KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters Baker, whose office tried and convicted former KCPD Det. Eric DeValkenaere, published a letter to Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Tuesday asking him not to grant clemency.
Johnny Waller, program manager at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law's Clear My Record project, was not entirely shocked to hear the governor could be considering this action.
"He's a white police officer in Kansas City who killed a Black man. Those dynamics in Missouri, especially in Missouri ... a racist state," Waller said. "For political reasons, people feel as if they should pardon [DeValkenaere,] but if he was a Black man on the east side of Kansas City, this would not be occurring."
In Peters Baker's letter, she voiced concerns that such "extreme action [to pardon] the only KCPD officer convicted of fatally shooting a Black man will ignite distrust, protests, and public safety concerns for citizens and police."
KSHB 41 asked Waller if he feels Parson pardoning DeValkenaere would fuel an "us against them" mentality.
"Oh absolutely," Waller said. "When you see people of color incarcerated on a massive scale and immediately surrendering themselves to the Department of Corrections, they aren't able to get out and be active while the governor works on a plan to pardon them. That's not how that works."
DeValkenaere was sentenced to six years in prison, but he hasn't served any time since his sentencing last year — the judge ruled he can be out on bond during the appeal process.
"I did my five years and they wanted me to be crime-free for 10 years, so that's 15 years before they considered me, and this officer hasn't even served his sentence. That's not fair," Waller said.
Waller can speak to the process as he's been pardoned. Now, he's using his knowledge to help others receive the same forgiveness.
"There are some people right now who want to apply for a pardon, so I'll probably have to talk to them and explain why this is not going to happen to them," Waller said, explaining executive clemency, specifically in this instance, can be damaging.
Clemency differs from expungement. Some offenses can't be expunged, but the governor can pardon anyone.
However, people typically exhaust all legal remedies before then.
"As you watch people of color struggle in specific situations, as you watch people like Ricky Kidd and other people who have been on death row ... when the evidence isn't as compelling as it should be, the governor hasn't taken interest when he could've stepped in," he said.
If Waller could say one thing to Parson before he possibly makes a decision on DeValkenaere, he says he'd remind Parson of the violent year Kansas City has experienced thus far.
"Kansas City has experienced a lot of pain, why add to that?" Waller said.
