A comment from the the abolitionist site 'Death Penalty Action):
"The good news is that it appears likely that Marcellus "Khaliifah" Williams will not be executed next month.
Earlier today attorneys for Williams and the government submitted a compromise agreement that was approved by the judge. The bad news is that while he was allowed to maintain his claim of innocence, Khaliiifah entered a plea of "No Contest" and agreed to accept a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
If this resolution feels unjust to you, that's because it is not just. It is outrageous, but as Elyse Max, co-Director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, said as she left the courthouse, "this is what counts as a victory in Missouri." Ultimately, this was Kahliifah's decision, and it means he will live and can continue to fight for a more just resolution. In the photo at right is Khaliifah's son speaking with the media immediately following the hearing. He clearly stated that the fight will go on, and the family is relieved that the execution has been halted.
Death Penalty Action believes Khaliifah is innocent and should be freed. We are pleased that so long as the attorney general's appeal of this ruling fails, Khaliifah will not be executed. HOWEVER, take note that this is not over - the Missouri Attorney General said he plans to appeal the ruling, so we must maintain vigilance!"
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I will be following closely tomorrow - hopefully to fill in the blanks around this plea from a man who appears to be agreeing to a life sentence without the possibility parole (whose lawyer claims he is cleared by DNA evidence) in order to avoid his September 24 execution date.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to return Williams to court on Thursday for a sentencing hearing on the first-degree murder charge." (An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which a defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the prosecution's evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial. Oxford;)
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STORY: "Marcellus Williams to be resentenced Thursday on 1998 murder conviction," by First Alert 4 staff (KMOV) , published on August 21, 2024.
GIST: "Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams will likely be spared execution in the 1998 death of Felicia Gayle.
An evidentiary hearing was held Wednesday on a motion by St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell to vacate Williams’ conviction in the murder of Gayle. During the hearing, prosecutors agreed to accept an Alford plea of guilty to a charge of first-degree murder in Gayle’s death.
“Today, our office agreed to and the court accepted a consent judgment under which Marcellus Williams’ sentence of death would be vacated, conditional upon Williams immediately entering an Alford plea of guilty to the charge of murder in the first degree for the death of Felicia Gayle,” Bell’s office said in a news release.
Prosecutors said the agreement will likely take the death penalty off the table. Williams is set to be executed on Sept. 24.
“Under this agreement and in accordance with Missouri law, we anticipate Williams will be sentenced by the court to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Bell’s office said, adding it had no further comment due to an impending appeal by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.
“Given that the Missouri Attorney General’s Office has indicated it will appeal this disposition, we will offer no further comment at this time,” according to the release.
St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton ordered the Missouri Department of Corrections to return Williams to court on Thursday for a sentencing hearing on the first-degree murder charge.
According to Hinton’s order, parties in the case held a telephone conference with the family of Gayle on Wednesday. The family expressed they wanted finality in the case but did not want Williams to be executed.
Williams was convicted of the first-degree murder charge in 1998, which has been upheld by the state appeals courts and the Missouri Supreme Court. Bailey’s office is arguing the circuit court does not have the authority to overturn his conviction or resentence him.
In a news release following the hearing, Bailey said Williams’ acceptance of a plea in the case shows he is guilty. He also said the evidence in the case proves the same and his office stands with the jury’s determination in 1998.
“I am proud of how hard we have fought for the rule of law in this case,” Bailey said. “Throughout all the legal games, the defense created a false narrative of innocence in order to get a convicted murderer off of death row and fulfill their political ends. Because of the defense’s failure to do their due diligence by testing the evidence that supposedly proved their point, the victims have been forced to relive their horrific loss for the last six years. The victims in this case deserve better. Missourians deserve better.”
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion in January to vacate Williams’ conviction. The motion was filed under a law passed in 2021 in Missouri which allows prosecutors to seek to vacate a conviction they believe was made in error.
Gayle, 42, at the time of her death, was stabbed to death in her apartment on Aug. 11, 1998 at her home in the 6900 block of Kingsbury Boulevard in University City.
https://www.firstalert4.com/2024/08/21/marcellus-williams-be-resentenced-thursday-1998-murder-conviction/
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;
