PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Kudos to Republican Governor Kay Ivey for having the courage and moral strength to commute Robin "Rocky" Myers death sentence - in a state devoted to the death penalty. With so many questions swirling around his conviction, the thought of his remaining in prison for the rest of his life is disturbing. I can only hope that some day, not long from now, that his conviction will be erased, and he will be a free man.
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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STORY: "Alabama governor commutes death sentence' by Reporter Kim Chandler, published today by The Associated Press.
QUOTES OF THE DAY: "God is answering prayers," said juror Mae Puckett, who now believes Myers is innocent and had urged Ivey to intervene. "Governor Ivey put it back into the jury's hands," Puckett wrote. Kacey Keeton, a lawyer for Myers, had said that there were multiple failures in Myers' case, including how an earlier attorney abandoned his case, causing him to miss a deadline to raise issues in federal court. Myers, who is Black, was convicted by a nearly all-white jury. "I'm not sure there are words enough to convey my joy, relief, and gratitude at learning of Gov. Ivey's decision to commute Mr. Myers's sentence," Keeton wrote in an email."
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GIST: Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Robin "Rocky" Myers to life in prison Friday, saying there were enough questions about his guilt that she could not move forward with his execution.
Ivey said Myers, 63, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole instead of being executed later this year. Ivey noted that was the sentence jurors recommended at his 1994 trial.
The Republican governor said she is a staunch supporter of the death penalty but "I have enough questions about Mr. Myers' guilt that I cannot move forward with executing him."
"In short, I am not convinced that Mr. Myers is innocent, but I am not so convinced of his guilt as to approve of his execution. I therefore must respect both the jury's decision to convict him and its recommendation that he be sentenced to life without parole," Ivey said in a statement.
Myers was convicted of capital murder in the 1991 stabbing of Ludie Mae Tucker, 69, at her Decatur home. Myers, who lived across the street from Tucker, has long maintained he is innocent, and a juror at his 1994 trial supported the push for clemency.
The reprieve came over the objections of Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall, who said he was "astonished" by the decision.
Last month the Alabama Supreme Court granted the state attorney general's request to authorize an execution date for Myers using nitrogen gas. The next step was for Ivey to set that date.
It was the first execution Ivey has stopped since she first took office in 2017. Ivey, who has presided over more than 20 executions, called it "one of the most difficult decisions I've had to make as governor."
"But I pray that the Tucker family may, in some way, find closure and peace knowing this case is closed, and Mr. Myers will spend the rest of his life in prison," Ivey said.
There were multiple questions surrounding Myers' case, his attorney had argued.
No physical evidence at the scene connected him to the crime. Tucker identified her assailant as a short, stocky Black man but did not name Myers or a neighbor as the attacker even though they had met several times, according to Myers' son.
Jurors voted 9-3 that he serve life in prison.
However, the judge sentenced Myers to death under Alabama's now-abolished system that let judges decide death sentences.
Ivey said there was "circumstantial evidence" against Myers, but it is "riddled with conflicting evidence from seemingly everyone involved."
Much of the state's case involved a VCR taken from Tucker's home and whether Myers was the person who brought it to a drug house to sell, according to court records.
"God is answering prayers," said juror Mae Puckett, who now believes Myers is innocent and had urged Ivey to intervene.
"Governor Ivey put it back into the jury's hands," Puckett wrote.
Kacey Keeton, a lawyer for Myers, had said that there were multiple failures in Myers' case, including how an earlier attorney abandoned his case, causing him to miss a deadline to raise issues in federal court. Myers, who is Black, was convicted by a nearly all-white jury.
"I'm not sure there are words enough to convey my joy, relief, and gratitude at learning of Gov. Ivey's decision to commute Mr. Myers's sentence," Keeton wrote in an email."
The entire story can be read at:
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am grateful to 'Authory' a valuable service which creates a portfolio of all of my posts since I fired my first post into the cybersphere on the Charles Smith Blog on September 29, 2007, some 17 years ago. Today's post is number 11, 784 Yikes! Yes, this is a compulsion, but it's a healthy one ! One of the best features of 'Authory' (which I am trying out on the Blog for the first time, is a search engine for the portfolio which makes it easier for readers to follow the many important cases, issues and developments (and occasional rants) in the area of flawed pathology, flawed pathologists, and whatever else might cross my mind in jurisdictions throughout the world which are at the heart of the Blog. So, dear reader, you can access the portfolio at the following link. Just type the inquiry into the search box at the following link, and hit enter. (The search box is on the top write side of the page under 'Read more.' Why not try it out, and, as encouraging use of this search function by my readers is rather new to me, any feedback on how it is working would be appreciated at: hlevy15@gmail.com. Cheers!
https://authory.com/HaroldLevy
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
