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Entries tagged with “Sedley Alley”

May 17, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of May 10, 2021

NEWS (5/​14/​21) — North Carolina: A Rowan County tri­al judge has resen­tenced William Barnes to con­sec­u­tive life sen­tences for the mur­ders of an elder­ly North Carolina cou­ple in 1992, after the coun­ty dis­trict attorney’s office declined to pur­sue a new cap­i­tal sen­tenc­ing hear­ing. The dis­trict attorney’s deci­sion, made with the agree­ment of the vic­tims’ fam­i­ly, fol­lowed a fed­er­al appeals court rul­ing that had over­turned Barnes’ death sen­tences because of juror misconduct.

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Executions Overview

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May 02, 2019

Estate of Executed Tennessee Prisoner Seeks DNA Testing to Establish His Innocence

Tennessee exe­cut­ed Sedley Alley in 2006 for the bru­tal rape and mur­der of Marine Lance Corporal Suzanne Collins, after hav­ing denied him DNA test­ing that his lawyers believed could have estab­lished his inno­cence. Now, after new evi­dence sug­gests that anoth­er man may have com­mit­ted the mur­der, the Innocence Project has filed a peti­tion in Shelby County (Memphis) Criminal Court on behalf of Alley’s estate renew­ing Alley’s request for DNA test­ing. Local coun­sel also sent a let­ter to Governor Bill Lee ask­ing him to exer­cise his clemen­cy pow­er to order DNA…

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Feb 07, 2020

States Continue to Oppose DNA Testing in Death Penalty Appeals, Attorneys Ask Why Don’t They Want to Learn the Truth?

The last three men sched­uled for exe­cu­tion in Georgia said they did not com­mit the killing and that DNA test­ing that was not avail­able at the time of tri­al could prove it. In two of the cas­es, vic­tim fam­i­ly mem­bers sup­port­ed the request for test­ing. Prosecutors opposed the requests, and the courts refused to allow the test­ing. Two of the three men were exe­cut­ed, with doubts still swirling as to their guilt.

Policy Issues

Innocence

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Executions Overview

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Oct 25, 2019

Tennessee Court to Decide Whether to Test DNA that Could Exonerate Man Executed in 2006

A Shelby County (Memphis) judge has heard argu­ment and will rule on November 18, 2019 whether to allow DNA test­ing in a case that could show whether the state of Tennessee exe­cut­ed an inno­cent man in June of 2006. On October 14, lawyers from the Innocence Project, rep­re­sent­ing the estate of Sedley Alley (pic­tured) and his daugh­ter, April Alley, urged Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan to release for DNA test­ing phys­i­cal evi­dence that they believe will exon­er­ate Sedley Alley and might iden­ti­fy the per­son who raped and mur­dered Lance Corporal…