Donald “Doc” Nash may be free from prison within weeks following the Friday recommendation his conviction for Judy Spencer’s 1982 murder be vacated.
The referral comes from retired 11th Circuit Court Judge Richard K. Zerr, who was appointed by the Supreme Court of Missouri to act as special master over three days of evidentiary hearings in St. Charles March 3-5. The hearings were ordered in response to a habeas corpus petition filed with the state supreme court by Nash’s St. Louis-based legal. In it, they challenge the validity of evidence used to convict Nash in 2009 and present new evidence they claim casts doubt on his guilt.
“It is a very good, very detailed report,” Nash’s attorney, Charles A. Weiss, said of Zerr’s 200-page report, when reach for comment Friday by The Salem News.
The Salem News obtained a copy of the report Friday. In recommending the sentence be vacated, Zerr doesn’t explicitly declare Nash innocent but does conclude his 2009 trial was unfair and violated Nash’s constitutional rights. Specifically, Zerr recommends the conviction be vacated due to Nash being denied due process, use of inadmissible testimony by the prosecution, mischaracterizations of evidence to the jury and Nash suffering ineffective assistance of counsel.
Weiss said the timing of Nash’s release will depend on if the state objects to Zerr’s report and the Supreme Court of Missouri defers its special master’s recommendation. The Supreme Court of Missouri may also order its own hearing on the matter, but Weiss said the high court has deferred to its appointed special master in previous habeas corpus cases he’s litigated.
If the Supreme Court of Missouri does accept Zerr’s recommendation, it will be up to Dent County Prosecuting Attorney Andrew Curley to decide whether to refile charges against Nash.
When reached for comment Monday by The Salem News, Curley said, “I haven’t been provided a copy of the St. Charles recommendation. I plan on reading it and speaking with the attorney general and family before I make any decision. I have had no real involvement with this case during my term as prosecutor.”
Nash was represented during the March 3-5 evidentiary hearings in St. Charles by Charles A. Weiss, Steven Snodgrass and Jonathan B. Potts of Bryan, Cave, Leighton & Paisner. The state was represented by Assistant Attorney General Michael J. Spillane.
Nash was granted a preliminary writ of habeas corpus by the state supreme court last year so additional testimony could be taken to inform its decision whether to vacate his 2009 conviction. The case reached the state supreme court after a 2018 evidentiary hearing was held in Farmington and similar habeas corpus petitions were denied at the circuit court and appeals court level.
Nash’s case is only the third time a preliminary writ of habeas corpus was issued by the Supreme Court of Missouri in its modern history. Most recently, it ordered David Robinson released from prison in 2018 upon vacating his Audrain County murder conviction.
