I was present when an argument escalated into a shooting. I didn't have a gun, I didn't shoot anyone, nor did I have any knowledge of a shooting taking place until it was already in progress.
Tests were done soon after the shooting. The results of which showed that I had not fired a gun or had even had one in my hands.
Three people were arrested and charged with capital murder. One pled guilty and confessed to
doing the shooting. He received a plain life sentence for the plea bargain. The other man and me
received a life without parole sentence. We didn’t believe we were guilty of capital murder and
went to trial to prove our innocence.
I admitted to being at the scene of the crime. I also stated that I didn't shoot anyone or even have
a gun in my possession. The prosecutor told the jury that even though I did not shoot a gun that by
Arkansas law, I was guilty. The prosecutor’s reasoning was that I was there and he stated that I
was a part of the crime.
Actually, I was in another part of the house trying to make a phone call. When myself and the
other two men arrived at the house I asked the victim if I could use his phone to call my wife. It
was later than I had anticipated staying out and I didn't want her to worry.
At the time I was living in Springfield, Missouri and didn't realize that I was actually in the State
of Arkansas. The crime scene was about 7 miles inside Arkansas from the Missouri state line. Not
knowing that I was in Arkansas, I was trying to dial the phone number without using the proper
out-of-state area code and couldn't get through.
About this time I heard angry voices that were getting louder and louder, as if they were in an
argument. I put the phone down and re-entered the room as the victim drew a gun.
I backed up and yelled, “Hold it.” I was going to leave.
Just then a lady walked right out in front of me and asked what was going on. This was the
victim's wife, who was in another part of the house. I grabbed her with both of my hands and
yelled, “look out, they have guns!" and pushed her back.
Several shots were fired and I was hit in the neck. The woman was hit in her arm and the man was
killed. I found this out later, as once I was shot I lost touch with reality and was not fully aware of
what was going on around me.
The other two men carried me out and put me in the back seat of the car and prepared to return to
Springfield, Missouri. At that time they thought I was dying and I remember hearing them
discussing what to do with my body.
When we arrived back in Springfield, Missouri they discovered that I was still alive, so they took
me to my wife. They did this because during the drive to the man's house they asked me what my
wife did for a living and I stated that she was a nurse. My wife immediately took me to a hospital
where the police took me into custody several days later.
The other two men threatened me not to say anything to the police or they would kill my wife and
daughter. Due to my weakened state and the knowledge that these two men had killed a person
just recently, caused me great concern for myself and my family. So much concern that when I
was questioned by the Springfield, Missouri police I stated that I had been shot in a bar parking
lot in Springfield, Missouri. I had no doubt in my mind that these men would harm my family if I
told the truth about what had actually happened.
I had only just met one of the men and didn't even know the other at all. The man I had just met
was a customer where I worked in Springfield, Missouri. I was with him because he asked me to
give him a ride to pick up a check from his former employer, who owed him for work that he had
done. The other man I had never met before and didn't know that he owned a gun, or that he
actually was carrying it that night. It would be inconceivable to think that I would go out of state
with someone I had just met. A further stretch of the imagination would be to think that I would
commit a robbery and murder with two total strangers.
After work and a few mixed drinks, I was talked into giving my new friend a ride to pick up his
check from the place he had previously worked.
The prosecutor told the jury we went to rob the victim.
The victim’s wife stated that we had been let into the house by her husband and that she heard
talking, but nothing to make her think that a robbery was taking place. She also stated that
nothing was taken from her, her husband, or their house. She also stated that she felt that I had
saved her life by jumping between her and the bullets and had almost died as a result of it. This
woman also confirmed that she heard me ask to use the phone and that I did not have a gun nor
was my behavior aggressive at all.
I am presently doing a life without parole sentence because the prosecutor stated to the jury that I
had to be found guilty because I was there. After the trial the victim's wife (the woman whose life
I saved), came up to me in the courtroom in front of the judge and told me, with tears in her eyes,
that she hated to see me go to prison because her husband was a bad man and she felt that he had
started the incident.
The judge told me and my attorney, Thomas Carpenter (now a City Attorney in Little Rock,
Arkansas), that he felt that I had suffered from the, “Old Shep Dog Syndrome”, Meaning, he said,
that like the dog in the Walt Disney story, I was guilty of running with sheep-killing dogs, not of
killing any myself.
I have served 23 years to date on this sentence and I feel that that is an extreme amount of time
just for being present at a crime scene.
I have a 24 year old daughter who lives in Arizona, and she has given me three grandchildren. I
have never seen my grandchildren and have only seen my daughter twice in the 23 years I have
been here.
My mother, who also lives in Arizona, just had open heart surgery and is 75 years old now. I am
very much needed to help her now that she is finding it hard to care for herself. I would truly like
to hold my daughter and grandchildren. The trip is too far for them to come and visit for just the
few hours allowed.
Even though I feel that I am as much of a victim as that man and his wife, if the law says that I am
responsible for what happened then I am willing to pay my debt for it. However, I also feel that
this last 23 years has paid any debt owed.
I don't know what the law says about the necessary factors to being charged with accomplice to a
felony, but I see people being charged with it now. In 1981, they never charged anyone with
accomplice like they do today. I truly believe that if I was to be charged at all that it should have
only been as an accomplice to a felony. That is the only reason that I didn't plea bargain at the
beginning and say that I was guilty of a murder.
I ask the Clemency Board and the Governor to consider the amount of time that I have been in
prison and take into consideration that I didn't have a gun, or shoot anyone, or even know that a
crime was about to happen until it was too late to stop it. I ask the Clemency Board and the
Governor to take into consideration that I saved a human life by placing my life in harm’s way and
was almost killed in the process. To this day I do not regret my actions in that even though I have
extreme pain and will for the rest of my life.
