Former death row inmate back in court after Utah Supreme Court overturns conviction
Mar 17, 2026, 2:10 PM
Douglas Stewart Carter is seen in this undated photo released Feb. 10, 2022. (Utah Department of Corrections)
(Utah Department of Corrections)
PROVO, Utah — A former Utah death row inmate was back in the courtroom on Tuesday as his attorneys and prosecutors raced to prepare for his new murder trial, more than 40 years after his first.
Prosecutors were trying to reconvict Douglas Carter of the 1985 murder of Eva Olesen. Carter was convicted and sentenced to death row for Olesen’s murder in 1985, but the Utah Supreme Court overturned his conviction last year, after attorneys accused Provo Police officers of bribing and threatening witnesses in the original trial.
Now, Utah County attorneys are seeking to put Carter back on death row despite the fact he’d be pushing 90 years old when he would likely have exhausted a new set of appeals, according to KSL Legal Analyst Greg Skordas.
“I was a little surprised that the state didn’t decide to just offer him a life in prison or life in prison without the possibility of parole,” Skordas said. “And maybe he wouldn’t have accepted that, I don’t know.”
On Tuesday, Carter was wearing his Utah County Jail jumpsuit and shackles, nodding his head while his lawyers expressed frustration with how long was taking to get everything they need from prosecutors for the trial.
At one point, KSL’s Adam Small said he could hear Carter murmur the words, “40 years.”
“The case is going to be much harder for the state to prove than it was 30 or 40 years ago when the witnesses were more available, more local and the information was fresh in their minds,” Skordas said. “We don’t have any of those things anymore.”
Carter was scheduled to return to court on April 3. The judge told both sides to be ready to set a date for his new trial.
Contributing: Kennedy Camarena, KSL
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