Overview
- Judge Derek Pullan ordered 71‑year‑old Douglas Carter released on bail Monday after prosecutors told the court DNA results excluded him from blood on a doorknob and genetic material from a knife handle.
- Utah County prosecutors withdrew a formal notice that they intended to seek the death penalty and said the Sept. 22 DNA report has prompted them to reassess how to proceed in the case.
- Carter was convicted in 1985 after a signed confession he now says was coerced and testimony from witnesses who later said police paid and pressured them to lie; those misconduct findings led the Utah Supreme Court to order a new trial in 2025.
- Key pretrial fights remain unresolved, including whether Carter’s 1985 signed confession will be admissible at retrial and whether investigators will pursue other suspects identified in court filings.
- Carter’s defense has proposed supervised release with GPS monitoring, housing and reentry services, while Eva Olesen’s family has urged the court to keep him jailed and prosecutors say the DNA exclusions do not automatically exonerate him.