Current Events > The state of Missouri plans to kill an innocent man today

(+) Yeah! (+)

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/execution-of-man-who-killed-former-post-dispatch-reporter-will/article_c685c2d5-7485-5a09-8063-23c3a990fc24.html

The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a petition to stop the state's next execution scheduled for Tuesday.

Marcellus Williams is scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday for the fatal stabbing of former Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle at her home in University City in 1998.

Williams' lawyers had asked the state's high court to stop the execution because of new evidence found in the case. But the court denied the petition on Tuesday night.

Williams' lawyers said new tests show that DNA found on the knife did not match Williams. The DNA matches an unknown male, according to an analysis by Greg Hampikian, a biologist with Boise State University.

A spokesman for Attorney General Josh Hawley said the state had enough non-DNA evidence to convict Williams.

Williams’ lawyers asked the court to appoint a special master to hear his claim of innocence or to vacate the death sentence and order his sentence commuted to life in prison.

Williams is also serving time for unrelated crimes.

The state’s high court had already put off Williams’ execution after his lawyers requested additional time to conduct the additional DNA testing.

Williams was convicted of killing Gayle, 42, at her home in the gated Ames Place neighborhood on Aug. 11, 1998. The prosecution said Williams was burglarizing the home when Gayle, who had been taking a shower, surprised him. She fought for her life as she was stabbed repeatedly.

A jury convicted Williams at a trial in 2001. He was sentenced to death by St. Louis County Circuit Judge Emmett M. O’Brien.

The judge also ordered Williams to serve consecutive terms of life in prison for robbery, 30 years for burglary and 30 years each for two weapons violations.

Gayle was a Post-Dispatch reporter from 1981-92. She left the paper to do volunteer social work with children and the poor.

Williams’ attorneys have claimed that the case against him was built solely on contradictory testimony from two “snitches” — his former girlfriend, Laura Asaro, and a former cellmate, Henry Cole — who were out for a $10,000 reward.

No forensic evidence ever pointed to Williams, who has maintained his innocence throughout, his lawyers have said.

Further context: https://twitter.com/helenprejean/status/897914814953074688
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Fucked up
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https://governor.mo.gov/get-involved/contact-the-governors-office

The hell do you expect a videogame messageboard to be able to do about this?

Questionmarktarius posted...

https://governor.mo.gov/get-involved/contact-the-governors-office

The hell do you expect a videogame messageboard to be able to do about this?

Do you think I post on GameFAQs to change things?
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Also this:
https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/400-current-events/75678332

Antifar posted...

Questionmarktarius posted...

https://governor.mo.gov/get-involved/contact-the-governors-office

The hell do you expect a videogame messageboard to be able to do about this?

Do you think I post on GameFAQs to change things?

Changing Lives
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Maybe we should just get rid of the death penalty so this shit can't happen

Absolute travesty. Anyone who supports the death penalty is okay with innocent people being executed.

Horus_Leftfield posted...

Maybe we should just get rid of the death penalty so this shit can't happen

Nope. There are some criminals that deserve to die.
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HashBrownAgain posted...

Nope. There are some criminals that deserve to die.

I'd rather they live than have this man die
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Here's more background. Not from an anti-death penalty advocate.

https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/files/pdf/Williams_8CAOpinion_2012.pdf

Apparently stolen goods from the burglary were found in possession of William's family members. This discovery was made after a jailhouse snitch reported that he confessed to him. He also had a history of burglary and other violent crimes.

This is screwed up. If there is any evidence it needs to be looked at. We shouldn't execute people when there is any doubt

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

Why don't you care?
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Horus_Leftfield posted...

Maybe we should just get rid of the death penalty so this shit can't happen

It's Missouri. All that's going to happen is that white police officers will shoot to kill all black suspects on sight and get off with it
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Zikten posted...

This is screwed up. If there is any evidence it needs to be looked at. We shouldn't execute people when there is any doubt

Judging from court documents, DNA exclusion by itself is not proof of innocence here. He became a suspect after a jailhouse snitch told police that he confessed to him. Police later searched the car he used and found some of the victim's stolen goods in it. His girlfriend gave testimony that incriminated him. Further, he had a history of burglary and other violent crime.

