Court Opinion

ID: 9488079
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 12:35:31.383839+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:52:40.713740
License: Public Domain

BRIGHT, Senior Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I concur in the result. I agree with the majority that the record before us does not justify habeas relief.
I write separately because this case for me is a most disturbing one. A nineteen-year-old family member kills his mother, father and two brothers. The prosecution’s evidence, which suggests that Jeffrey Sloan committed the murders because his father discovered that he (Jeffrey) was writing checks on the father’s account, does not offer a plausible reason for these quadruple murders. Either Jeffrey is the embodiment of absolute evil, but his past record does not so indicate, or some deep-seated psychological or mental aberration was at work.
I have the distinct feeling that the full story has yet to be told; it may in fact never be told. While Jeffrey Sloan does not make a case for judicial intervention in his death sentence, I believe that the questions which seem to remain may well make out a case for a possible executive action.
Mental health professionals, other than those who testified or produced reports for the trial, should examine Jeffrey for the purpose of attempting to explain the underlying mental or psychological reasons for these killings. Upon receiving additional reports, if any should be made, the Governor of Missouri might consider such additional material on the matter of executive clemency.