Missouri Supreme Court says governor had the right to dissolve inquiry board in death row case

By JIM SALTER
Associated Press

The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a death row inmate’s challenge to Gov. Mike Parson’s decision to dissolve a board of inquiry convened to investigate the inmate’s innocence claim. Marcellus Williams filed suit last year after the Republican governor did away with the inquiry board convened by Parson’s predecessor six years earlier. The board never decided if Williams was guilty or innocent. The state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Williams has no statutory or due process right to a board of inquiry. Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle during a robbery of her suburban St. Louis home.