Consecutive life terms for robbery seems a bit excessive.
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America.
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System failing like it always does

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

The color of his skin is irrelevant.
Signs are pointing that he is innocent, he shouldn't have to do the time.
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Axiom posted...

System failing like it always does

Read the court documents. The anti-death penalty advocate's twitter account omitted certain details that strongly indicate guilt.

If the media wasn't obsessed with Trump not quite condemning nazis enough, this would get more traction.

Turbam posted...

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

The color of his skin is irrelevant.
Signs are pointing that he is innocent, he shouldn't have to do the time.

Allow me to offer a counter comment.

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else the courts would have postponed his execution immediately.
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DK9292 posted...

Turbam posted...

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

The color of his skin is irrelevant.
Signs are pointing that he is innocent, he shouldn't have to do the time.

Allow me to offer a counter comment.

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else the courts would have postponed his execution immediately.

Not with the other evidence against him.

Ammonitida posted...

DK9292 posted...

Turbam posted...

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

The color of his skin is irrelevant.
Signs are pointing that he is innocent, he shouldn't have to do the time.

Allow me to offer a counter comment.

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else the courts would have postponed his execution immediately.

Not with the other evidence against him.

Their main evidence is a confession received from an informant, and stolen goods found in his car, correct? Which are circumstantial at best.

I don't know much about America, but over here you're innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I utterly fail to see how "the DNA on the knife turned out be from someone different" is NOT cause for reasonable doubt.
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DK9292 posted...

Ammonitida posted...

DK9292 posted...

Turbam posted...

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

The color of his skin is irrelevant.
Signs are pointing that he is innocent, he shouldn't have to do the time.

Allow me to offer a counter comment.

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else the courts would have postponed his execution immediately.

Not with the other evidence against him.

Their main evidence is a confession received from an informant, and stolen goods found in his car, correct? Which are circumstantial at best.

I don't know much about America, but over here you're innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I utterly fail to see how "the DNA on the knife turned out be from someone different" is NOT cause for reasonable doubt.

Yep he should definitely be granted a stay of execution but Missouri gonna Missouri

DK9292 posted...

I don't know much about America, but over here you're innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I utterly fail to see how "the DNA on the knife turned out be from someone different" is NOT cause for reasonable doubt.

Because in this case, based just on the prosecutor quoted in the article in the OP, there was enough non DNA evidence to convict him.
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DK9292 posted...

I utterly fail to see how "the DNA on the knife turned out be from someone different" is NOT cause for reasonable doubt.

Because it was DNA on a knife....all that means is that that knife was used on someone else also. It's not like we are talking about DNA from a rape kit not matching.

Whether this needed a stay of execution or not I don't know....how did they link him to the knife is an important question.
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Its also worth noting that the defense team goes to the press and tells their side in a last ditch effort so that people like TC read the biased story and repost it all over the internet with deceptive titles like the one in this thread.

The guy may be innocent, I have no clue and am not pretending to, but he isn't innocent at this moment. He was tried before a jury and found guilty. His case has been through multiple appeals and that verdict hasn't changed.

The one thing that stands out as weird to me is that according to the one article it looks like he did get a stay to perform DNA testing at one point. Its odd that a court granted that type of stay but would ignore any new evidence resulting from DNA, unless its really not important. Who knows what actually happened; I'm too lazy right now to look into it.
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DK9292 posted...

Ammonitida posted...

DK9292 posted...

Turbam posted...

wheredayayo posted...

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else tc wouldnt care

The color of his skin is irrelevant.
Signs are pointing that he is innocent, he shouldn't have to do the time.

Allow me to offer a counter comment.

Of course he had to be black. If he was anything else the courts would have postponed his execution immediately.

Not with the other evidence against him.

Their main evidence is a confession received from an informant, and stolen goods found in his car, correct? Which are circumstantial at best.

I don't know much about America, but over here you're innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. I utterly fail to see how "the DNA on the knife turned out be from someone different" is NOT cause for reasonable doubt.

You're not looking at it the right way. The snitch's account is what led to the finding of the stolen goods in his grandfather's car. Coincidence? His girlfriend also gave testimony that incriminated him. Then you have his history of violence and burglary. That's a pretty strong circumstantial case.

The DNA on the knife is simply irrelevant. Secondary transfer happens all the time.