KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Supreme Court will conduct another hearing March 30 in Keith Carnes’ quest to be released from prison.
Carnes was charged with murder and armed criminal action in the 2003 shooting death of Larry White.
Senior Judge Gene R. Martin found Carnes guilty in a November 2005 bench retrial, which included testimony from two women — Wendy Lockett and Lorianne Morrow — who have since recanted their testimony.
The Missouri Supreme Court will consider Carnes’ claim of innocence, especially in light of a court-ordered special master’s findings, and whether he’s entitled to release based on withheld evidence at trial and other procedural issues.
A 111-page special master’s report found, among other things, that Morrow’s recantation and new testimony that Carnes is innocent was credible.
The report also substantiated other eyewitness accounts that place Carnes on a nearby porch during the deadly shooting.
It also found Lockett’s testimony was inconsistent with physical evidence at the murder scene and determined that the state withheld a confidential informant’s statement from Carnes until after he’d filed an amended motion for postconviction relief.
The Supreme Court denied a motion to release Carnes immediately in late January after Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt opposed his release, which drew sharp criticism from Carnes’ attorneys in the wake of similar tactics opposing Kevin Strickland’s release.
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Carnes was originally convicted of White’s murder in April 2005, but the court later overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial.
He has maintained his innocence while jailed and throughout a years-long appeals process.
Strickland eventually was freed despite Schmitt's obstruction.
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