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James Wilson
CHAMBERS
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Altercation at
a bar
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
May 29,
1982
Date of arrest:
Same day
Date of birth:
April 15,
1952
Victim profile: Jerry
Lee Oestricker
Method of murder:
Shooting
Location: Jefferson County, Missouri, USA
Status:
Executed
by lethal injection in Missouri on
November 15, 2000
Following an altercation at a bar, Chambers struck Oestricker as
they were leaving, knocking him to the ground.
As Oestricker got up
with his hands raised in the air Chambers fired a single shot into
Oestricker's chest.
After the shooting, Chambers pistol whipped him in the face and
dragged him across the parking lot stating, "take that you..tough
guy," and "get up...and fight like a man."
Chambers was on a prison furlough at the time of the shooting,
having been imprisoned for shooting a man at a bar. His convictions
and death sentence were twice set aside, resulting in 3 trials, all
resulting in a death sentence.
Public Interest Litigation
Clinic
In May of 1982, James and his family spent
Memorial Day camping on the Meremac River. James decided to try to
get a boat to go out on the river fishing. James along with Donny
Chapman proceeded to the Country Club Lounge to attempt to get a
boat from the Turners, who were friends of Chapman.
The Turner
family had left the bar before James and Chapman arrived. They found
the Turners at their home but the Turners boat was dry docked. The
Turners suggested a neighbor had a boat he might be able to use.
James and Jackie Turner returned to the Country
Club Lounge to find the neighbor and see if they could get the boat.
James walked up to Jerry Oestricker and old acquaintance and asked
if Oestricker intended to buy him a drink.
Oestricker responded
negatively and an argument erupted between James and Oestricker. The
owner of the bar told the two men to take their problem outside.
After a brief exchange Oestricker hit James and knocked him down and
stabbed him with a pair of pliers. James shot Oestricker from the
ground as Oestricker was moving toward him.
The prosecution's case was that this was a
premeditated attack by James to avenge an altercation between Jackie
Turner and Oestricker earlier in the day.
The jury convicted James
of first degree murder and returned a sentence of death. After the
conviction and sentence the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the
conviction because the trial court failed to give a self-defense
instruction.
The conviction was followed by a retrial which was
reversed by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals because of
ineffective assistance of trial counsel. In James' third trial he
was again convicted and sentenced to death. The Missouri Supreme
Court, the District Court, the Eighth Circuit and United States
Supreme Court have all denied relief from James third trial.
ProDeathPenalty.com
Jessica Oestricker Coplin of Herculaneaum said
the May 1982 shooting death of her brother Jerry Oestricker by James
Wilson Chambers "should never have happened."
Chambers had received a 3-year sentence in July
1972 for the felony of 2nd-degree burglary. Then-Gov. Christopher
Bond freed Chambers through commutation about halfway through his
sentence.
A few weeks later, Chambers was arrested for shooting a
man in the stomach outside a bar in Jefferson County. In April 1975,
Chambers received a 15-year sentence for felony assault with intent
to kill, according to state records provided by Nixon's campaign.
Seven years after beginning his second prison
sentence, Chambers received a Memorial Day weekend pass and killed
Jerry Oestricker while outside prison walls.
In September 1982,
while awaiting trial for the Oestricker killing, Chambers' sentence
for shooting Griffin was commuted by Bond. Chambers is now on death
row for the Oestricker slaying. Ms. Coplin said no commutations
should have been approved by Bond: "This was senseless and should
never have happened."
The Missouri Supreme Court set the new execution
date for Chambers, thrice-convicted and long under death sentence
for a tavern slaying nearly 2 decades ago.
Chambers has been
convicted 3 times of killing Jerry Oestricker outside an Arnold,
Missouri bar on May 29, 1982. Jerry had inadvertently bumped into a
friend of Chambers's outside the bar restroom.
Chambers challenged
the victim to step outside and after hitting him over the head with
a gun, shot him in the chest, pistol-whipped him, then dragged him
across the parking lot, and taunted him before fleeing. Two of the
convictions were set aside, with a state court and a federal appeals
court each ordering new trials.
Chambers was tried and convicted a 3rd time in
1991. Chambers won a stay of execution from the St. Louis-based 8th
Circuit last November after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide
about the federal Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
law's application in a Nevada death row case.
Last April, the
Supreme Court upheld the decision from Nevada. That's when Attorney
General Jay Nixon filed a motion with the 8th Circuit to lift
Chambers' stay of execution. The Missouri Supreme Court sets state
execution dates.
Capital Punishment in Missouri
from Missouri.net
On May 29, 1982 Jerry Lee Oestricker was in the
Country Club Lounge in Arnold, Missouri, While playing pool he
bumped into the chair of another patron, Jackie Turner.
There was a
verbal exchange between Oestricker and members of the Turner party
that resulted in the owner of the bar asking the Oestricker and the
Turner parties to leave. The Turner party left, but Oestdcker
remained at the bar.
About three hours later at 10:00 p.m. James
Chambers made his first appearance at the Country Club Lounge. Upon
entering he asked an employee where the Turner party was and she
told him that they had left. Chambers then left the bar.
