Entries tagged with “Marcellus Williams”

Innocence

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Oct 23, 2024

The Limitations of DNA Evidence in Innocence Cases

Death-sen­tenced pris­on­ers with cred­i­ble evi­dence of inno­cence have gained sig­nif­i­cant atten­tion this month with the exe­cu­tion of Marcellus Williams in Missouri, the near-exe­cu­tion of Robert Roberson in Texas, and the U.S. Supreme Court argu­ments in Glossip v. Oklahoma. There is a com­mon mis­con­cep­tion that DNA evi­dence is wide­ly avail­able in all cas­es and cen­tral to exon­er­a­tions, but the real­i­ty is that DNA exon­er­a­tions in death penal­ty cas­es are rel­a­tive­ly rare. DPI has identified 34…

Innocence

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International

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Public Opinion

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Oct 11, 2024

French and German Embassies Host a Discussion on Innocence and the Death Penalty

On October 11, 2024 the Embassies of France and Germany host­ed a dis­cus­sion on the ques­tion of inno­cence and the death penal­ty at the res­i­dence of the French Ambassador in Washington, D.C. Panelists includ­ed Herman Lindsey, a death row exoneree and Executive Director of Witness to Innocence; Vanessa Potkin, Director of Special Litigation at the Innocence Project; and Emmjolee Mendoza Waters, Director of the Death Penalty Abolition Program at Catholic Mobilizing Network. The approximately 75…

Arbitrariness

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Sentencing Alternatives

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Oct 04, 2024

A Chance at Life, Withdrawn: When Politics Interferes with Plea Deals

American pros­e­cu­tors have immense pow­er and rel­a­tive­ly unchecked dis­cre­tion in cap­i­tal cas­es. But in sev­er­al recent cas­es, death-sen­tenced pris­on­ers reached agree­ments with pros­e­cu­tors that would have saved them from exe­cu­tion, only to learn that anoth­er offi­cial had inter­fered to block the agree­ment. Critics have argued that these deci­sions sow pub­lic dis­trust in the legal process and raise con­cerns that gov­ern­ment offi­cials may be exploit­ing death penal­ty cas­es for political…

Innocence

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Sep 24, 2024

Missouri Supreme Court and Governor Reject Innocence Claims and Refuse to Pause Execution for Marcellus Williams

On September 23, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court heard oral argu­ments on the joint motion by Marcellus Williams’ legal team and St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Wesley Bell to over­turn a low­er court’s deci­sion reject­ing Mr. Williams’ appeal. Later the same day, the state supreme court unan­i­mous­ly denied the motion, stat­ing that there was ​“no cred­i­ble evi­dence of actu­al inno­cence or any show­ing of a con­sti­tu­tion­al error under­min­ing con­fi­dence in the orig­i­nal judg­ment.” Also the same…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Sep 13, 2024

Ignoring Credible Innocence Claims, St. Louis County Circuit Court Denies Prosecutor’s Motion to Vacate Marcellus Williams’ Conviction and Death Sentence

On September 12, 2024, the Missouri Circuit Court for St. Louis County denied Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Wesley Bell’s motion to vacate Marcellus Williams’ con­vic­tion and death sen­tence for the 1998 mur­der of Felicia Gayle. Judge Bruce F. Hilton denied PA Bell’s motion, writ­ing that ​“there is no basis for a court to find that [Mr.] Williams is inno­cent, and no court has made such a find­ing.” Judge Hilton added that the court was not pre­sent­ed with evi­dence show­ing that the previous…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Sep 06, 2024

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Concedes Constitutional Errors in Marcellus Williams’ Conviction and Death Sentence, Urges the Court to Vacate His Conviction

On August 28, 2024, a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge held an evi­den­tiary hear­ing for Marcellus Williams (pic­tured), who has long main­tained his inno­cence in the 1998 mur­der of Felicia Gayle. At this hear­ing, the office of St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney (PA) Wesley Bell con­ced­ed that the pri­or admin­is­tra­tion, under Prosecuting Attorney Bob McCullogh, com­mit­ted con­sti­tu­tion­al errors con­tribut­ing to Mr. Williams’ unre­li­able con­vic­tion and death sen­tence. These errors include the…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Aug 22, 2024

Missouri Supreme Court Blocks Marcellus Williams from Entering Plea to Avoid Execution After State Reveals Mishandled Evidence

On August 21, 2024, Marcellus Williams (pic­tured), who is sched­uled to be exe­cut­ed on September 24, 2024, agreed to enter an Alford plea in exchange for a sen­tence of life with­out parole. This agree­ment would have ensured that Mr. Williams, who has always main­tained his inno­cence in the 1998 mur­der of Felicia Gayle, would not be exe­cut­ed. But hours after Judge Bruce F. Hilton accept­ed the plea agree­ment, Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the Missouri Supreme Court to block the deal,…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Aug 13, 2024

New Analysis: Innocent Death-Sentenced Prisoners Wait Longer than Ever for Exoneration

On July 1, after wait­ing 41 years for his name to be cleared, Larry Roberts became the 200th per­son exon­er­at­ed from death row. A new Death Penalty Information Center analy­sis finds that Mr. Roberts’ expe­ri­ence illus­trates a trou­bling trend: for inno­cent death-sen­tenced pris­on­ers, the length of time between wrong­ful con­vic­tion and exon­er­a­tion is increas­ing. In the past twen­ty years, the aver­age length of time before exon­er­a­tion has rough­ly tripled, and 2024 has the high­est-ever average wait…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Aug 01, 2024

Missouri Supreme Court Blocks Attorney General’s Efforts to Prevent Innocence Hearing for Marcellus Williams

