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Missouri Prisoner Executed After Making—and Losing—New Plea Deal
Loaded on Oct. 15, 2024
published in Prison Legal News
October, 2024, page 11
On September 13, 2024, a Missouri judge rejected an unusual request by St. Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell to overturn the conviction of condemned state prisoner Marcellus Williams, just weeks after accepting a new plea deal that the state Supreme Court then invalidated. Bell then took the ruling by St. …
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More from this issue:
- FCC Slashes Prison and Jail Phone Rates, Caps Video Call Cost, Eliminates “Site Commission” Kickbacks
- From the Editor
- Missouri Prisoner Executed After Making—and Losing—New Plea Deal
- Three BOP Prisoners Sentenced for Murder of “Whitey” Bulger at West Virginia Lockup
- At Oklahoma Lockup: Deputy Warden Fired and Arrested in Smuggling Scheme, Guards Charged in Prisoner’s Assault
- Alabama Prisoner Disciplined for Lying When Guard Cleared of Sexual Assault Allegation
- DOJ Opens Investigation Into Sex Abuse at Two California Women’s Prisons
- Three Former Rikers Island Guards Among Five Ex-Employees Charged in Massive Smuggling Scheme
- Crucial Surveillance Video Missing in Nevada Prisoner’s Homicide Caused by Guards
- Advanced Correctional Healthcare Ends Two Suits Over Deaths at Ohio Jail
- Texas Holds 1 in 41 Prisoners in Solitary Confinement
- Maine State Prison Warden Replaced As Misconduct Allegations Investigated
- Second Circuit: New York Prisoner’s Religious Discrimination Need Not Show a “Substantial” Burden of Beliefs, by Douglas Ankney
- Missouri Prisoners Losing Reentry Money to “Incarceration Reimbursement”
- Mistrial for Vermont Sheriff Who Kicked Shackled Detainee
- Georgia Guard Gets 15 Years for Using One Prisoner to Assault Another
- $1.8 Million Jury Award for San Diego Jail Overdose Death, by Matthew Clarke
- More Alabama Prisoners Murdered in Overcrowded Lockups
- Paternity Questions Dog Miami Jail Birth
- Federal Watchdog, SCOTUS Fail to Limit Solitary Confinement Abuses, by Douglas Ankney, Anthony Accurso
- America’s Prison Profiteers from Colonial Times Until Now, by Douglas Ankney
- Unequal Before the Law, by Stephanie Woodard
- North Carolina Expands Supervision for Mentally Ill Probationers, by Anthony Accurso
- South Carolina Prison Guard Supervisor Charged With Taking Over $219,000 in Bribes to Smuggle Cellphones
- New TV Show Dramatizes Prisoner’s Re-entry
- Alaska Supreme Court: DOC Can’t Unilaterally Redefine ‘Parole Release Date’, by Douglas Ankney
- Sixth Circuit Sets Up Circuit Split with Ruling on Michigan Prisoner’s PLRA Exhaustion Dispute
- Mentally Ill Detainee Allegedly “Stomped” In the Head By South Carolina Jailer, by Anthony Accurso
- Watchdog Calls for Hawaii Prisons, Jails to Stop Using Restraint Chairs
- Seventh Circuit Avoids Deciding Whether Wisconsin Statute of Limitations Tolls from Prisoner’s Incident or Grievances, by David Reutter
- Parole Denied for Indigenous Activist Leonard Peltier
- Florida Reentry “Success” Story: Convicted Embezzler Promoted to Oversee Miami-Dade County Contracts
- Ohio Pays $725,000 to Survivors of Two Prisoners Beaten to Death by Lying Guards
- Rural Washington County Shutters Its Jail
- Two Wrongful Tennessee Convictions Result in Payouts Over $1 Million
- Massachusetts Appeals Court Revives Prisoners’ Challenge to DOC Trust Account Policy Change, by Douglas Ankney
- Rural Areas Increasingly Reliant on Imprisoned Emergency Responders
- Houston Detainees Shipped to Private Jails in Mississippi and Louisiana, by Anthony Accurso
- California Bar Accuses L.A. Lawyer of Deceiving Prisoners Seeking Resentencing
- Alabama Warden and Wife Busted for Making “Magic” Mushrooms
- Illinois Pays $3 Million for Subjecting Prisoners to Degrading Mass Strip Search, by Anthony Accurso
- Transgender BOP Prisoner in Arizona Wins $10,243 for Guard’s Negligence
- Former California Jail Guards Plead Guilty to Fatal Beating of Mentally Ill Detainee
