Current Events > An innocent man is scheduled to be executed today for a crime he didn't commit.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://twitter.com/innocence/status/1838594906605920712

Governor Parson is a piece of shit racist who is refusing to cancel the execution despite prosecutors moving to vacate this man's conviction.

There's still time to stop this, please sign and share.

If I remember, the prosecutor isn't even asking to set him free. Just switch from death penalty to Life in prison. The governor has no reason other than blood lust, to not spare this man

Zikten posted...

If I remember, the prosecutor isn't even asking to set him free. Just switch from death penalty to Life in prison. The governor has no reason other than blood lust, to not spare this man

Wait what? If they are innocent why life in prison?

Mistere_Man posted...

Wait what? If they are innocent why life in prison?

It's about the postponement for sentence changing later.

Hell of a lot easier to argue an innocent man out of prison than the grave.

Oh very true, I apologize, I was just confused.

When the prosecutor says they fucked up, justice should be automatic. Put everyone involved in this travesty on death row and set this guy free with a lot of money.

If they get executed (hopefully not), and found innocent I say the governor should be arrested for murder.

Missouri doing Missouri things.

I get to vote against a measure here in Illinois to "start our own state" and one of the ideas too was to join Missouri. I think I'd rather not join that place.

If the prosecutors themselves cant sway this no amount of Internet signatures is going to matter.

Where is the petition at?
Can't seem to find it on their site

I'm getting conflicting info here, if he's innocent why are they trying to argue it down to life imprisonment?

MC_BatCommander posted...

I'm getting conflicting info here, if he's innocent why are they trying to argue it down to life imprisonment?

Easier to do that first then argue to be set free after
Our justice system is a fucking joke.

Mistere_Man posted...

If they get executed (hopefully not),

He will.

and found innocent I say the governor should be arrested for murder.

He wont.

this shit happens all the time and is beyond barbaric.

MC_BatCommander posted...

I'm getting conflicting info here, if he's innocent why are they trying to argue it down to life imprisonment?

Because he can be released from jail later; he can't be unexecuted.

MC_BatCommander posted...

I'm getting conflicting info here, if he's innocent why are they trying to argue it down to life imprisonment?

There are a series of investigations that were stopped/restarted due to some bureaucracy. They're still investigating some DNA evidence and other things. Signs are pointing towards some doubt that he even committed the crime because it's based primarily off an eye witness.

Regardless, maybe wait until the investigations are completed before killing him?

this is murder

its just disgusting

Sadly this dude is doomed to die and his killers will not lose a single bit of sleep over it.

And this is why people say get rid of the death penalty. This shit is disgusting. Nothing the president can do to stop this? I really wish karma was a real thing and would severely hit this governor.

What happens if the people that are set to execute him just don't do it?

Hopefully Biden pardons him. There is still time for Biden to save the day.

What is the governor's "justification" for refusing to hold off on this despite the prosecution saying they got it wrong?

This is murder, not justice.

Abolish the death penalty.

I dont understand how this even a thing. Why is a execution so prioritized over everything. Surely it could be rescheduled.

So, they have proof that he is innocent, But the Governor refuses to interfere why.. which dumb reason was this one, Another "we dont want to shake peoples faith in the justice system"

Turbam posted...

Where is the petition at?
Can't seem to find it on their site

This. Someone please give me a direct link.

When was the crime committed? How is this guy getting a rushed execution before investigations are even complete while others sit on death row for decades?

Rika_Furude posted...

When was the crime committed? How is this guy getting a rushed execution before investigations are even complete while others sit on death row for decades?

The US death penalty is so fucked up that the "urgency" in this case is probably because evidence of innocence is now coming out.

Anyone who supports the death penalty should hopefully reconsider after seeing cases like this. Innocent people do get caught in the crossfire.

This guy is going to be murdered by the state.

The prosecutor and the defense agreed to try and get the plea changed so that it could be life in prison instead to allow more time for the investigations, and the judge initially accepted it, but then the ultra MAGA attorney general overrode it and got the judge to reject it.

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

Anyone who supports the death penalty should hopefully reconsider after seeing cases like this. Innocent people do get caught in the crossfire.

This guy is going to be murdered by the state.

And it's not like shit like this can be reformed out of the system while still having the death penalty.

I.e., travesties like this are a feature, not a bug, of capital punishment.

Death penalty is bad. It's especially stupid here bc basically everyone directly involved is willing to convert this from death to a life sentence.

But it's a stretch to call him an "innocent" man. The case for innocence is that some other dude's DNA was present at the crime scene. That doesn't mean this guy wasn't also there.

lilORANG posted...

Death penalty is bad. It's especially stupid here bc basically everyone directly involved is willing to convert this from death to a life sentence.

