By Kaylynn Chang
ST LOUIS, MO — Missouri’s Attorney General Andrew Bailey submitted a writ of prohibition to the Missouri Supreme Court that prevented the St. Louis County Circuit Court from reviewing DNA evidence that could absolve Marcellus Williams of the crime and the death penalty.
According to a late July press release from the Innocence Project the court had scheduled a hearing for August 21 to consider the evidence, which Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell believes could overturn Williams’s wrongful conviction and death sentence.
Despite the strong evidence supporting Williams’s innocence, his execution is continued to be set for about two months from now, Sept. 24.
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, one of Williams’s attorneys, condemned the Attorney General’s actions, charging, “Instead of using the office’s time and resources to review the merits of Marcellus Williams’s innocence claim, the Attorney General seeks to delay a court from even hearing the evidence until it is too late.”
Bushnell noted the Attorney General delayed filing an opposition until after the execution date was set and called for collaboration in the pursuit of justice.
In an article by the Innocence Project, it’s stated Williams has been on death row for 24 years, convicted of the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former journalist, who was found stabbed to death.
The article reports the crime scene yielded significant forensic evidence, such as fingerprints, a bloody shoe print, hair, and DNA on the murder weapon, but none of it matched Williams.
The article reveals that Williams’ conviction was mainly based on the testimonies of two unreliable witnesses who were promised leniency and rewards.
Recent DNA testing, however, has shown Williams is not linked to the crime, yet the article states that “no court has considered that evidence.”
Attorney Bell appointed a special prosecutor who Bell said reviewed findings from three independent DNA experts, who all concluded Williams was not the source of the DNA on the murder weapon.
According to the motion filed by Attorney Bell to vacate the conviction, “DNA evidence supporting a conclusion that Mr. Williams was not the individual who stabbed Ms. Gayle has never been considered by any court.
“This never-before-considered evidence, when paired with the relative paucity of other, credible evidence supporting guilt . . . casts inexorable doubt on Mr. Williams’s conviction and sentence.”
Despite this, the article states MO Attorney General Bailey opposes reviewing the new evidence, and this is consistent with the office’s history of opposing innocence claims, even with supporting DNA evidence.
For instance, the article refers to a 2003 case, where an assistant attorney general argued that a man should be executed despite potential proof of innocence. The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately disagreed and exonerated the man.
As the article emphasizes, the Williams case highlights serious issues in the justice system, including reliance on unreliable witnesses, racial bias, and resistance to overturn wrongful convictions despite new evidence. With his execution date approaching, the article urges for a need for judicial review of all evidence, particularly in death penalty cases.
