KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker on Monday said her office will fight to uphold the conviction of Eric DeValkenaere, a Kansas City police officer convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a Black man in 2019.
Baker said Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed a motion with the Missouri Court of Appeals seeking to overturn the conviction — a step unheard of in the legal community as the office is known to seek to uphold every conviction won in lower courts.
Baker, whose office filed its own motion on the case earlier this month, said her office will “keep fighting” to uphold the court’s decision if Bailey will not.
“While I know that Kansas Citians are tough and resilient, this is a tough bit of news for them to swallow,” Baker said, adding: “I want Kansas Citians to know this: This office will keep fighting.”
Bailey faced a Monday deadline to file a brief making legal arguments to uphold DeValkenaere’s convictions of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action in the killing of 26-year-old Cameron Lamb. Over recent weeks, Baker and others have questioned why the attorney general’s office had yet to take the early step of filing its legal arguments on the case.
In November 2021, DeValkenaere was found guilty during a bench trial in Jackson County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to spend six years in prison.
Baker has questioned Bailey’s delays in filing a brief on the case as DeValkenaere has remained free on bond during the appeal process. She also sent a letter to Gov. Mike Parson cautioning the governor against taking an executive clemency action as his office has received requests from DeValkenaere’s family and others to toss out the convictions.
Police reform advocates said Monday they feared the consequences of any action by Bailey that would lead to the convictions being undone.
Steve Young, of the Kansas City Law Enforcement Accountability Project, said Bailey “is playing with all our lives.”
“If he fights to overturn the conviction, he is putting a bullseye on every Black and brown person,” Young said. “There will be no checks and balances for KCPD. Consider it open season against our community.”
Sheryl Ferguson, an organizer with the group It’s Time 4 Justice, cautioned that an overturn of DeValkenaere’s convictions would “further erode trust,” saying the former cop is “not above the law and should do his time.”
“I feel very confident in saying this would not even be considered if (DeValkenaere were) Black,” Ferguson said. “Based on the climate of this country at the time of trial he waived the right to trial by jury figuring he wouldn’t be convicted, but he was.”
