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In a case that brought Court TV and other major TV network crews to Hannibal 10 years ago, James Scott was convicted of causing a catastrophe by breaking the levee at West Quincy 15 years ago during the Great Flood of 1993.
The levee break on July 16, 1993, at the Fabius River Drainage District caused the closing of the last remaining Mississippi River bridge for 200 miles as well as flooding 14,000 acres.
Now, after Scott has served 10 years of his life sentence, his criminal case has become the subject of a book, and it is being featured on an ABC television program.
Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Redington was interviewed by an ABC film crew that came to Hannibal earlier in June. The program is scheduled to be aired at 9 p.m. Central Time Tuesday, July 1, on Primetime. The ABC affiliate on Hannibal Cable TV is Channel 5.
Although the author of the book about Scott’s conviction, Adam Pitluk, wrote that he believed Scott was not guilty, Redington said he does not believe the public will be persuaded.
“The evidence against him was overwhelming,” Redington said. “Two different juries and two different judges from different parts of the state took less than two hours to convict him.”
During the trials, he said, “Four witnesses testified that he told them he was going to do it (break the levee) or bragged about doing it after it was done.”
Redington explained he was contacted by ABC news personnel because after interviewing Pitluk about his view of the Scott case, “they wanted the other side of the story, and that’s me.
“They assured me they don’t draw conclusions and said they try to give both sides of the story for the people who watch the show to decide. That’s fine with me. I’m confident that people will come to the same conclusion the jury came to. ...I trust them to give a fair airing to the whole thing, and if it is a fair presentation, people will come to the same conclusion the jury did.
“The only thing I am sad about is that the people that suffered through this will have to live through it again, he added.”
After Scott was charged with causing a catastrophe by breaking the levee, his first trial was in Kirksville on a change of venue from Marion County. The trial dates were Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, 1994. Judge Bruce Normille sentenced him to life in prison.
The first conviction was reversed by an appellate court, and his second trial was from April 23 to April 30, 1998, in Hannibal with Judge Robert Clayton presiding. He was sentenced to life in prison on July 6, 1998, by Judge Clayton.
Redington explained the reason the first conviction was reversed was because of a witness. “One of the witnesses who testified against Scott was actually in jail in Illinois so the prosecutor at the time, John Jackson, could not meet with him and have him brought over here. But during the trial he (the witness) disclosed that he had had another conversation with Scott that nobody had ever asked him about.
“They brought him to Kirksville to testify and it wasn’t until he got there that he told them about another time he talked to Scott. The prosecutor (Jackson) told the defense almost immediately, but the court of appeals said that he should have known about it before trial and disclosed it, so they reversed it (his conviction).”
For the second trial, a jury was brought to Marion County from Pettis County near Kansas City, Redington said. “The court personnel: Judge Clayton, the court reporter, clerks, prosecutor - everybody went to Pettis County and picked a jury. The sheriff brought them here, and they were sequestered and stayed in a hotel and heard the case, and he was convicted again.”
Scott, of Quincy, is currently in a Missouri prison. He was sentenced to life in prison with parole.
How soon might he be released on parole? “It is hard to say.” Redington said. “He has so many prior convictions. He has a prior conviction as an adult for arson, and he has a prior conviction for burglary as an adult.
“He has a juvenile record for arson. He burned down an elementary school in Quincy. All of those things affect how long he would have to serve before he is eligible for parole. I think he is probably not eligible for about another 10 years.”
After Scott’s second conviction, he filed a case with the court, “saying his lawyer (a public defender) had done such a bad job he should get a new trial,” Redington explained. “That was denied. And that was appealed. The Court of Appeals said ‘no, we have reviewed it all, and his lawyer did a fine job.’”
The case was heard by two juries and two judges, and two different times went to the court of appeals, and all agreed he was guilty, he said.
Pitluk’s book about the Scott case is titled, “Damned to Eternity, the Last Victim of the ‘93 Flood.”
Redington explained that during the trial the defense called a witness who was a soil expect from the University of Missouri, “who testified he thought the levee failed naturally and was not sabotaged. Pitluk has bought his line completely even though two Corps of Engineers experts and Mike Klingner of Klingner & Associates, who does engineering work for about 20 levee district, testified that it was not a natural failure. The jury obviously believed those experts, not this guy the public defender office hired to testify for Scott.
“Pitluk says the experts say it was a natural failure. That is not what the jury believed after hearing all the experts testify.”
Pitluk has “been on Scott’s bandwagon for 10 years,” Redington added. In his book, “he accurately reports what happened in the trials. Before the book came out, he was checking his facts and wanted to know what was said in court. He had transcripts of the trials. The book is page after page from the transcripts.”
Scott has convinced Pitluk he is innocent, Redington said, and “I am sure James Scott will continue to scream he was railroaded. He wasn’t. ...There are people in prison who scream they are innocent even though the evidence is overwhelming.”
About Scott, Redington said, “he has done things his whole life to get attention, and I think that is what he is continuing to do now. He is an arsonist, and I think he committed this crime (breaking the levee) for attention, I think he continues to this day to scream about how he is innocent to get attention.
“I’ve often wondered what James Scott - a two-time arsonist - was thinking when the gas station blew up (at West Quincy, right after the levee broke and water flowed into the area).
“I’ve always wondered what a two-time arsonist would think if he knew he blew up a gas station. I bet inside he was just jumping for joy. I bet he had a smile on his face.”
