A judge in Utah has ordered a 71-year-old man released on bail after spending decades on death row for a 1985 murder over the objections of the victim's family. Prosecutors admitted that newly analyzed DNA evidence did not indicate his involvement in the crime, CNN reports.
Forced confessions?
Douglas Stewart Carter was sentenced to death the same year. A jury found him guilty of murdering Eva Olesen, the aunt of Provo's then-police chief.
The Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing abuses by investigators. Carter maintained his innocence and claimed that the confessions he signed were coerced.
Although no physical evidence linked him to the crime scene, the jury convicted Carter, who was black, based on the testimony of two witnesses. They claimed that Carter bragged about killing Olesen, who was white.
The adopted son did not know about the case
Defense attorney Neal Hamilton said Carter would be placed near the family of his son, who was adopted by another family as an infant and did not learn of his father's conviction for years.
Hamilton added that Carter will also need therapy to deal with the effects of his long imprisonment. It's not as simple as, 'Let's just let him go,'" Hamilton said. He is being released with 41 years of state-inflicted trauma and its impact on him will be very real, he added.
The DNA doesn't match
Prosecutors said the results of a DNA analysis received on September 22 ruled out Carter as a possible perpetrator, referring to traces of blood found on the doorknob and genetic material from the handle of the knife used to stab the woman, who was additionally shot.
Carter, a Chicago native, was living in Utah with his mother at the time of Olesen's murder on Feb. 27, 1985. Court records show that the investigation ultimately focused on Carter, who was suspected of murder during the robbery.
In April 1985, Carter fled Utah because he believed he was a suspect in another assault case. He was captured in June of that year in Nashville, where he signed a confession while being interrogated by a Provo detective.
Carter later said he made the false confession after being repeatedly threatened by police. He was sentenced to death after a trial in which the defense did not call any witnesses. He was sentenced to death again after another trial in 1992, and Utah courts rejected his numerous appeals over the following years.
A turning point
As CNN writes, the turning point came in 2011, when two witnesses from the man's original trial were found in Mexico. They said they were told to lie in court and were given cash and gifts and told by police not to disclose the payments.
They also added that police and prosecutors threatened to deport them and their son if they did not charge Carter.
More than a decade of legal wrangling ended only last year when the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing "numerous instances of intentional abuse" by police and prosecutors.
The suspect was the victim's husband
Carter's defense attorneys say witnesses saw a white man running from the scene, and one investigator withheld evidence pointing to other suspects, including the victim's husband.
A man who died in 2009 told police that he found his wife dead at home, partially undressed and with her hands tied behind her back.
