The Missouri Supreme Court and Gov. Mike Parson have declined to halt Tuesday’s execution of a death row inmate prosecutors say may be innocent, leaving his fate in the hands of the US Supreme Court with less than 24 hours to go before he is scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Attorneys on both sides “received a report indicating the DNA on the murder weapon belonged to an assistant prosecuting attorney and an investigator who had handled the murder weapon without gloves prior to trial,” according to a docket summary of the case.

However, “the circuit court concluded there was no new evidence sufficient to set aside the conviction or to establish Williams’ innocence.”

Williams’ attorneys said the prosecution’s contamination of the DNA evidence before Williams’ trial violated his due process rights. They joined the county’s current top prosecutor in asking the Missouri Supreme Court to cancel the circuit court’s decision and send the case back to give both sides time to present evidence and the court enough time to carefully consider the case.