old, without prior history of violence no criminal history, would commit a murder such as this. All the proof substance abuse and physical and mental abuse was never presented by the defense attorney. If it was, Chris might not exactly have had to handle such a harsh sentence.
Simmons regularly appealed his case and then have death penalty upheld. Chris made a decision to file for a new petition for post conviction relief. The Missouri Supreme Court said "a national consensus is rolling out up against the execution of juvenile offenders" and therefore was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The state of Missouri appealed your choice to the Supreme Court. Once the case was heard in the Supreme Court in 2004, they held that the death penalty to anyone under age eighteen would be considered cruel and unusual punishment and therefore violates the Eighth Amendment.
Chris has changed since he has been in prison. He is regarded as "model prisoner" and he has become part of the religious group in prison. He has also taken part in prevention programs for teens in order to keep them from crimes. In Chris's own words he says: "I am definitely sorry for every one of the suffering I've caused people especially the victims, I simply wish there is a way to make things right. I wish I could let people know how genuinely I've had to deal with it for the eight years I've been in prison and had to look into the mirror everyday. . . I wish to continue to help troubled teens, as I was previously, and I presently obtain the possibility to in a Youth Enlightenment Program that we have here at this prison. I came to death row a smudged, drug addicted, 17-year-old runaway that was raised here in the worst of prison realities. I've were required to wake up every day facing the pain and suffering I've caused others. "
In conclusion, the situation of Christopher Simmons has many different turns. It appears to be an unfair story you start with his arrest. His due process rights were violated therefore he incriminated himself. That led to a court case that wasn't handled properly by the defense. A defense legal professional resulted in Chris's sentence on death row. Thankfully, his sentence was overturned and he was sentenced alive in prison due to Supreme Court Case, Roper v. Simmons, where in fact the sentence of a juvenile to death was considered unconstitutional. However Christopher Simmons case should of been appealed, re-tried with a much better lawyer and gotten a more lenient sentence to start with. Because of his abuse and background, he might well have gotten help from psychologists and hopefully released from prison to be a functional member of society rather than a functional member of prison.
