A 55-year-old Missouri man — who maintained he was harmless — was executed Tuesday night, and have become the newest of a number of latest folks put to demise who’ve renewed scrutiny of the demise penalty.
In 2001, Marcellus Williams was convicted of the 1998 killing of social employee and former St. Louis Put up-Dispatch reporter Felicia “Lisha” Gayle, and sentenced to demise. Since his sentencing, questions have been raised about how proof within the case was dealt with and whether or not jury choice for his trial was truthful.
Given these considerations, and Williams’s continued claims that he didn’t kill Gayle, he and St. Louis prosecuting legal professional Wesley Bell known as for the state to vacate his conviction. Whereas his execution was beforehand delayed twice earlier than, the Missouri governor and state Supreme Court docket have declined to take action once more this previous week, and he was killed by deadly injection Tuesday.
The excellent uncertainty in Williams’s case — and the truth that he was put to demise anyway — have put a brand new highlight on capital punishment and lots of issues which have been cited with it.
What are the brand new developments in Williams’s case?
Williams was convicted for Gayle’s homicide primarily based on the testimony of two witnesses, together with his girlfriend on the time, who stated she noticed the sufferer’s purse and laptop computer in his automotive. Williams was incarcerated on the time of his conviction within the Gayle case, and his then-cellmate Henry Cole additionally claimed that Williams had admitted to the killing.
Williams’s counsel argues that each witnesses had different motives for singling him out, together with “reward cash and a discount for shorter sentences in their very own prison instances,” in keeping with the Washington Put up.
As USA At the moment notes, there wasn’t forensic proof linking Williams to the crime, and his DNA was not discovered on the homicide weapon — a knife.
Since his conviction, Williams’s counsel has known as for better investigation of the DNA that was on the knife, in addition to a assessment of racial bias within the jury choice course of. Gayle’s household has additionally backed clemency and the potential for a life sentence with out parole.
Beforehand, Williams’s counsel satisfied former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens that new testing of the DNA proof, which included DNA from one other man, had the potential to exonerate him. That led Greitens to grant a keep of execution in 2017 and to convene a panel to research this proof.
Attorneys have since realized, although, that the knife had fingerprints and DNA from a prosecutor who had touched the homicide weapon with out carrying gloves, contaminating the proof.
Williams’s allies have additionally argued he confronted racial bias in his trial after a former prosecutor stated he eliminated a Black juror due to his resemblance to Williams.
Williams’s attorneys known as on the US Supreme Court docket to grant a keep of the execution as a result of this proof of bias. The Court docket didn’t accomplish that.
The Missouri Supreme Court docket additionally declined to grant a keep, with Choose Zel Fischer citing “no credible proof of precise innocence or any exhibiting of a constitutional error undermining confidence within the authentic judgment.”
What considerations does this increase about capital punishment?
Using capital punishment has waned lately as considerations about how properly it really works as a deterrent, how humane it’s, and racial disparities in demise sentences have grown. In response to one 2016 research in Washington State, Black defendants are 4 occasions extra prone to be sentenced to demise than non-Black defendants in comparable circumstances.
Though 27 states nonetheless permit the demise penalty, 14 of these haven’t performed any executions up to now 10 years, in keeping with CNN. Executions have additionally dwindled since 1999, which marked a latest excessive when practically 100 folks had been killed. In 2023, 24 folks had been executed throughout 5 states; presently, 24 individuals are anticipated to be executed this yr.
Among the many considerations raised by executions is the concern that harmless folks may face these sentences. Williams’s workforce has been adamant that his case is an instance of this subject.
“Missouri is poised to execute an harmless man, an final result that calls into query the legitimacy of all the prison justice system,” Tricia Bushnell, a Midwest Innocence Venture legal professional representing Williams, stated in an announcement earlier than the execution.
In response to the Loss of life Penalty Info Middle, no less than 200 individuals who had been wrongly convicted and sentenced to demise have been exonerated since 1973. And per a 2014 research estimate, roughly 4 p.c of the folks sentenced to demise are harmless.
Replace, September 25, 10 am: This piece, initially revealed on September 24, has been up to date to replicate Williams’s execution.