Attorneys representing Donald “Doc” Nash filed an emergency brief with the Supreme Court of Missouri Tuesday seeking his immediate conditional release due to an outbreak of COVID-19 at Bonne Terre’s Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Corrections Center. Nash is currently awaiting a decision by the high court stemming from retired 11th Circuit Court Judge Richard K. Zerr recommending his 2009 murder conviction be vacated. He has been imprisoned in Bonne Terre’s state prison for more than a decade after being found guilty of Judy Spencer’s 1982 murder in Dent County.
The Tuesday brief cites the St. Francois County Health Center reported Friday there are 21 known COVID-19 cases in the Bonne Terre prison. As of Friday, 1,352 test results had also been received of 2,986 total tested in the facility.
The brief states Nash is 78 years old and particularly vulnerable to harmful COVID-19 outcomes due to his age, a heart condition and suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It asks for his immediate release per any condition imposed by the court or an expediated judicial process. It concludes without action Nash could remain incarcerated for several more months even if his sentence is vacated per Zerr’s recommendation.
The brief states, “Right now, Nash is straddling an extensive report recommending his exoneration and this Court’s final review of that report. In that gap of time, there is an enormously high and real risk that Nash will contract, and succumb to, COVID-19. These are unprecedented times, and Nash is in an unprecedented situation in terms of legal posture, but this is an intolerable risk.”
