Governor Greitens has appointed five retired Missouri judges to serve on Board of Inquiry in Marcellus Williams case.
In August, Greitens issued a stay of execution and appoint a Gubernatorial Board of Inquiry in the case of Marcellus Williams. Williams was sentenced to death after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder of Felicia Gayle in 2001. DNA testing of the murder weapon in 2016 was inconclusive.
The Board of Inquiry will report and make a recommendation to the governor as to whether or not Williams should be executed or his sentence of death commuted.
Five retired judges:
Judge Booker Shaw, Chair
Judge Booker Shaw served on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, for seven years. Judge Shaw served as the court’s chief judge for a year and also served as special judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri. Before joining the appellate bench, Judge Shaw served as a trial judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit, covering St. Louis City, from 1983 until 2002.
Judge Michael David
Judge David served as a circuit court judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit of Missouri, covering St. Louis City, for more than 25 years, from 1992 to 2015. In that role, he presided over hundreds of civil and criminal trials and also served as the circuit’s presiding judge. Before becoming a circuit judge, Judge David spent three years as an associate circuit judge in the 22nd Judicial Circuit.
Judge Peggy McGraw Fenner
Judge Peggy McGraw Fenner served as a circuit court judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, covering Jackson County, from 2001-2013. She previously served as an associate circuit judge in Jackson County from 1995-2001. Before joining the bench, Judge Fenner served as the clerk of the Missouri Court of Appeals-Western District from 1979-1995.
Judge Carol Jackson
Judge Carol Jackson served as a judge on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri from 1992 to August 31, 2017, and as chief judge of that court from 2002-2009. She previously served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge from 1986 to 1992. Judge Jackson was the first African-American magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Missouri, and the first African-American woman to serve as a district court judge in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Judge Paul Spinden
Judge Spinden served as a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District from 1991 to 2009. Judge Spinden served as the court's chief judge from 2000-2002 and served as special judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri. Prior to his appointment to the Court of Appeals, Judge Spinden served for six years as a Missouri administrative law judge.
