A federal judge in Memphis has blocked the execution of Philip Workman (pictured), a Tennessee man who has been on death row for more than 20 years despite evidence that he did not shoot the victim who was killed. Workman’s execution, scheduled for September 22, was delayed pending the results of a federal review of another Tennessee case that could affect Workman’s latest appeals. (New Channel 5 News in Tennessee, September 2, 2004).

Workman was convicted in 1981 of the murder of police officer Ronald Oliver during the course of a Memphis robbery. Workman has never denied his participation in the robbery, but has maintained that he did not fire the shot that fatally wounded Oliver. Since Workman’s trial, the state’s key witness in the case has recanted his testimony, saying he had lied on the stand. In addition, ballistics evidence has cast doubt on the assertion that Workman’s gun was the weapon used to murder Oliver. Based on this evidence, five of the jurors who sentenced Workman to die have since signed affidavits stating they would not have sentenced Workman to death had they heard all of the evidence that emerged following his conviction. When the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected Workman’s most recent appeal, Justice Adolpho Birch issued a strong dissent that noted: “(T)he gravity of this case and the strength of my conviction concerning this case drive my response…under any analysis, the new-discovered proof that an ‘eyewitness’ no longer claimed to have seen Workman shoot the officer, and that the wound causing death was inconsistent with the type of wound which would have been caused by a bullet matching Workman’s gun, mandates a conclusion that the evidence may have resulted in a different judgment.” Workman’s execution date was the fifth date he has faced during his years on death row. A reprieve was granted for his last scheduled execution because the medical examiner in Workman’s case had been indicted for faking that he had been abducted by supporters of Workman. Among those endorsing clemency for Workman are Oliver’s daughter and the former prosecutor of Shelby County, where Workman was tried and convicted. The former prosecutor has also donated his services as lead counsel for Workman’s clemency bid. (See DPIC Press Release, September 15, 2003).