Marcellus Williams, a Missouri death row inmate who has maintained his innocence for decades, is set to be executed on Tuesday (September 24) after several efforts to vacate his conviction, per CNN.
Williams, now 55, was convicted of killing former newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle, who was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998. His execution is set for 6 p.m. CT on Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre despite long maintaining he's innocent.
In January, the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed a motion to vacate Williams' conviction and sentence, arguing that DNA testing of the murder weapon could prove he didn't kill Gayle. However, the argument fell apart during a circuit court hearing last month when new DNA testing revealed the murder weapon had been mishandled, contaminating the evidence that could've exonerated Williams.
Williams' lawyers and St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a joint brief over the weekend requesting the state Supreme Court send his case back to a lower court for a "more comprehensive hearing" on the January motion. On Monday (September 23), the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously declined to halt Williams' execution, saying the prosecution “failed to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence Williams’ actual innocence or constitutional error at the original criminal trial that undermines the confidence in the judgment of the original criminal trial.”
During Monday's hearing, Williams’ attorney, Jonathan Potts, also argued that a Black juror was pulled from the jury pool in part due to his race.
“There was a racial component to this,” Potts said, which the Missouri Attorney General’s office disputed.
Following Monday's decision, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, an attorney for Williams, said the “courts must step in to prevent this irreparable injustice.”
“Missouri is poised to execute an innocent man, an outcome that calls into question the legitimacy of the entire criminal justice system,” Bushnell said in a statement.
Williams' execution on Tuesday can now only be halted by the US Supreme Court. Williams' team filed a clemency petition to the nation's highest court on Wednesday (September 18), arguing that his due process rights were violated during his yearslong legal battle.
Attorneys noted that former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens paused Williams' execution in 2017 and appointed a board to investigate whether he should be granted clemency. However, Governor Mike Parson disbanded the board and reinstated the execution.
“The Governor’s actions have violated Williams’ constitutional rights and created an exceptionally urgent need for the Court’s attention,” the court documents state.
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