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SALT LAKE CITY — For the fifth time since his conviction 29 years ago, the Utah Supreme Court heard arguments Monday from death row inmate Douglas Carter.
The justices are now weighing whether an apparent clerical error in the filing of his third post-conviction relief petition prevents a 4th District Court judge from considering it.
Carter's attorney, David Christensen, told the five-judge panel that the state is raising a technical issue to stop arguments on the merits of the petition. Lawyers for the condemned killer say they learned in 2011 that Provo police gave money and gifts to the prosecution's star witnesses and that the state hid the evidence.
Assistant attorney general Tom Brunker argued that Carter's lawyers didn't immediately try to correct the filing error and the petition didn't meet court deadlines. He previously said that the new evidence cited in the petition would not have changed the outcome of Carter's trial.
A jury convicted Carter, 59, of fatally stabbing and shooting 57-year-old Eva Oleson during a robbery at her Provo home in 1985. Jurors relied on Carter's written confession and his bragging to friends Epifanio and Lucia Tovar that he killed a woman. Oleson was the aunt of then Provo Police Chief Swen Nielsen.
The Tovars, who were initially scared to talk to police, testified during trial that other than a $14 check each received, Provo police did not give them any inducements to take the witness stand. Carter's attorneys say they learned that isn't true.
Later in a sworn declaration, the Tovars say police relocated them twice, paid their rent and utilities, and gave gifts to them and toys to their children. Police also sang Christmas carols at their home and brought them a Christmas tree.
The Tovars say they were told the living arrangements were for protection from Carter. They also say police threatened to deport them, file criminal charges and take away their son if they didn't cooperate in the case. Epifanio Tovar admitted to disposing of Carter's .38-caliber handgun used in the murder.
In 2012, the state supreme court denied Carter's second post-conviction relief petition in which he argued, among other things, that he had ineffective counsel during his trial. He also has an appeal pending in federal court.