In a case that brought Court TV and other major TV network crews to Hannibal 10 years ago, James Scott was convicted of causing a catastrophe by breaking the levee at West Quincy 15 years ago during the Great Flood of 1993.
The levee break on July 16, 1993, at the Fabius River Drainage District caused the closing of the last remaining Mississippi River bridge for 200 miles as well as flooding 14,000 acres.
Now, after Scott has served 10 years of his life sentence, his criminal case has become the subject of a book, and it is being featured on an ABC television program.
Marion County Prosecuting Attorney Tom Redington was interviewed by an ABC film crew that came to Hannibal earlier in June. The program is scheduled to be aired at 9 p.m. Central Time Tuesday, July 1, on Primetime. The ABC affiliate on Hannibal Cable TV is Channel 5.
Although the author of the book about Scott’s conviction, Adam Pitluk, wrote that he believed Scott was not guilty, Redington said he does not believe the public will be persuaded.
“The evidence against him was overwhelming,” Redington said. “Two different juries and two different judges from different parts of the state took less than two hours to convict him.”
During the trials, he said, “Four witnesses testified that he told them he was going to do it (break the levee) or bragged about doing it after it was done.”
Redington explained he was contacted by ABC news personnel because after interviewing Pitluk about his view of the Scott case, “they wanted the other side of the story, and that’s me.
“They assured me they don’t draw conclusions and said they try to give both sides of the story for the people who watch the show to decide. That’s fine with me. I’m confident that people will come to the same conclusion the jury came to. ...I trust them to give a fair airing to the whole thing, and if it is a fair presentation, people will come to the same conclusion the jury did.
“The only thing I am sad about is that the people that suffered through this will have to live through it again, he added.”
After Scott was charged with causing a catastrophe by breaking the levee, his first trial was in Kirksville on a change of venue from Marion County. The trial dates were Oct. 31 to Nov. 3, 1994. Judge Bruce Normille sentenced him to life in prison.
The first conviction was reversed by an appellate court, and his second trial was from April 23 to April 30, 1998, in Hannibal with Judge Robert Clayton presiding. He was sentenced to life in prison on July 6, 1998, by Judge Clayton.
Redington explained the reason the first conviction was reversed was because of a witness. “One of the witnesses who testified against Scott was actually in jail in Illinois so the prosecutor at the time, John Jackson, could not meet with him and have him brought over here. But during the trial he (the witness) disclosed that he had had another conversation with Scott that nobody had ever asked him about.
“They brought him to Kirksville to testify and it wasn’t until he got there that he told them about another time he talked to Scott. The prosecutor (Jackson) told the defense almost immediately, but the court of appeals said that he should have known about it before trial and disclosed it, so they reversed it (his conviction).”
For the second trial, a jury was brought to Marion County from Pettis County near Kansas City, Redington said. “The court personnel: Judge Clayton, the court reporter, clerks, prosecutor - everybody went to Pettis County and picked a jury. The sheriff brought them here, and they were sequestered and stayed in a hotel and heard the case, and he was convicted again.”
Scott, of Quincy, is currently in a Missouri prison. He was sentenced to life in prison with parole.
How soon might he be released on parole? “It is hard to say.” Redington said. “He has so many prior convictions. He has a prior conviction as an adult for arson, and he has a prior conviction for burglary as an adult.
“He has a juvenile record for arson. He burned down an elementary school in Quincy. All of those things affect how long he would have to serve before he is eligible for parole. I think he is probably not eligible for about another 10 years.”
After Scott’s second conviction, he filed a case with the court, “saying his lawyer (a public defender) had done such a bad job he should get a new trial,” Redington explained. “That was denied. And that was appealed. The Court of Appeals said ‘no, we have reviewed it all, and his lawyer did a fine job.’”
The case was heard by two juries and two judges, and two different times went to the court of appeals, and all agreed he was guilty, he said.
Pitluk’s book about the Scott case is titled, “Damned to Eternity, the Last Victim of the ‘93 Flood.”
Redington explained that during the trial the defense called a witness who was a soil expect from the University of Missouri, “who testified he thought the levee failed naturally and was not sabotaged. Pitluk has bought his line completely even though two Corps of Engineers experts and Mike Klingner of Klingner & Associates, who does engineering work for about 20 levee district, testified that it was not a natural failure. The jury obviously believed those experts, not this guy the public defender office hired to testify for Scott.
“Pitluk says the experts say it was a natural failure. That is not what the jury believed after hearing all the experts testify.”
Pitluk has “been on Scott’s bandwagon for 10 years,” Redington added. In his book, “he accurately reports what happened in the trials. Before the book came out, he was checking his facts and wanted to know what was said in court. He had transcripts of the trials. The book is page after page from the transcripts.”
Scott has convinced Pitluk he is innocent, Redington said, and “I am sure James Scott will continue to scream he was railroaded. He wasn’t. ...There are people in prison who scream they are innocent even though the evidence is overwhelming.”
About Scott, Redington said, “he has done things his whole life to get attention, and I think that is what he is continuing to do now. He is an arsonist, and I think he committed this crime (breaking the levee) for attention, I think he continues to this day to scream about how he is innocent to get attention.
“I’ve often wondered what James Scott - a two-time arsonist - was thinking when the gas station blew up (at West Quincy, right after the levee broke and water flowed into the area).
“I’ve always wondered what a two-time arsonist would think if he knew he blew up a gas station. I bet inside he was just jumping for joy. I bet he had a smile on his face.”
