The latest headlines from our reporters in the USA are sent directly to your inbox every weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from the USA
A death row inmate in Missouri is expected to be sentenced to life in prison, a dramatic reversal that comes less than a month before the scheduled execution of the inmate responsible for the 1998 murder of a St. Louis newspaper reporter.
The St. Louis County District Attorney’s Office said The Independent On Wednesday, court officials reached a mutual agreement that would overturn the death penalty imposed on Marcellus Williams in 2001 if the 55-year-old promptly enters an Alford plea.
In such a plea, a person accepts the punishment associated with conviction of a crime but continues to maintain his or her innocence.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning where Williams can enter his plea.
“As part of this agreement and in accordance with Missouri law, we expect the court to sentence Williams to life in prison without the possibility of parole,” prosecutors said. The Independent.
The deal replaced a hearing scheduled for Wednesday at which Williams’ lawyers were to present new DNA evidence that they believe implicates him in the knife murder of St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reporter Felicia Gayle, what could have turned the prisoner’s execution, scheduled for September 24, on its head.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey sought to dismiss Williams’ appeal on the grounds that his claims had already been litigated in court. On Wednesday, he said he opposed the settlement ruling.
Bailey argues that DNA analysis of the murder weapon in this case, a bloody knife, merely shows that the police handled the weapon after the murder and does not prove Williams’ innocence.
“Throughout all of these legal games, the defense created a false narrative of innocence to get a convicted murderer off death row and achieve their political goals,” Bailey wrote in a statement. “Because the defense failed to do its due diligence and examine the evidence supposedly supporting its case, the victims have been forced to relive their terrible loss over and over again for the past six years.”
The prosecutor also argues that other evidence proves Williams’ guilt, such as the testimony of two informants. Police investigating the murder found a St. Louis Post-Dispatch-branded ruler in Williams’ car and discovered a laptop belonging to Gayle’s husband in the home of a man who claimed Williams had given it to him.
A representative of Gayle’s family expressed the “desire that the death penalty not be carried out” and the “family’s desire for finality” during a discussion of the plea agreement, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
“By agreeing to an Alford plea, the parties will provide some measure of finality to Felicia Gayle’s family,” Williams’ attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell told the outlet. “And they will simultaneously ensure that Mr. Williams remains alive while we continue to search for new evidence to prove his innocence once and for all.”
The Independent and the non-profit Initiative for responsible companies in the service of justice (RBIJ) have launched a joint campaign calling for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States. RBIJ has attracted more than 150 high-profile signatories to its Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty – The Independent is the latest signatory on the list. We join high-profile leaders such as Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson in this initiative and are committed to highlighting the injustices of the death penalty in our reporting.
