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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)
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