Advocates Press Missouri Attorney General to Review Jeffrey Weinhaus Conviction
Advocates Deliver Case File to Missouri AG Catherine Hanaway Seeking Conviction Review
Grassroots advocacy organization People’s Lobby Missouri delivered a case file regarding imprisoned activist Jeffrey Weinhaus to Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway, calling on her office to conduct a formal review of his 2012 shooting and subsequent conviction.
The hand-off represents a renewed effort by criminal justice reform advocates to seek official intervention in a case long plagued by questions of withheld evidence and official misconduct.
The Incident and Conviction
In September 2012, Jeffrey Weinhaus, publisher of the Bulletinman, went to a gas station in St. Clair to pick up computer equipment previously seized from him by the state.
During the arranged meeting, he was shot four times by Missouri State Highway Patrol Sergeant Henry Folsom.
Law enforcement officials maintained that Weinhaus unstrapped his holstered pistol and attempted to draw it, prompting officers to fire in self-defense.
In 2013, a jury convicted Jeffrey Weinhaus of assault on a law enforcement officer and armed criminal action, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Suppressed Evidence and Disputed Facts
In the years following the trial, defense attorneys and advocacy organizations—including People’s Lobby Missouri and Miracle of Innocence—have highlighted key details that were withheld from the defense and not presented to the jury under Brady v. Maryland.
Folsom's Medical History
Disclosures after the trial revealed Sergeant Folsom had been diagnosed with severe PTSD and was taking psychiatric medication.
Internal evaluations later deemed Folsom unfit for duty due to distorted threat perception, leading to his discharge a year after Jeff went to prison.
Recording Discrepancies
Video captured by a spy watch worn by Jeffrey during the encounter, alongside witness statements, contradicted the prosecution’s timeline regarding whether he attempted to draw a weapon before being shot.
The Call for Executive Action
The Missouri Supreme Court summarily denied Weinhaus's habeas petition without response in December 2024.
Under Missouri law, the Attorney General’s Office possesses authority to review convictions involving claims of actual innocence or procedural violations.
Advocates are requesting that Attorney General Catherine Hanaway’s office:
1 Initiate an independent conviction integrity review in the case of Jeffrey Weinhaus.
2 Re-examine suppressed documentation regarding officer fitness and trial testimony.
3 Determine whether the state will support vacating the conviction or join existing court petitions.
On the 1st of November, Jeffrey Weinhaus will mark 14 years behind bars—14 years spent paying for a crime he did not commit, while the officer who shot him faced no legal accountability.
The ultimate irony remains stark and cruel: the very violence Jeffrey was accused of committing was actually inflicted upon him, making him a political prisoner targeted for daring to expose systemic abuse.
Now, as the system he fought to reveal holds the key to his freedom, people are demanding that Attorney General Hanaway deliver long-overdue justice.
It is time to rectify this profound miscarriage of law and let Jeff go.
— Vincent Easley II https://reallibertymedia.com/author/https-reallibertymedia-com-author-vine