PETITION: STOP THE SEPT. 24 EXECUTION OF MARCELLUS WILLIAMS, AN INNOCENT MAN: (LINK BELOW)
https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-marcellus-williams-an-innocent-man/
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Marcellus Williams has spent 24 years behind bars after he was convicted in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and one-time St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. The next step in Williams' upcoming execution was taken Tuesday when the Missouri Supreme Court announced the execution date for Sept. 24.
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The execution date doesn't mean the court isn't actively considering Bell's motion. Rather, it sets a deadline for the motion to be decided. "The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date for Marcellus Williams when our office has a pending motion before a lower court to vacate the conviction that led to Williams’ death sentence," a spokesperson from the county prosecuting attorney's office told 5 On Your Side. "We will proceed with the courts as we see proper and announce any actions we take with the courts after we have taken them. Until then, we will have no further comment."
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STORY: "Missouri issues execution date for Marcellus Williams despite ongoing legal challenge, St. Louis County prosecuting attorney says," by Digital Desk Producer and Reporter Hunter Bassler, published by KSDK, on June 5, 2024.
SUB-HEADING: "Williams has spent decades behind bars while multiple groups plead for his release, including the county prosecution office that originally convicted him."
GIST: "A change to Missouri's law in 2021 is setting the stage for a historic legal battle over the upcoming execution of a man on death row for a crime many say he didn't commit.
Marcellus Williams has spent 24 years behind bars after he was convicted in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and one-time St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. The next step in Williams' upcoming execution was taken Tuesday when the Missouri Supreme Court announced the execution date for Sept. 24.
In the years following Williams' conviction, numerous groups have pushed back against the execution decision citing that DNA evidence found on the knife that killed Gayle didn't match Williams and, instead, belonged to an unknown person, according to attorneys with the Midwest Innocence Project.
One of the groups pushing for Williams' release is the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, the same office that originally convicted Williams of the crime.
Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a legal motion in January to halt Williams' execution based on the DNA evidence.
Bell's move to vacate the conviction is possible thanks to a change made to Missouri's law in 2021, which allows prosecutor offices to go back and challenge prosecutions their office had previously brought, a power that was previously reserved for the Missouri Attorney General's Office.
The law change has previously led to the release of two men from prison: Kevin Strickland in 2021 and Lamar Johnson in 2022.
However, Tuesday was the first time in state history that the Missouri Supreme Court set an execution date for an inmate who has an active motion to vacate filed under this new statute.
The execution date doesn't mean the court isn't actively considering Bell's motion. Rather, it sets a deadline for the motion to be decided.
"The Missouri Supreme Court has set an execution date for Marcellus Williams when our office has a pending motion before a lower court to vacate the conviction that led to Williams’ death sentence," a spokesperson from the county prosecuting attorney's office told 5 On Your Side. "We will proceed with the courts as we see proper and announce any actions we take with the courts after we have taken them. Until then, we will have no further comment.""
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."Lawyer Radha Natarajan:Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
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YET ANOTHER FINAL WORD:David Hammond, one of Broadwater's attorneys who sought his exoneration, told the Syracuse Post-Standard, "Sprinkle some junk science onto a faulty identification, and it's the perfect recipe for a wrongful conviction.
https://deadline.com/2021/11/alice-sebold-lucky-rape-conviction-overturned-anthony-broadwater-12348801
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