Missouri court refuses DeValkenaere’s request to be released on bond pending appeal
The Missouri Court of Appeals has denied a request by a former Kansas City police detective to be released again on bond while appealing his conviction in the shooting death of a Black man.
Eric J. DeValkenaere, 44, whose conviction in the 2019 killing of Cameron Lamb was upheld by an appeals court last week, had filed paperwork to be released on bond pending another appeal, this time to the state’s highest court.
DeValkenaere, who is white, had been found guilty at trial in Jackson County in 2021 on charges of second-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
In a rare decision by a Jackson County judge, DeValkenaere had been allowed to remain free on bond nearly two years while he appealed his conviction.
He surrendered to authorities at the Platte County jail on Oct. 17, the same day the court of appeals upheld his conviction.
DeValkenaere was transferred Wednesday to the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph.
In a motion filed Oct. 18, DeValkenaere’s attorney, Jonathan Laurans, had asked that the former officer be released on bond while he sought to have the Missouri Supreme Court overturn the conviction. Laurans said DeValkenaere was not a flight risk, had “no compliance issues” and that the Missouri attorney general did not oppose reinstating the appeal bond.
Attorneys and legal experts told The Star freeing DeValkenaere on bond would “rare” and “unprecedented.”
On Tuesday, the family of DeValkenaere said they had filed a clemency request with Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.
Johnathan Shiflett, a spokesperson for Parson, confirmed the family attorneys submitted a request for clemency to Parson’s office. The office has also received “hundreds of additional calls and requests from private citizens on his behalf.”
Shiflett said Parson had not made a decision.
A coalition of civil rights organizations across Missouri on Wednesday pleaded Parson not to grant clemency.