- Minnesota’s $100 Million-Per-Year Civil Commitment Program Has No “Discernible Impact” on Sex Crimes
- Federal Prisoner Will Appear on Alaska Congressional Ballot
- $7.25 Million Paid for Psychotic Detainee’s Suicide After 20 Days in Solitary at Indiana Jail
- Iowa Qualified Immunity Law Lets County Off the Hook for Guard’s Sex Abuse of Jail Detainee
- Impoverished Ohio County Gets New Jail Space After Settling Suit for Bloody Detainee Assault
- Indiana Sheriff Pleads Guilty to Corruption, County Pays $328,000 to Jail Detainees for “Night of Terror”, by Douglas Ankney
- Third Circuit Finds Relation-Back Rule Misapplied to Philadelphia Prisoner’s “Crappy” Ordeal Lawsuit, by David Reutter
- Florida Court of Appeals Reinstates Voter Fraud Charges Against Ex-Felons
- Colorado Prisoner Forces Correctional Health Partners to Treat His Colon Disease, by Douglas Ankney
- Ninth Circuit Provides Cover to Oregon Governor for Prioritizing Guards Over Prisoners for COVID-19 Vaccine, by Douglas Ankney
- Suspended South Carolina Sheriff Acquitted of Using Excessive Force on Jail Detainee
- Nailing Down “Top Cop” Kamala Harris on Criminal Justice Reform
- Prisoners Reportedly Locked in Showers in Oklahoma, Florida, by David Reutter
- CDCR Slammed for Reclassifying Staff Misconduct Allegations as Routine Grievances, by Anthony Accurso
- Maryland Extends Contract with YesCare Despite Bankruptcy of Predecessor Corizon Health
- After Positive Drug Test, Kentucky Prisoners Allegedly Forced to Choose Between Tasing or Drinking Urine, by David Reutter
- News in Brief
More from these topics:
- California Appeals Court Holds Defendant Cannot Be Penalized for Failing to Appear at Sentencing When He Was Being Held in Another County’s Jail on Preexisting Charges, July 1, 2026. Disciplinary Hearings, Due Process, Procedural Default/Error, Evidence - Admissibility, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- Two More Guards Face Prison Time for Messiah Nantwi Killing, June 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Sentencing, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- Nevada Ex-Warden Ordered to Counseling After Ear-Biting Incident, June 1, 2026. Guard Misconduct, Alternative Sentencing, Assaults on Staff, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- Texas Moves to Restrict Cashless Bond and Reverse Federal Court-Ordered Misdemeanor Bail Reform, May 1, 2026. Conditions of Confinement, Money/Property, Bail/Pretrial Release, Civil Rights Actions or Offenses/Bivens Actions, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- California Court of Appeal Announces Plea Agreements Cannot Bar § 1172.1 Resentencing, Holds Merit-Based Denial of Petition Is Appealable, April 1, 2026. Appealable Issues/Orders, Abuse of Discretion Standard, De Novo Resentencing, Appellate Jurisdiction/Review, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- One Guard Pleads Guilty, Another Receives Light Sentence in New York Prisoner’s Killing, Dec. 1, 2025. Guard Misconduct, Guard Brutality/Beatings, Excessive Force (Wrongful Death), Obstruction of Justice, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- Ex-Wife of Minnesota DOC Commissioner Sentenced for Poisoning Attempt on Son, Dec. 1, 2025. Out of State Transfers, Sentencing, Conspiracies, Attempts, Solicitations, Confessions and Statements of Defendant, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas.
- Date of Firing Squad Execution Vacated for Utah Prisoner with Dementia, Oct. 1, 2025. Death Penalty/Death Row, Mental Health, Federal Death Penalty Act, Cruel and Unusual Punishment.
- First Circuit: Prosecutor’s Breach of Plea Agreement Requires Government’s Specific Performance of Agreement, Not Specific Performance by District Court, Aug. 1, 2025. Failure to Recommend the Sentence Promised, Plain Error, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Acceptance/Rejection by the Court.
- Illinois Supreme Court Announces Entering ‘Blind’ Guilty Plea Does Not Waive Defendant’s Right to Challenge Sentence, July 1, 2025. Guilty Plea, Violation of Plea Agreement, Contract Law Principles, Plea Agreements/Guilty Pleas, Validity of.

