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BACKGROUND: From a previous post of this Blog: (May 18, 2026); "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 (American Civil Liberties Union) 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."
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/989087439323936592
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The American Civil Liberties Union said Mr. Carruthers would have been the first person in more than a century to be executed after representing himself at trial. Lawyers wrote in a petition for clemency that he has mental illnesses that “continue to impair his understanding of his legal situation and his impending execution.”
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: Several states have similarly canceled executions in recent years because executioners were unable to find a vein. Alabama suspended all executions for several months from 2022 into 2023 after several executions in which officials could not access prisoners’ veins. Those Alabama cases, as well as others in Arizona and elsewhere, led the Death Penalty Information Center to describe 2022 as the “year of the botched execution.”
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STORY: Tennessee Calls Off Execution After Staff Can’t Find Prisoner’s Vein," by Emily Cochrane (reporting from Nashville) and Nicolas Bogel-Burroughs, (Reporting from New York) published by The New York Times, on May 21, 2026. (Emily Cochrane is one of the reporters responsible for covering the South, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, the Carolinas and Tennessee. She has driven or flown hundreds of miles to write about the latest natural or man-made disaster, dissect state and local politics and explore the varied music, food and cultural trends of this region. Nicolas Bogel-burroughs writes that he is an investigative reporter at The New York Times writing on a broad range of topics in the United States. He travels around the country to write about natural disasters, protests, unsolved mysteries, high-profile criminal cases and more. These are often tragic stories but, hopefully, also ones that shed light on something important.")
SUB-HEADING: "Tony Carruthers, convicted in connection with three 1994 murders, was scheduled to be executed Thursday morning."
GIST: "Tennessee called off the execution of Tony Carruthers, convicted in connection with three 1994 murders, after staff members were unable to find a vein to administer lethal injection drugs.
The state Department of Corrections said in a statement on Thursday that medical staff members were unable to find a “suitable vein” to administer the drugs after a series of attempts. Lawyers for Mr. Carruthers had asked in emergency filings for the execution to be delayed.
Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, issued a reprieve on Thursday, delaying any execution for a year.
Mr. Carruthers’s case had already drawn attention as his allies and his lawyers argued that he was wrongfully convicted.
“Tennessee has effectively made the case against the death penalty,” said Laura Porter, the executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty.
The American Civil Liberties Union said Mr. Carruthers would have been the first person in more than a century to be executed after representing himself at trial.
Lawyers wrote in a petition for clemency that he has mental illnesses that “continue to impair his understanding of his legal situation and his impending execution.”
Several states have similarly canceled executions in recent years because executioners were unable to find a vein.
Alabama suspended all executions for several months from 2022 into 2023 after several executions in which officials could not access prisoners’ veins. Those Alabama cases, as well as others in Arizona and elsewhere, led the Death Penalty Information Center to describe 2022 as the “year of the botched execution.”
States have recently begun authorizing alternative methods, including the firing squad, largely because of problems obtaining lethal drugs. South Carolina executed three people last year by firing squad, the first such executions in the United States since 2010.
The entire story can be read at:
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;
