PROVO, Utah — Attorneys representing former death row inmate Douglas Stewart Carter have filed a motion to dismiss the case, accusing Provo police of losing evidence and not properly investigating other potential suspects in the 1985 home invasion murder of Eva Olesen.
Carter, whose original conviction and death sentence was overturned over findings his constitutional rights had been violated and accusations that police bribed and threatened witnesses in the case against him (police maintained any money spent for witness protection), is facing a new trial for murder. Carter has also insisted his own confession to the crime was coerced. Utah County prosecutors have filed a notice to seek the death penalty against Carter again, if he is convicted again.
In a new court filing, Carter's attorneys said the Utah County Attorney's Office disclosed misconduct by a Provo police lieutenant who investigated the homicide, including suppressing exculpatory evidence. The defense also said prosecutors cannot find evidence that is part of the decades-old case.
"The full scope of this development has yet to be realized, as Mr. Carter is still waiting for final documentation on what evidence remains in possession of Provo PD. Mr. Carter had originally intended to wait to file this motion until he received complete discovery. However, with the disclosure of additional misconduct it was decided to proceed with the filing of this motion prior to disclosure of complete discovery. Mr. Carter reserves the right to address additional material prejudice uncovered by future disclosures," Carter's defense attorney, Neal Hamilton, wrote. "In this case, State actors have acted to ensure that Mr. Carter cannot obtain a fair trial. Dismissal is the only remedy."
Carter is accused of killing Olesen, who was shot and stabbed to death inside her Provo home. She was the aunt of Provo's then-police chief. The filing also accuses police of not focusing on other potential suspects in Olesen's murder, including her husband and another man seen in the neighborhood around the time of the crime.
"No reports were made of neighbors observing a black man in the area the day Eva was murdered," Hamilton wrote. "Numerous neighbors who live in close proximity to the Olesen home reported hearing a loud, explosive noise."
Carter appeared in court on Friday morning for a hearing, where arguments were not heard on the motion to dismiss over lost evidence. Instead, the judge said he would hear arguments in June on that and will consider a defense request to release him on bail. Utah County prosecutors also disclosed that an FBI profile requested by Provo police in the homicide, which did not match Carter, was not provided.
"Understanding this is exculpatory information, and it is my ethical duty to disclose this, I disclosed this information to the defense," said deputy Utah County Attorney Erwin Petilos.
Fourth District Court Judge Derek Pullan told prosecutors to file a request with the FBI to see if it still exists.
Other evidence from the case was still being turned over to Carter's defense team, Petilos insisted to the judge. Defense attorneys declined to comment to FOX 13 News outside of court, but in their filing said "the depth and breadth of misconduct known is staggering, and the likelihood of additional misconduct having occurred but not yet realized is chilling."
"Douglas Carter spent over 40 years on death row for a crime which he, and the evidence, says he did not commit," Hamilton wrote.
Outside of court, a member of the victim's family told reporters she still believed Carter is the right suspect.
"If I didn’t think he was guilty? I’d be the first one to say let him go. But I do," said Theresa Olesen, Eva's daughter-in-law.
Theresa Olesen also said she believed Provo police did not act maliciously.
"I, with all my heart, know that the police at that time did not have any maliciousness. They got up, they did their job, they were trying to find out who came into and murdered... a young woman, a grandmother, a mother who was knitting a sweater for her son’s 16th birthday," she said.