About 30 minutes later Chambers returned to the
bar with Jackie Turner. Once inside the bar Chambers approached
Oestricker and asked him to buy him a drink.
Oestricker strongly
declined the offer calling Chambers by his nickname "Bimbo,' No
physical blows were exchanged, but the confrontation was described
by one witness as loud.
Following this exchange in which Oestricker
told Chambers that he was no friend of his, the owner of the bar
asked the two men to leave. Witnesses testified that both men
challenged each other before they left the bar.
Chambers left the bar first and as Oestricker was
going through the front door, according to one witness, Chambers
struck Oestricker with a pistol knocking him to the ground.
As Oestricker got up with his hands raised in the air Chambers pointed
the pistol at the victim and fired a single shot into Oestricker's
chest. After shooting Oestricker, who was laying prostrate on the
ground, Chambers proceeded to pistol whip the victim about the face.
He dragged him across the parking lot stating, "take that you..tough
guy," and "get up...and fight like a man." Chambers reportedly told
the victim that he "better get up and call the hospital because you
are going to die." Jerry Oestricker was transported to a local
hospital where he died the next morning at 4:05 a.m.
Chambers then fled the scene in a waiting
automobile. He was later apprehended that evening by Arnold Police
in a liquor store in St. Louis County.
James Chambers was born in St. Louis, Missouri on
April 15, 1952.
On July 14, 1971 Chambers was arrested in
Jefferson County, Missouri for Burglary Second Degree. He was later
sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections.
On August 12, 1971 Chambers was arrested in
Jefferson County, Missouri for two counts of Intent to Defraud. He
was sentenced to 30 days in the county jail on one charge and
granted a one year probation on the second charge.
On January 1, 1974 Chambers was arrested in
Jefferson County, Missouri for Assault with Intent to Kill with
Malice. He was sentenced to 15 years in the Missouri Department of
Corrections.
On May 29, 1982 Chambers was arrested in
Jefferson County, Missouri on the present charge of Capital Murder.
Legal Chronology
1982
5/22 - James Chambers shoots and kills Jerry Oestricker at the
Country Club Lounge in Arnold, Missouri
7/7 - Chambers charged in the Jefferson County Circuit Court with
capital murder
11/20 - A Jefferson County jury found Chambers guilty of capital
murder and recommended a sentence of death.
12/23 - Circuit Court sentences Chambers to death.
1984
6/19 - The Missouri Supreme Court overturned Chambers' conviction
and sentence because the trial court did not give a self-defense
instruction.
1985
5/9 - A second trial was held in Jefferson County. The jury found
Chambers guilty of capital murder and recommended a sentence of
death.
6/5 - Circuit Court sentences Chambers to death
1987
12/22 - The Missouri Court of Appeals of the Eastern District of
Missouri affirmed the denial of Chambers' motion for post-conviction
relief.
1988
7/19 - The United States District Court for the East District of
Missouri denied Chambers federal habeas corpus challenger to his
conviction and sentence
1989
9/15 - A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
reversed the judgment of the district court and granted habeas
corpus relief on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel.
11/8 - The Eighth Circuit granted a rehearing en banc.
1990
7/5 - The en banc court granted habeas corpus relief on a claim of
ineffective assistance of trial counsel for not interviewing and
calling a witness.
1991
10/28 - A third capital murder trial is conducted on a change of
venue to Cole County, Missouri.
10/31 - The Cole County jury found Chambers guilty of capital murder
and recommended a sentence of death.
1992
1/7 - The circuit court sentenced Chambers to death.
9/14 - Chambers filed a Missouri Supreme Court motion for
post-conviction relief.
1993
3/31- The circuit court held a hearing on Chambers' motion for post
conviction relief.
10/14 - The circuit court denied Chambers' motion for
post-conviction relief.
1994
12/20 - The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed Chambers' conviction and
sentence and the denial of post-conviction relief.
1995
4/21 - Chambers filed a federal habeas corpus petition in the US
District Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of Missouri. The
case was transferred to the Western District.
1997
3/12 - The district court denied Chambers' federal habeas corpus
petition.
1998
9/23 - The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the
district court's denial for habeas corpus relief.
1999
6/21 - The US Supreme Court declined discretionary review of
Chambers' federal habeas corpus case.
7/7 - The Missouri Attorney-General filed a motion to set an
execution date with the Missouri State Supreme Court.
8/30 - The Missouri Supreme Court issued a warrant of execution
scheduling Chambers' execution for September 29, 1999.
9/15 - the Missouri Supreme Court issued a stay of execution. The
Court scheduled a new execution date of November 10, 1999.
11/4 - The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay.
11/9 - The US Supreme Court denied a motion to vacate the stay for
execution issued by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
2000
10/5 - The Missouri Supreme Court issued a warrant of execution
scheduling Chambers' execution for November 15, 2000.
Canadian Coalition Against the
Death Penalty
"Killer's Long Stay on Death Row Wanes," by
Jeremy Kohler of the Post-Dispatch.