I ask that you review my record since I`ve been here and see that I have adapted well to my
environment and see that my record is good.
Thank you for your consideration in this and please adjust my sentence so I may return to my
family and be the son, father, and grandfather that my family desperately needs me to be.
Respectfully Submitted,
John Thomas Moss
| NAME
|
John Thomas Moss
|
| DATE OF BIRTH
|
July 19, 1949
|
| ADC NUMBER |
079311
|
| RACE & SEX |
White Male
|
| ADDRESS |
P.O. Box 180, E.A.R.U.
|
| CITY |
Brickeys
|
| STATE |
Arkansas
|
| ZIP CODE |
72320-0180
|
| I AM APPLYING FOR |
COMMUTATION OF SENTENCE
|
| MY REASON(S) FOR APPLYING FOR A COMMUTATION OF MY SENTENCE (TIME CUT) |
I wish to correct an injustice which may have occurred during the trial. I have attached letters or other documentation that will support this claim. I want to adjust what may be considered an excessive sentence.
|
| GENERAL INFORMATION |
|---|
| GIVE THE FIRST NAME UNDER WHICH YOU WERE CONVICTED AND ANY ALIAS NAMES YOU HAVE USED. |
John Thomas Moss
|
| LIST ALL CRIMES FOR WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN INCARCERATED, THE COUNTY OF CONVICTION, DOCKET NUMBER AND SENTENCE. (SENTENCE MAY INCLUDE FINES, PROBATION, SUSPENDED SENTENCES OR TIME INCARCERATED IN THE ARKANSAS DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, OR THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY PUNISHMENT. |
Burglary (Man), Gia County, AZ, November 22, 1968, Docket #Unknown, Sentence: 2-4 years.
|
| CRIMES, continued |
Marijuana, Tulsa County, OK, March 14, 1970, Docket #Unknown, Sentence: 5 years
|
| YOU ARE CURRENTLY SERVING |
Life without Parole
|
| ARE YOU REQUESTING THE RESTORATION OF YOUR RIGHT TO OWN AND POSSESS FIREARMS? |
No
|
| WERE OTHER PERSON(S) ALSO INVOLVED IN THE CRIME? |
Yes
|
| IF YES, LIST THE NAMES OF YOUR ACCOMPLICES AND WHAT, IF ANY, SENTENCE WAS RECEIVED |
Ralph Bussard
Life without Parole
R.B. Smith, Life
(Deceased in the ADC)
|
| WHAT IS YOUR REASON FOR REQUESTING EXECUTIVE CLEMENCY AT THIS TIME? |
I have served 23 years in prison and was only an accomplice to a shooting I had no idea was going to occur. I feel justice has been served.
|
| PERSONAL BACKGROUND |
|---|
| MARITAL STATUS |
Divorced
|
| NAME OF SPOUSE |
Bonnie Berela Moss
Date of Marriage Unknown
Divorced 1982
|
| HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE? |
One - Holly Moss Pegg, 29
|
| HAVE YOU EVER SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES? |
Yes
U.S. Marine Corps
Honorable Discharge
|
| EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND |
|---|
| NAME & ADDRESS OF SCHOOL, DATES OF ATTENDANCE, HIGHEST GRADE COMPLETED/DEGREE |
San Miguel Elementary
Arizona
1955-1963
8th Grade Completed
|
| NAME & ADDRESS OF SCHOOL, DATES OF ATTENDANCE, HIGHEST GRADE COMPLETED/DEGREE |
Globe High School
Arizona
9th Grade
|
| NAME & ADDRESS OF SCHOOL, DATES OF ATTENDANCE, HIGHEST GRADE COMPLETED/DEGREE |
Cummins Unit
ADC
GED
|
| NAME & ADDRESS OF SCHOOL, DATES OF ATTENDANCE, HIGHEST GRADE COMPLETED/DEGREE |
College Courses
E.A.R.U., ADC
2 hours
|
| EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND |
|---|
| NAME OF EMPLOYER
|
E.A.R.U. Construction Crew
|
| NAME OF SUPERVISOR
|
Mr. William and Mr. Wright, Construction Managers
|
| WHEN WERE YOU HIRED?
|
July, 2002
|
| GIVE A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
|
I am the tool clerk and am responsible for all tools on the construction site, which are kept under lock and key. I check out tools to the inmates each day and then lock them back in. I also repair and service all tools used on the construction job and keep an inventory of every tool.
|
| FOR PREVIOUS JOBS YOU HAVE HELD, LIST THE FOLLOWING |
|---|
| NAME AND ADDRESS OF EMPLOYER
|
Phillips Patroleum Co.
|
| DATES OF EMPLOYMEND
|
1969-1979
|
| REASON FOR LEAVING
|
Relocated and arrested in 1981 on current charge
|
| MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION |
|---|
| HOW IS YOUR HEALTH?
|
Good
|
| HAVE YOU EVER BEEN CONFINED IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL?
|
Yes
|
| NAME AND ADDRESS OF INSTITUTION
|
Rogers Hall
Little Rock
60 day mental health evaluation prior to trial 1981
|
| DO YOU USE ANY TYPE OF DRUGS, INCLUDING PRESCRIPTION DRUGS?
|
No
|
| DO YOU USE ALCOHOL?
|
No
|
| HAVE YOU EVER RECEIVED TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOL OR DRUG PROBLEMS?
|
Yes
S.A.T.P. program at Cummins Unit in 1984
and again in 1996 for the 30 day program
|
East Arkansas Regional Unit, "Brickeys"
the ADC facility where Johnny is currently housed.
JOHN'S PAGES
Join the Campaign to Free John Moss
CONTACT ARKANSAS GOVERNOR
John's Photo Album - thru the Years
E-Mail Me