On July 26, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court denied Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s request to block an evi­den­tiary hear­ing sched­uled for August 21st, 2024, where the St. Louis County Circuit Court is set to hear evi­dence of Marcellus Williams’ (pic­tured) inno­cence. The cir­cuit court set the August 21st hear­ing in response to a motion to vacate Mr. Williams’ con­vic­tion and death sen­tence filed by Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in January 2024. In his motion, DA Bell wrote that the…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jul 22, 2024

Missouri Attorney General Opposes Opportunity for Marcellus Williams to Establish His Innocence Before Execution Date

On July 18, 2024, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey asked the state Supreme Court to block a sched­uled evi­den­tiary hear­ing for Marcellus Williams and deny him the oppor­tu­ni­ty to estab­lish his inno­cence before his sched­uled exe­cu­tion on September 24, 2024. The Circuit Court of St. Louis County sched­uled the August 21st hear­ing to assess the ​“clear and con­vinc­ing” evi­dence of Mr. Williams’ actu­al inno­cence that prompt­ed St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to file a motion to vacate…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jul 08, 2024

Significant Developments in Cases of Innocent Prisoners on Death Row

On Wednesday, July 3rd, the 200th death row exon­er­a­tion was announced. But an unknown num­ber of pris­on­ers with com­pelling inno­cence claims remain on death row, unable to secure relief either because they lack access to com­pe­tent legal rep­re­sen­ta­tion for their appeals, are barred from access­ing the courts because of pro­ce­dur­al legal bar­ri­ers, or due to the incal­ci­trance of elect­ed offi­cials. For some of these pris­on­ers, exe­cu­tion dates have been set. Significant devel­op­ments have occurred…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jul 03, 2024

The 200th Exoneration Underscores Critical Flaws in the U.S. Criminal Legal System; Other Innocent Prisoners Remain on Death Row

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s land­mark rul­ing in Furman v. Georgia (1972), 200 death-sen­tenced men and women across 30 states have been exon­er­at­ed. Analysis from the Death Penalty Information Center reveals these indi­vid­u­als have col­lec­tive­ly spent 2,621 years in harsh prison con­di­tions for crimes they did not com­mit. On aver­age, death row exonerees spent 13 years under the sen­tence of death before their exon­er­a­tions, with some indi­vid­u­als spend­ing more than 40 years fight­ing to prove…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jun 10, 2024

Missouri Supreme Court Sets Execution Date for Marcellus Williams Despite County Prosecutor’s Pending Motion for Innocence Hearing

On June 4, 2024, the Missouri Supreme Court set a September 24, 2024, exe­cu­tion date for death-sen­tenced pris­on­er Marcellus Williams (pic­tured), despite seri­ous doubts that he was not involved in the mur­der for which he is incar­cer­at­ed. The announce­ment came just hours after the state Supreme Court ruled that Governor Mike Parson did not vio­late any rules when he dis­solved a board of inquiry estab­lished in June 2023 by his pre­de­ces­sor, Eric Greitens, to inves­ti­gate Mr. William’s claim of…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Jan 17, 2024

POSSIBLE INNOCENCE: Despite DNA Evidence Clearing Marcellus Williams, Missouri Intends to Execute Him

The Missouri Supreme Court is con­sid­er­ing how to apply a rarely used state law intend­ed to pre­vent wrong­ful exe­cu­tions. Marcellus Williams (pic­tured), a death row pris­on­er who main­tains his inno­cence, could face exe­cu­tion if the state’s high court allows Governor Mike Parson to dis­solve a board of inquiry that for­mer Governor Eric Greitens formed to exam­ine Mr. Williams’ inno­cence claims. Mr. Williams’ attor­neys argue that state law requires the board to pro­vide a report and recommendation to…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Executions Overview

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Jul 07, 2023

Missouri Governor Lifts Stay of Execution for Marcellus Williams, Ending Inquiry of Innocence Claim

On June 29, 2023, Missouri Governor Mike Parson (pic­tured) lift­ed the stay of exe­cu­tion for Marcellus Williams, a death-sen­tenced pris­on­er con­vict­ed of mur­der­ing Felisha Gayle, a for­mer St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter in 1998. Governor Parson also dis­solved the Board of Inquiry, a judi­cial pan­el appoint­ed by for­mer Missouri Governor Eric Greitens to review evi­dence of inno­cence and pro­vide rec­om­men­da­tions on Mr. Williams’s appli­ca­tion for executive…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Clemency

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Aug 31, 2022

Missouri Governor Silent on Marcellus Williams’ Case 5 Years After Execution Halted for Board of Inquiry Innocence Review

Five years after for­mer Gov. Eric Greitens issued an exe­cu­tion-day reprieve for a Board of Inquiry to address ques­tions of inno­cence, Marcellus Williams remains on Missouri​’s death row. Though the board pre­sent­ed its rec­om­men­da­tions more than a year ago, cur­rent Gov. Mike Parson has tak­en no action on the…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Clemency

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Jun 25, 2018

Board Appointed By Resigned Missouri Governor to Review Death-Row Prisoner’s Case

A Board of Inquiry appoint­ed by for­mer Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens will con­vene on August 22, 2018 to con­sid­er the fate of Marcellus Williams (pic­tured), one year to the day after Williams received a last-minute reprieve from exe­cu­tion based on evi­dence of his…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Clemency

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Aug 22, 2017

Missouri Governor Stays Execution of Marcellus Williams to Consider Evidence of Innocence

Calling a sen­tence of death ​“the ulti­mate, per­ma­nent pun­ish­ment,” Missouri Governor Eric Greitens (pic­tured) has stayed the exe­cu­tion of Marcellus Williams ​“in light of new infor­ma­tion” that Williams’s lawyers say demon­strate he is inno­cent of the mur­der of for­mer St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Felisha…