A Missouri death row inmate who has long maintained his innocence and is scheduled to be executed in less than a week asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday for a stay of execution, arguing that he was denied his fair trial rights during a years-long legal battle to save his life.
Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted in 2001 of the premeditated murder of Felicia Gayle. The former newspaper reporter was found stabbed to death in her home in 1998. His execution is scheduled for September 24.
In court documents, Williams’ lawyers point out that former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens had previously stayed Williams’ execution indefinitely and set up a commission to investigate his case and decide whether he should be granted clemency.
“The panel investigated Williams’ case for the next six years – until Governor Michael Parson abruptly ended the proceedings,” the lawyers wrote.
When Parson took office, he dissolved the board and revoked Williams’ stay of execution, the petition says. Parson’s decision denied Williams his right to due process, Williams’ lawyers say.
“The Governor’s actions violated Williams’ constitutional rights and required the Court’s attention with extraordinary urgency,” the court documents say.
The St. Louis County district attorney said earlier this year that constitutional errors occurred in Williams’ original criminal trial, court records show, including the rejection of at least one potential black juror because of his race.
“These would be central questions for the Board of Inquiry to consider in its decision to recommend clemency rather than execution – had the Governor not wrongfully dissolved the Board,” the documents say.
Prosecutors raised some of these points in a motion to overturn Williams’ conviction, which a judge denied earlier this month.
The NAACP is calling on Parson to prevent Williams’ execution, pointing out that the death penalty “has been applied in a racially unequal manner in the past,” particularly in Missouri.
“The killing of Mr. Williams, a black man wrongfully convicted of killing a white woman, would be a horrific miscarriage of justice and a repeat of Missouri’s worst past,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, and Nimrod Chapel Jr., president of the Missouri State Conference, wrote in an open letter to Parson.
On Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri also sent a letter to Parson urging him to stop Williams’ execution.
“As legislators, we are committed to making Missouri a beacon of justice, and we strive daily to represent the needs and demands of Missourians across the state,” the letter said. “For that reason, we urge you to immediately commute Mr. Williams’ sentence and stop his execution.”
Bush highlighted the efforts of Williams’ lawyers to prove his innocence and said executing Williams would be a “grave injustice and would cause serious and lasting harm.”
CNN’s Dakin Andone, John Fritze and Evan Perez contributed to this report.
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