PROVO, Utah — In a surprise announcement, the Utah County Attorney's Office has withdrawn its intent to seek the death penalty for Douglas Carter in his upcoming trial after spending years on death row.
The office added that it is also reassessing how it will move forward in court proceedings.
Carter was originally convicted and sentenced to death for the 1985 home invasion murder of Eva Olesen, which was later thrown out by a judge who found Carter's constitutional rights had been violated. The Utah Supreme Court upheld that decision.
Provo police officers in the case were accused of threatening and bribing key witnesses in the case, and Carter has maintained that his own confession was coerced.
Ahead of his new trial, Carter's attorneys claimed in July that his DNA profile did not appear at the original crime scene. After Carter refused to provide a DNA sample at the state's request, testing of items at the scene showed the presence of an unknown male profile, leading the court to demand last month that Carter provide a DNA sample.
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However, in Wednesday's announcement, the Utah County Attorney's Office said it will no longer seek the death penalty for Carter in his new trial after the Utah State Crime Lab compared Carter's DNA with the profile found at the crime scene. The office did not release the results of the tests or provide a reason why it was withdrawing its intent to seek the death penalty.
"The Office is also in the process of reassessing the evidence in this case in light of the DNA results to determine how best to proceed," a statement read.
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The Attorney General's Office added that it has requested a bail hearing to allow the trial court to "reassess" Carter's custody status.