Mistrial in the USA: DNA exonerates him after 41 years on death row

A man of 71 years old, convicted of murder and remained for decades in the death row in Utah, was released Monday after a report showed that his genetic profile didn’t match the evidence of the DNA related to crime.

The American defense made it known.

41 years on death row as an innocent man

Douglas Carter he had been sentenced to death in 1985, after being found guilty of the murder of Eva Olesen – aunt of the then local police chief – in Provo, Utah. The death sentence was upheld following a retrial in 1992.

Yesterday a judge ordered Carter released on bail pending a new trial. Carter has always maintained his innocence, stating that the confession he signed was extorted by coercion.

Returning home after decades in prison

The defense stated that physical evidence and eyewitness testimony indicated that it was Olesen who killed Olesen a white manyet Carter, a black man, had been convicted. “The state has them 41 years of life taken away and subjected him to the horror of death row for over 40 years, but tonight he is finally home,” Neal Hamilton, Carter’s defense attorney, said in a statement. “It’s a great day.”

The new trial and the misconduct of the officers

The state Supreme Court last year ordered a new trial, citing “serious incorrect conduct” by the investigators. No material evidence linked Carter to the crime scene; his conviction was based on the confession and testimonies of Epifanio Tovar and his wife Lucia. According to court documents, Carter stated that his confession had been coerced by police officers. In 2011, the Tovars reported that they had been forced to lie in court and that the police had paid the rent and bills (telephone and utilities). They also claimed that the police had threatened to have them and their son deported.