Utah man, 71, released from death row after DNA evidence excludes him in 1985 killing
By
Associated Press
asserted
evidence → release → killing
A 71-year-old man who was convicted of killing a police chief’s aunt and spent decades on death row was released Monday after prosecutors said newly analyzed DNA evidence doesn’t link him to the crime.
asserted
evidence → convict → crime
A Utah judge ordered Douglas Stewart Carter let out on bail late Monday over objections from the victim’s family.
asserted
Carter → order → family
Carter is required to wear a GPS monitor while he awaits a new trial in the 1985 killing of Eva Olesen.
asserted
he → require → Olesen
The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year, citing misconduct by investigators.
asserted
Court → order → investigators
Carter has maintained his innocence and says a signed confession was coerced.
asserted
confession → maintain → innocence
No physical evidence linked him to the crime scene.
asserted
evidence → link → scene
But the jury convicted Carter, a Black man, based on the confession and the testimony of two witnesses who said he bragged about killing Olesen, who was white.
asserted
who → convict → Olesen
Those witnesses later recanted.
asserted
witnesses → recant → ?
A DNA analysis received Sept. 22 excluded Carter as a possible match to blood found on a doorknob and genetic material recovered from the handle of a knife used to stab Olesen, who was also shot.
asserted
who → receive → Olesen
Judge Derek Pullan said those results further undermined the case against Carter, but a reasonable jury still could conclude that he killed Olesen.
uncertain
he → say → Olesen
Prosecutors are reconsidering the case
Carter walked out of jail late Monday, wearing a white shirt and grey sweatpants, with his eyeglasses hanging from around his neck.
asserted
eyeglasses → reconsider → neck
His son pushed a cart with pillows, blankets and Carter’s personal belongings beside him.
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son → push → him
Carter smiled at times while also trying to shield his face behind papers.
asserted
Carter → smile → papers
He didn’t speak to a handful of journalists outside the jail, and got into a vehicle with his son and defense attorney.
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He → speak → son
A judge ordered him not to have any contact with Olesen’s family.
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judge → order → family
“This is going to be a lot for him,” Carter’s son, Tyler Anger, said as he waited for his father.
asserted
he → go → father
Carter will be placed in an extended stay hotel near Anger, who was adopted by another family as an infant and didn’t learn about the conviction until years later, said Carter’s attorney Neal Hamilton.
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attorney → place → conviction
Carter also will need therapy to deal with his extended incarceration, Hamilton said.
asserted
Hamilton → need → incarceration
“If the state of Utah had their way, he would have been executed 15, 20 years ago before we discovered the misconduct,” Hamilton said.
asserted
Hamilton → have → misconduct
He urged prosecutors to seek dismissal of an aggravated murder charge still pending against Carter.
asserted
He → urge → Carter
A two-month retrial was planned next year, but last week county prosecutors withdrew a notice that they intended to seek the death penalty.
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they → plan → penalty
Utah County prosecutor Erwin Petilos told the judge Monday that reassessing Carter’s bail was “necessary and fair” as the state continues to look at the remaining evidence in the case.
asserted
state → tell → case
Carter, a Chicago native, was living with his mother in Utah when Olesen was killed on Feb. 27, 1985.
asserted
Olesen → live → Feb.
Court documents indicate the investigation eventually focused on Carter, who was suspected of killing Olesen during a robbery.
asserted
who → indicate → robbery
By that April, Carter had fled Utah believing he was a suspect in an unrelated assault case, according to court documents.
uncertain
he → flee → documents
He was apprehended that June in Nashville, Tennessee, where he signed a confession while under interrogation by a Provo detective.
asserted
he → apprehend → detective
Carter said later that he falsely confessed after police repeatedly threatened him.
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police → say → him
He was convicted and sentenced to death after a trial in which the defense called no witnesses.
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defense → convict → witnesses
He was again sentenced to death after a 1992 retrial, and courts in Utah rejected numerous appeals from Carter in subsequent years.
asserted
courts → sentence → years
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asserted
Report → start → news
Key witnesses say police gave them cash and gifts
A turning point came in 2011, when the two witnesses from Carter’s original trial were tracked down in Mexico.
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witnesses → say → Mexico
They said they had been told to lie in court and had received cash and gifts from police, who told them not to disclose the payments.
asserted
who → say → payments
They also said police and prosecutors threatened them and their son with deportation if they did not implicate Carter.
asserted
they → say → Carter
More than a decade of legal wrangling followed before the Utah Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing “multiple instances of intentional misconduct” by police and a prosecutor.
asserted
Court → follow → police
A DNA analysis of the evidence was conducted in response to that order, and prosecutors said the results arrived last week.
asserted
results → conduct → order
They declined Monday to say whether they’re using the DNA evidence to search for other suspects with matching DNA.
asserted
they → decline → DNA
Carter’s defense attorneys have said witnesses saw a white man fleeing the crime scene and an investigator suppressed evidence pointing to other suspects, including the victim’s husband, Orla Olesen.
asserted
investigator → say → husband
They allege that prosecutors were close to filing charges against the husband, but a Provo police lieutenant asked them not to so he could continue investigating.
uncertain
he → allege → them
Carter was identified as a suspect soon after, according to court documents.
uncertain
Carter → identify → documents
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
