r/politics • u/seanosul • 9h ago

Missouri executes Marcellus Williams despite prosecutors’ push to overturn conviction

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/24/missouri-executes-marcellus-williams
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u/PigeonMelk 9h ago edited 7h ago

Even the prosecutors office came out in defense of Williams. That is extremely out of the norm unless there was an egregious error. Everyone involved with the situation (aside from Governor Parson and the Supreme Court) was on Williams' after new evidence arose proving his innocence. This is a symptom of a bigger problem with our justice system.

Edit: I misspoke. I said "broken" justice system. The system is not broken, it is working exactly as intended. We need systemic change.

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u/ParadoxInRaindrops 8h ago edited 7h ago

The prosecutors office, three members of the jury even came out expressing their doubts. Williams deserved a stay of execution and a retrial.

ETA: The victim’s own family didn’t want this. From what I’ve read: a pardon was overturned by the State AG & upheld by the Supreme Court.

This was a complete and total miscarriage of justice.

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u/Politicsboringagain 7h ago

Yeah, but if they did to do another trial and found him innocent, than the state would have to pay him restitution. 

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u/ParadoxInRaindrops 7h ago

Not a lawyer, but can Williams family file a wrongful death suit? Again NAL but this would have to be a violation of his 4th Amendment rights.

If that’s next, then I wish William’s family Godspeed. Whatever would’ve been owed to Marcellus I’m sure would be dwarfed by a wrongful death settlement.

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u/RaspberryFluid6651 4h ago

I would guess not. Legally, what's wrongful about it? From a purely legal perspective, the state followed the rules.

As far as I'm aware, if you are a convicted and sentenced, that is now a matter of record. New evidence to support your innocence doesn't automatically revoke the state's authority to carry out your sentence.

It's despicably immoral, but it's probably legal.

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u/CavingGrape 3h ago

remember kids, legal == right or moral

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u/Anjunabeast 1h ago

What does two equal signs mean again?

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u/ANAL_fishsticks 1h ago

I believe nothing, I think the poster was going for the “not equal” sign, which would instead be the following: ≠

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u/Anjunabeast 1h ago

Huh I could’ve sworn it was used in chemistry or programming but I haven’t been to school in years

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u/ANAL_fishsticks 1h ago

You are correct. I didn’t know until I googled it.

Two equal signs (==) are used to test for equality in programming languages. It’s also known as the logical equals operator because it’s part of a logical test that returns a true (1) or false (0) value.

For example, in JavaScript, the double equal operator returns true if two values are equal, and false if they are not. For example, let x = 5; let y = “5”; console.log(x == y); returns true because the operator converts the string to a number before comparing the values.

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u/longleggedbirds 1h ago

Guessing a typo of =/= . Easiest way to type. ( ≠ ). does not equal.

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u/Anjunabeast 1h ago

Just a heads up NAL has been appropriated by the MAGA crowd as a response to BLM

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u/ParadoxInRaindrops 1h ago

Ok.

But I very clearly establish what it is I’m abbreviating. And honestly, I’ve see IANAL and NAL interchangeably in these sort of legal threads.

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u/Anjunabeast 1h ago

I mean now you are being a little bit ANAL about it I was just tryna give you a friendly heads up

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u/ParadoxInRaindrops 55m ago

I know. I’ve seen it used the other way which is disgusting.

But it’s clear in context how I’m using the abbreviation with respect to this being a comment about legal proceedings.

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u/mrjimi16 5h ago

Also NAL, but they would have to have a ruling somewhere that he was not guilty. But don't feel too bad, the innocence here is vastly overstated. The DNA stuff isn't the kind to exonerate, it is the kind to obfuscate, to introduce doubt. He had the victim's things, he told multiple people he killed her. There's doubt sure, and I am personally very not in favor of capital punishment, but he probably did the thing.

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u/Forged-Signatures 4h ago

Isn't the entire point "beyond reasonable doubt"? If it introduces enough doubt that the prosecution say they're no longer convinced beyond reasonable doubt, surely it is at the very least worthy a retry?

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u/mrjimi16 4h ago

I don't disagree with that. I'm more pushing back against the sentiment on here that Missouri executed an innocent man. I think it more likely than not that he killed Felicia Gayle.

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u/Username8249 6h ago

They had already accepted a plea deal, that’s what was overruled. He agreed to plead guilty and get life without parole. Specifically an Alford Plea, in which he pleads guilty but maintains his innocence.

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u/mirageofstars 6h ago

So he did an Alford plea and they still killed him?

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u/Username8249 6h ago

Did an Alford plea, state AG appealed it, state Supreme Court upheld the appeal so overturned the plea, Supreme Court denied his appeal

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u/mirageofstars 6h ago

Ah gotcha. So he was convicted before and then he did the plea and the AG shot it down. Wild, so the AG really wanted the death penalty for this guy.

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u/mrjimi16 5h ago

It's literally what a bunch of these people campaign on. I've seen several political ads this year with people saying they will kill the criminals. It's absurd, it's immoral, but it is our reality.

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u/214ObstructedReverie 6h ago edited 6h ago

a pardon was overturned by the State AG

Missouri's AG is quite literally an objectively terrible person. He's one of the more deplorable individuals in politics. He has, repeatedly, conspired to keep legally exonerated people in prison, well after judges have ordered them released.

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u/01101011000110 7h ago

They really wanted to kill this innocent man, more than anything else.

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u/ASharpYoungMan 6h ago

They really wanted to kill this innocentblack man, more than anything else.

They genuinely don't seem to have cared about his innocence or guilt. But your point stands.

Edit: And this is not to say he wasn't innocent. I'm angry that his innocence was less important to the governor than the color of his skin.

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u/gsfgf Georgia 6h ago

I think they get off from killing the innocent guys in particular.

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u/Tom-Pendragon Norway 5h ago

he wasnt innocent.

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u/Equivalent-Process17 15m ago

????? This guy killed someone???

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u/KevinCarbonara 3h ago

He was not innocent. Please read up on the case. There's an overwhelming amount of evidence.

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u/Honky_Stonk_Man Kansas 7h ago

I think the victims family has cause to pursue a civil case against the state for violating their wishes.

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u/agprincess 5h ago

This was entirely political.

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u/theNightblade Wisconsin 6h ago

It's not a justice system, it's a legal system.

This is further evidence to add to the pile that confirms it

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u/Slow-Bit-4556 5h ago

Hmmm… Why a governor has a say in a court case ?

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u/PigeonMelk 5h ago

Since it was a state level case, the governer has the power to pardon convicted persons much the same as the President can pardon federally convicted persons.

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u/zhelives2001 6h ago

What was the new evidence?

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u/[deleted] 6h ago edited 5h ago

[deleted]

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u/bucknut4 Illinois 5h ago

It’s more than slightly inaccurate, it’s outright wrong. The victim’s belongings were found in Williams’ car. He pawned the husband’s laptop the day after the murder, and even admitted to doing so. He was also a career criminal serving 70 additional years for unrelated burglaries.

I won’t argue that he should have been executed but the likelihood of his innocence is very, very slim. Again, not advocating for his death but he should have been serving life.

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u/CSI_Tech_Dept California 4h ago

Meanwhile we have a convicted felon, who had part in attempted coup d'état not only not punished, but running for the presidential office.

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u/dablegianguy 3h ago

It’s not a « justice » system. It’s a legal system.

Like there’s no healthcare but a health market

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u/username_6916 2h ago edited 2h ago

What legal error was made in the initial trial?

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u/Ispitincopspizza 42m ago

People outnumber cops and judges. Idk why we let these people live. They have no problem killing. We shouldn't either.