Utah prosecutors drop death bid after DNA exclusion

Utah County Attorney Jeffrey Gray on Wednesday withdrew the death-penalty notice against Douglas Stewart Carter, 71, in the 1985 murder of Eva Olesen. DNA analysis received Tuesday excluded Carter as a match to blood on a doorknob and material on a knife handle. The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial last year citing investigator misconduct. The retrial is set for next July and expected to last eight weeks. Defense attorney Neal Hamilton requested a bond hearing and urged dismissal. "It's not time to try to save face and continue with a tainted prosecution. They know they don't have a case. The moral obligation is to dismiss," Hamilton said. He called the withdrawal welcome but said the state should dismiss the charges entirely after Carter's decades on death row for a crime he may not have committed. Gray said the DNA "does not necessarily exonerate Carter of the murder." Two witnesses later alleged police and prosecutors offered to pay their rent, coached them to lie, and threatened deportation. Defense attorneys say witnesses saw a white man fleeing the scene and note that Orla Olesen, Eva's husband, was previously a suspect but never charged. The handgun used in the killing was never found. Carter remains in custody and maintains his innocence. Whether the charges will be dismissed remains unresolved.