Overview
- Prosecutors filed a motion on Wednesday saying a Utah State Crime Lab report found DNA from blood on a doorknob and material on a knife handle that excluded Douglas Carter and that they will no longer seek the death penalty.
- Defense lawyers say the DNA confirms Carter’s long‑held claim of innocence and have renewed requests to dismiss the charges and to free him pending further proceedings.
- The county attorney’s office said the new test does not automatically exonerate Carter and pointed to his signed confession, witness statements, and ballistics evidence as reasons to keep reviewing the case.
- Carter’s 1985 conviction and death sentence were vacated after courts found intentional police and prosecutorial misconduct, and a judge recently ordered Carter provide a DNA sample to compare with multiple unknown profiles from the scene.
- Next steps include a prompt bail hearing requested by prosecutors, a formal reassessment of whether to pursue prosecution, and continued questions about an unknown male DNA profile, the missing gun, and victims’ family requests that Carter remain in custody.