Death row inmate pleas for commute of sentence as DNA evidence was 'contaminated' during arrest

Marcellus Williams has urged the Missouri Justice Department for years to look into DNA evidence he believes will exonerate him , but the state has yet to test it as well as correct a decades-old mistake by a prosecutor's office.

Williams, 55, is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 24 for the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle in the St. Louis suburb of University City. On Wednesday, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton presided over an evidentiary hearing challenging Williams' guilt. He is expected to announce a ruling by mid-September.

The heart of Williams' argument was DNA evidence that authorities recently determined was contaminated over two decades ago by officials in the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. The Missouri Attorney General's Office has opposed an effort to spare Williams' life and said that other evidence points to his guilt.

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Testing that was not available when Williams' was tried in 2001 found that his DNA was not on the murder weapon, prompting St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell in January to file a request for the conviction to be overturned.

But the case on behalf of Williams took a big hit when subsequent tests determined that the knife had been so mishandled in the aftermath of the killing that it would be impossible to identify the killer. With the DNA evidence spoiled, lawyers for Williams and the prosecutor's office reached a compromise at an Aug. 21 hearing: Williams would enter a new, no-contest plea to first-degree murder in exchange for a new sentence of life in prison without parole.

Hilton signed off on the agreement. So did Gayle's family. The Missouri Attorney General's Office did not. At Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey's urging, the Missouri Supreme Court blocked the agreement and ordered Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing.

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Assistant Attorney General Michael Spillane told Hilton on Wednesday that the killer wore gloves, so it would be unlikely his DNA would be on the knife anyway. The testing found that DNA from Edward Magee, an investigator for the prosecutor's office when Williams was tried, was on the knife. Testing also couldn't exclude the original prosecutor who handled the case, Keith Larner.

Charlotte Word, a scientist who is an expert in forensic DNA testing, testified Wednesday that because of how the knife was mishandled, it was impossible to know if Williams' DNA had previously been on it.

Williams' execution, now less than four weeks away, is still on. If Hilton rules against Williams, his attorneys are expected to file more appeals and seek clemency from Republican Gov. Mike Parson.