MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With an execution date set for May 21, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee filed a motion April 9 in the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking DNA testing in the case of Tony Carruthers, arguing the results could prove his innocence before the state carries out the sentence.
The motion highlights that despite the state’s plan to carry out the execution, there is no strong physical evidence directly supporting the claim that Carruthers was involved in the crime. The case was largely built on testimony from jailhouse informants, which are a leading cause of many wrongful convictions.
Additionally, unmatched fingerprints and DNA evidence collected at the crime scene have never been compared to an alternative suspect identified by Carruthers’ co-defendant.
According to the court filings, one individual who was responsible for the murders stated that Mr. Carruthers was not involved in the crime. The individual later identified another man named Ronnie Irving. There is said to be evidence that does not match Tony Carruthers and has not yet been compared to Mr. Irving.
Additionally, the motion is also asking for permission from the court to conduct three additional tests that were discovered by the victims’ bodies. This DNA evidence could be the key to securing justice and identifying the prime perpetrator.
Maria DeLiberato, senior counsel with the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, emphasized the urgency of the request, stating, “Before the State carries out an irreversible punishment, it must answer the most basic question: did they get the right person?”
She added, “Tennessee has the forensic evidence that could help answer that question, and they must test it before it is too late. There is no justification for barreling toward an execution while DNA evidence that could prove who really committed this crime remains untested.”
Additional concerns arise from the discovery that a key state witness, Alfredo Shaw, was a paid informant before, during and after Carruthers’ trial. This revelation came after the state attorney finally admitted what it had successfully hidden for three decades.
Five unidentified fingerprints recovered from the crime scene do not match Tony Carruthers. Mr. Carruthers then filed a motion requesting fingerprint analysis in 2021, and it is believed to still be pending before the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals.
In a previous interview with WMC Action News 5 conducted in 2007, Tony Carruthers stated, “I’m not going to be executed, I’m going to be exonerated.”
This case also raised concerns about due process. After ongoing conflicts with appointed counsel and frustration from the court, Mr. Carruthers had no choice but to represent himself, even after multiple requests for legal representation. It was argued that his mental illness impaired his ability to work with counsel properly. The court allowed him to proceed without an attorney.
Following Carruthers’ self-representation, his actions created prejudice against his co-defendant James Montgomery. This entitled Mr. Montgomery to a new trial, and he entered a plea deal to reduce his death sentence to a term of years, and was later released from prison in 2016.
According to the Nashville Banner, Carruthers’ attorneys from the federal public defender’s office wrote that Mr. Carruthers suffers from severe mental health issues, including schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type. Since Mr. Carruthers’ mental health condition is so severe, his attorneys argue that this condition can render him legally incompetent to face execution.
Ultimately, untested forensic evidence, unreliable witness testimony and procedural concerns raise serious questions about the validity of the conviction.
If Carruthers’ execution is carried out, this will mark the first time in nearly a century that a person who represented himself has been put to death.
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