Case not dismissed: Doug Carter returns to court for more debate over evidence, DNA testing

Douglas Stewart Carter came to Provo’s 4th District Court smiling big Tuesday, but his attorneys weren’t in the same good spirits. 

They had hoped prosecutors would move to dismiss the murder case against their client Tuesday after DNA analysis revealed that blood from the scene of Eva Olesen’s death in 1985 was not Carter’s.

Doug Carter, twice sentenced to die, steps out from behind bars in Utah thanks to DNA analysis

The revelation was the basis for prosecutors withdrawing their intent to seek the death penalty against Carter, and for his subsequent release from jail last month after more than 40 years behind bars. 

“That should have been the opportunity to step back and say, ‘Hey, we might have gotten this wrong. We’re going to regroup, but while we regroup, we’re going to dismiss these charges,’” Carter’s defense attorney Neal Hamilton said by phone after the hearing. “There’s no statute of limitation on homicide.”

Utah County prosecutors on Tuesday were not ready to drop the case. They said they want to see results of further DNA testing Carter’s defense team is pursuing to investigate whose blood was found at the scene. They also want a judge to rule on whether a confession Carter’s attorneys say was coerced can still be considered as evidence at a new trial scheduled for next summer. 

Fourth District Judge Derek Pullan took Carter’s motion to suppress the disputed confession under advisement and said he would rule at a later date. 

The Utah Supreme Court had ordered a new trial for Carter last year, citing “intentional misconduct” on the part of investigators and prosecutors and noting a key witness was instructed “to fabricate a statement intended to show that Carter harbored a premeditated intent to commit rape on the night of the murder.”

Carter did not speak publicly about the case then or last month when he left the Utah County Jail wearing an ankle monitor. 

He sported a leather jacket Tuesday, a far cry from the shackles and jail uniform he wore in court for years. He returns to court Nov. 18.