Sentenced in 1982 to death for fatally shooting a
man during a bar fight, James W. Chambers of Jefferson County has
lingered on Missouri's death row for 17 years while higher courts
have reversed his first two convictions. His wait is almost over. A
federal appellate court in September denied the appeal of his third
conviction.
Chambers' attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to
hear arguments on Chambers' behalf. A response from the court is
expected in mid-June, said George M. Winger, a Kansas City-based
attorney assigned to Chambers' case.
Chambers killed Jerry Lee Oestricker outside the
Country Club Lounge in Arnold on May 29, 1982, after an argument in
the bar. Earlier that night, Oestricker shoved Jack Turner, a friend
of Chambers', for no apparent reason.
All sides agree the fight
began when Chambers entered the bar later and asked Oestricker to
buy him a drink. When the bar owner asked the men to leave, Chambers
walked out, saying, "We'll settle this outside." Oestricker
followed.
What happened next is in dispute. According to the state,
Chambers shot Oestricker standing in the doorway and shouted into
the bar: "The rest of you want some of this?"
According to the
defense, once the two men were outside, they faced each other
briefly and exchanged words. Oestricker knocked Chambers to the
ground. As Oestricker moved toward him, Chambers shot him in
self-defense.
During his ride through the judicial system,
three juries agreed with the state's version, that Chambers pulled
the trigger as revenge for Oestricker's shoving Turner. All three
juries condemned Chambers to death.
Chambers' lawyers admit they
have a slim chance of being heard by the Supreme Court, which hears
about 60 cases per year out of 10,000 petitions and traditionally
rules only on cases that will have a broad impact. "The odds are
astronomical they will do anything but summarily deny it," said Kent
E. Gipson, another Kansas City-based attorney working with Winger on
Chambers' defense.
If the Supreme Court denies Chambers' petition,
he'll be executed this year, possibly as early as August, Gipson
said. If the court heard the case, it could affirm the capital
murder conviction and the death penalty; affirm the conviction but
order a new hearing for thepunishment; or order a fourth trial to
determine guilt and punishment.
Since he was first convicted of murder in 1982
and sentenced to death: The Missouri Supreme Court reversed the
first conviction because jurors were not told that they could
consider whether Chambers shot Oestricker in self-defense.
In the
second trial in 1985, Chambers was again convicted and sentenced to
death. The conviction was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court,
although a dissenting judge questioned why Chambers should be
sentenced to death for "an ordinary barroom altercation."
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however,
overturned the second conviction because Chambers' attorney in that
trial decided against calling a witness, James Jones. Jones could
have said that Chambers shot Oestricker in self-defense, the defense
said.
In the third trial, Chambers was convicted in
October 1991 and sentenced to death. This time, Jones testified he
was in the tavern's parking lot at the time of the killing and that
Chambers was thrown to the ground first in the fight. Chambers then
got up and shot Oestricker, Jones testified. The third conviction
was upheld by the Missouri Supreme Court.
In 1997, U.S. District Judge Howard F. Sachs
denied Chambers' request for a new trial. "This case seems to have
been comparatively well tried, even If some may consider the result
surprising," Sachs wrote.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the
district court's denial of Chambers' appeal in September 1998.
If given the opportunity to present their case to
the U.S. Supreme Court, Winger and Gipson will try to demonstrate
that Chambers is the victim of a succession of ineffectual defense
lawyers, that a key witness for the prosecution changed his account
of the shooting at each trial, and that, in the first place,
Chambers never should have been charged with capital murder.
The death penalty usually is reserved for the
most heinous, premeditated murders, those involving torture or rape,
Gipson said. It's never been proved that Chambers intended to kill
Oestricker, he said.
Witnesses have said Oestricker was drunk and
aggressive the entire day leading up to the fight with Chambers.
Gipson said Oestricker is partly responsible for causing his own
death. "The thing that struck me is there has never been a case in
America where someone has been executed for killing someone in a bar
fight," he said. "I've researched this exhaustively."
How, then,
Gipson asked, does it happen that Chambers is on death row? Sachs
addressed that question in his 1997 opinion.
While a tavern-related
homicide may be unfamiliar context for capital punishment, 36 jurors
have found it appropriate," he wrote. "They could have found (the
shooting) a successful assassination attempt or the deliberate
execution of a large but lightly armed antagonist."
Winger and Gipson also would argue that executing
a man who's been on death row for so many years is cruel and unusual
punishment, a violation of Chambers' rights under the 8th and 14th
amendments.
This is called a "Lackey claim," after a similar death
penalty case in which the claim was made. Other judges have rejected
that claim in Chambers' case, including Circuit Judge Richard S.
Arnold: "Delay, in large part, is a function of the desire of our
courts, state and federal, to get it right..."
Chambers' wife,
Darlene, hopes a fourth trial would downgrade the capital murder
conviction to second-degree murder or manslaughter, which would
carry a penalty of about 20 years in prison. If that happened,
Chambers already would have served most of that sentence and could
be released by his 50th birthday.
