Reggie Griffin Fund

Reginald "Reggie" Griffin grew up on the streets of St. Louis. At a young age, he got into a fight with a rival and ended up in prison on an assault charge. One day while incarcerated at Moberly Correctional, Reggie heard that a fellow inmate had been stabbed to death by three other inmates. He was soon summoned to appear in court where he was wrongfully charged with murder and convicted, based on the word of two jailhouse informants who received reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony.

After receiving a wrongful conviction and death sentence in 1988, Reggie spent a total of 31 years in prison. In 2013 the state dismissed all charges related to his death sentence.

In 2011, the Missouri Supreme Court overturned his death sentence because prosecutors had withheld critical evidence: Moberly guards had confiscated a sharpened screwdriver from another inmate, Jeffrey Smith, immediately after the stabbing. Both of Reggie’s co-defendants consistently said the third person involved in the crime was Jeffrey Smith, not Reggie. Reggie was found innocent and released in 2013. He is the 4th person exonerated from death row in Missouri.

As of 2017, a total of 158 men have been exonerated in the United States. Currently there are 33 states with Wrongful Conviction Compensation Laws.

Missouri is not one of them.

Unlike Parolee Programs where housing, supplemental food programs, educational programs, and health programs are provided to those out on parole, exonerated persons in Missouri receive zero assistance in all forms from the state due to having no laws that mandate it. This is the case for Reggie as well as the other death row Exonerees in Missouri. Over the last 7 years, Reggie has tried to maintain a basic life in Kansas City. When COVID-19 hit and the stay at home orders were put in place, he lost his custodial job and has since been out of work. Over the last three months he has been unable to make rent, and he may be facing eviction along with his family.

After being incarcerated for over two decades on death row for a crime he did not commit, Reggie should be able to live out the rest of his life knowing that he has the care and support he needs. We know that no amount of money will ever be enough to compensate Reggie for what the state of Missouri did to him, but hope that this fund will aid him during this difficult time. These funds will go directly to Reggie to help him with any bills that are owed as well as his basic needs well into the future. As a community, we know that Reggie needs this support now more than ever and appreciate those that can aid him at this time.

Please consider donating to and sharing the Reggie Griffin Fund with those in your community.

For more information about the death penalty in Missouri, please visit www.madpmo.org. If you would like to schedule Reggie Griffin for speaking and educational engagements, please visit MADP's website. This Fundraiser is managed by Reggie Griffin and Reggie's friends at MADP.