But it's a stretch to call him an "innocent" man. The case for innocence is that some other dude's DNA was present at the crime scene. That doesn't mean this guy wasn't also there.

It's not JUST that somebody else's DNA was at the crime scene, it's that this man's was not. Furthermore, somebody else's DNA was on the murder weapon, while this man's was not.

There's an actual lack of evidence tying this man to it at all. They went entirely off of eye witness, and the witnesses in question had reason to lie, such as cash reward, and lighter sentences in their own criminal trials.

Here is a link to a petition, I don't know if it's the same one.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/marcellus-williams-in-missouri/

As a lapsing Catholic, I don't usually pray that much. But in this case, a prayer for the slightest possibility that this innocent man's life will be spared is the only thing I can offer.

Anybody who thinks the death penalty should exist? Just fucking look at this, this is a HUGE part of why execution is absolutely immoral and evil.

I think the Innocence Project is a little misleading on their statement of

DNA evidence proves Marcellus Williams is innocent.
Marcellus Williams is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 24 for a crime DNA proves he did not commit.

CNN reports that

The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorneys Office, which handled the trial against Williams, argued in the motion that DNA testing of the knife used in the killing might suggest Williams was not Gayles killer.
But that effort unraveled at a circuit court hearing last month, after new DNA testing revealed the murder weapon had been mishandled prior to the 2001 trial contaminating the evidence meant to exonerate Williams and complicating his quest to prove his innocence.

Attorneys received a report indicating the DNA on the murder weapon belonged to an assistant prosecuting attorney and an investigator who had handled the murder weapon without gloves prior to trial, the states judicial branch said.
But the Missouri Attorney Generals Office said the new DNA findings released last month dont exonerate Williams.
In this case, a new round of DNA testing proved the office was right all along; the knife in question has been handled by many actors, including law enforcement, since being found, Attorney General Andrew Bailey said.
In addition, one of the defenses own experts previously testified he could not rule out the possibility that Williamss DNA was also on the knife. He could only testify to the fact that enough actors had handled the knife throughout the legal process that others DNA was present.
Other evidence that helped convict Williams remains intact, the attorney general said.
The victims personal items were found in Williamss car after the murder. A witness testified that Williams had sold the victims laptop to him. Williams confessed to his girlfriend and an inmate in the St. Louis City Jail, and Williams girlfriend saw him dispose of the bloody clothes worn during the murder, the attorney generals office said.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/24/us/marcellus-williams-scheduled-execution-date/index.html

I'm not saying he's guilty or innocent.... But that headline is kinda misleading...

Junthor posted...

I'm not saying he's guilty or innocent.... But that headline is kinda misleading...

The second bolded part is misleading, itself. Said expert didn't testify about that because he thinks there's actual likelihood Williams's DNA is there, as they found no traces of Williams's DNA whatsoever. He just can't literally rule out the possibility with 100% certainty because... You can never do that, about anyone. There was nothing actually there making that possibility at all likely, though.

Like, said expert wouldn't be able to rule out the possibility that your DNA is on the knife, either.

HashtagSEP posted...

It's not JUST that somebody else's DNA was at the crime scene, it's that this man's was not. Furthermore, somebody else's DNA was on the murder weapon, while this man's was not.

There's an actual lack of evidence tying this man to it at all. They went entirely off of eye witness, and the witnesses in question had reason to lie, such as cash reward, and lighter sentences in their own criminal trials.

This dude's DNA was not detected at the crime scene. You can't say it wasn't there definitively. DNA analysts aren't testing every square millimeter of an object. And by nature of autosomal DNA analysis, an abundance of one person's DNA can make the testing of an additional profile impossible.

This case should raise enough questions to commute the death sentence without Innocence Project hyperbole

lilORANG posted...

This dude's DNA was not detected at the crime scene. You can't say it wasn't there definitively.

Bigfoot was not detected at the crime scene. You can't say Bigfoot wasn't there definitively.

lilORANG posted...

You can't say it wasn't there definitively.

Why would anybody need to?

It's innocent until proven guilty, and this is all happening because now even the prosecution believes they didn't actually prove him guilty. Hence, he's innocent.

I've been following this for awhile. Honestly since they fucked the evidence that had the potential to prove his innocence so badly, that alone should at least get him off death row.

Previous gov had his execution paused during the investigation, until rat fuck Parson dissolved the board doing the investigation and got his execution rolling again

absolutebuffoon posted...

Here is a link to a petition, I don't know if it's the same one.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/marcellus-williams-in-missouri/

Thanks. Signed

This is the petition I saw: https://innocenceproject.org/petitions/stop-the-execution-of-marcellus-williams-an-innocent-man/

Signed both of them.

republicans are evil

SCOTUS denied halting the execution across party lines: https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4897389-supreme-court-marcellus-williams-missouri-execution/amp/

there is no political solution to this system