Roper v. Simmons: Difference between revisions

In the state of [[Missouri]] in 1993, 17-year-old Christopher Simmons concocted a plan to commit [[burglary]] and [[murder]], having previously told friends that he "wanted to kill someone" and that he "believed he could get away with it because he was a minor".<ref>{{Bluebook journal|last=Myers|first=Wayne|year=2006|title=Roper v. Simmons: The Collision of National Consensus and Proportionality Review|volume=96|page=947–994|journal=J. Crim. L. & Criminology|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=7240&context=jclc|url-access=May 22, 2023|punct=&nbsp;(internal quotation marks omitted).}}</ref> Simmons convinced two of his friends to join him: 15-year-old Charles Benjamin and 16-year-old John Tessmer.<ref name=":0">''Simmons'', at 556.</ref> Simmons met with Benjamin and Tessmer at 2 a.m. to carry out their plan, but Tessmer decided to leave before any crimes were committed.{{refn|Simmons, Benjamin, and Tessmer met on September 9, 1993 near the trailer of an older neighbor, a 29-year-old ex-convict named Brian Moomey, to discuss their plan. Simmons and his friends frequently visited Moomey's trailer in the months preceding the murder, where Moomey would let them drink alcohol and take drugs. Moomey would later be a key witness at trial.<ref>{{Bluebook journal|last=Emens|first=Elizabeth F.|year=2005|journal=Sup. Ct. Rev.|volume=2005|title=Aggravating Youth: Roper v Simmons and Age Discrimination|page=51–102|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/655191|url-access=May 22, 2023}}</ref>|group=fn}}<ref>''Simmons'', at 556.</ref> Simmons and Benjamin later broke into the home of Shirley Crook, a 46-year-old neighbor, where they [[Duct tape|duct-taped]] her mouth and eyes shut before [[Kidnapping|abducting]] her in her van.<ref>{{smallcaps|Emens}}, at 56.</ref> Simmons drove Crook's van to [[Castlewood State Park]] and parked near a railroad [[trestle bridge]], where Simmons and Benjamin unloaded Crook from the van.<ref>Br. of Roper 6.</ref> They then covered her head with a towel, wrapped her in [[Electrical wiring|electrical wire]], and threw her off of the trestle bridge into the [[Meramec River]] while she was still alive and conscious.{{Refn|Benjamin stated in a 2002 interview that he waited in the car while Simmons threw Crook off of the bridge and that he didn't know what happened to Crook until the following morning. However, prosecutors stated that it would have taken both Simmons and Benjamin to carry Crook's body to the bridge.<ref>Tim Rowden, ''[https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-murderer-how-te/125684357/ Murderer: How teen burglars became killers]'', {{smallcaps|[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]}}, June 6, 2002.</ref>|group=fn}}<ref>''Simmons'', at 556–557; at 618 (Scalia, J., dissenting).</ref> Crook's body was discovered that afternoon by a group of fishermanfishermen.{{Refn|Shirley Crook was reported as a missing person earlier that afternoon by her husband Steven Crook, who was away from home on an overnight trip on the night of the murder.<ref>''Simmons'', at 557.</ref>|group=fn}}<ref>Roy Malone, ''[https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-louis-post-dispatch-teens-killed-wom/125124827/ Teens Killed Woman, Got $6, Police Say]'', {{smallcaps|[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]}}, September 11, 1993.</ref>