May 18: Tony Carruthers: Death Row: Tennessee: As a petition to delay his execution until untested DNA and fingerprint evidence which could point to another suspect can be tested is being delivered to Tennessee Governor Bill lee, Fox 13 reports, noting that: "The ACLU is now fighting in both state and federal courts to delay the execution while more forensic testing is done. The nonprofit says he was wrongfully convicted on a jailhouse informant's testimony, adding that there's no physical evidence. Advocates have argued that untested DNA and fingerprint evidence could point to another suspect, but it never came up during trial because Carruthers represented himself."

WORDS TO HEED: FROM OUR POST ON KEVIN COOPER'S  APPLICATION FOR POST-CONVICTION DNA TESTING; CALIFORNIA: (Applicable wherever a state resists DNA testing): "Blogger/extraordinaire Jeff Gamso's blunt, unequivocal, unforgettable message to the powers that be in California: "JUST TEST THE FUCKING DNA." (Oh yes, Gamso raises, as he does in many of his posts, an important philosophical question: This post is headed: "What is truth, said jesting Pilate."...Says Gamso: "So what's the harm? What, exactly, are they scared of? Don't we want the truth?" 

 https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2018/06/kevin-cooper-2-california-application.html

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THE   ACLU CLEMENCY PETITION: April 20 2026:  (Excerpt): "There is still unmatched and untested forensic evidence, that mayestablish, if examined, that Mr. Carruthers is innocent of the murders. The State did not present any forensic evidence or firsthand eyewitness testimony of Mr. Carruthers’s guilt, or even his purported role in the killings. There is an unknown male DNA profile on a blanket buried with the victims, and six unidentified fingerprints from the kidnapping scene. Some critical items were never subjected to any forensic analysis at all. The State secured an indictment from the grand jury that was solely based on false testimony from a confidential informant who then recanted his testimony. The State relied on this same witness’s testimony to obtain Mr. Carruthers’s conviction and death sentence. Since 1996, the State withheld information and lied on the record claiming that this confidential informant was not an informant. It was not until 2024, 28 years after Mr. Carruthers’s trial, that the State provided counsel proof that this witness was a confidential informant. There is no physical evidence linking Mr. Carruthers to the crime. Before the ultimate punishment is carried out, the Governor should direct this requested testing to be completed."

https://assets.aclu.org/live/uploads/2026/04/2026-04-20-carruthers-clemency-petition.pdf

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PASSAGE OF THE DAY:  "Kim Kardashian — who helped another Memphis woman, Alice Marie Johnson, get released from prison — is advocating for a halt in Carruthers' execution."

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STORY: "Petition to delay execution of Tennessee  death row inmate  headed to Governor Bill Lee," by Fox  13, News Staff

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tens of thousands of people are trying to stop the execution of a Tennessee death row inmate that's scheduled for Thursday. On Monday, they plan to deliver a petition to Gov. Bill Lee.

About 80,000 people have a signed the petition, asking the governor to stop Tony Carruthers' execution.

Carruthers was one of three men convicted of a brutal 1994 triple murder in Memphis, where three people were shot and then buried under a shallow grave at a cemetery.

Advocates argue untested DNA and fingerprint evidence could point to another suspect.

The ACLU is now fighting in both state and federal courts to delay the execution while more forensic testing is done. The nonprofit says he was wrongfully convicted on a jailhouse informant's testimony, adding that there's no physical evidence.

Advocates have argued that untested DNA and fingerprint evidence could point to another suspect, but it never came up during trial because Carruthers represented himself.

Kim Kardashian — who helped another Memphis woman, Alice Marie Johnson, get released from prison — is advocating for a halt in Carruthers' execution.""

The entire story can be read at:

https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/petition-to-delay-execution-of-tennessee-death-row-inmate-headed-to-gov-bill-lee/article_dae14c51-0613-422f-b502-940c8d2c6c84.html

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.  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. 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; 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;