D.R. Littlejohn

A Utah judge has ordered the release of Douglas Stewart Carter, a Black man who spent 41 years on death row for a 1985 murder he did not commit. Carter, now 71, was convicted of killing a 57-year old White woman, Eva Olesen in Provo, Utah, on February 27, 1985. He was sentenced to death that same year. The case later unraveled. Two key witnesses recanted their testimony, saying police pressured, paid and threatened them. In 2025, the Utah Supreme Court ordered a new trial, citing multiple instances of intentional misconduct by investigators and a prosecutor. Now new DNA testing has excluded Carter from genetic material found on the murder weapon and at the crime scene. After four decades behind bars, including 41 years under a death sentence, Carter walked out of jail on September 28, 2026, on bail while prosecutors reconsider the case. He lost 41 years of his life to a conviction that has been repeatedly undermined by evidence. He is now 71 years old. He should have been free decades ago.