Missouri high court pauses life sentence ruling for inmate on death row

(Reuters) - The Missouri Supreme Court ordered a trial court judge on Thursday to set aside a judgment he issued this week allowing a man who had been sentenced to death after a murder conviction to instead serve life in prison in an agreement with county prosecutors.

The Supreme Court said Judge Bruce Hilton is required by state to first hold an evidentiary hearing before issuing his judgment.

Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted of fatally stabbing a woman in 1998 and had been scheduled to be executed next month, though he has maintained his innocence. Earlier this year, St. Louis County prosecutors asked Judge Hilton to vacate the most serious murder charge for which he was convicted, saying that DNA evidence from the murder weapon did not match Williams.

Approving an agreement between prosecutors and Williams, Hilton ruled on Wednesday that Williams can instead plead guilty to a first-degree murder charge that would carry with it a sentence of life in prison, known as an "Alford plea."

In his ruling, Hilton noted "constitutional errors" in the original conviction, and that the family of the victim, Felicia "Lisha" Gayle, did not want Williams to be executed.

Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey opposed the arrangement, and asked the Supreme Court to intervene and to allow Bailey's office to present evidence he says ties Williams to the murder at a hearing and that the original capital conviction should be upheld.

In response to the Supreme Court order, Judge Hilton set an evidentiary hearing for Aug. 28, allowing the attorney general to present his arguments alongside Williams and the county prosecutors.

"We look forward to putting on evidence in a hearing like we were prepared to do yesterday," Bailey said in a statement.

The St. Louis County prosecuting attorney's office said in a statement it would defend its agreement with Williams to submit an Alford plea, and that prosecutors "still have concerns about the integrity of the conviction of Marcellus Williams."

(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Diane Craft)