State Attorney General Seeks Execution Dates for Nine Death Row Prisoners
By Steven Hale
Nashville Scene
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery is asking the Tennessee Supreme Court to set execution dates for nine more men, including the four remaining death row prisoners from Nashville.
The request for more execution dates came without warning. Slatery’s office filed motions asking for the dates on Sept. 20 — the same day the AG announced he would challenge Nashville Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins’ decision to vacate the death sentence of Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman at the request of Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk. Slatery took aim at Watkins and Funk — both of whom are elected officials — in a press release announcing the legal challenge, calling the decision to drop
Abdur’Rahman’s death sentence “unlawful” and “unprecedented.” Funk said he stands by his position, while Abdur’Rahman’s attorney Bradley MacLean called the AG’s move “unprecedented” and said the state is “bound” by Watkins’ order.
The AG can seek execution dates for a death row prisoner once the prisoner has exhausted the three-tier appeals process. The state Supreme Court decides when the executions will take place. In February 2018, Slatery sought a slew of execution dates and asked for them to be scheduled in quick succession, citing concerns about the state’s ability to carry out lethal injections beyond June of that year. The state Supreme Court ultimately blocked the AG’s request for the rush of executions.
Excluding Abdur’Rahman — whose execution had been scheduled for April 16, 2020 — there are two more men scheduled to be executed in the coming months: Lee Hall on Dec. 5 and Nicholas Sutton on Feb. 20.
The men for whom the AG is seeking execution dates are below:
Byron Black (Davidson County), who was convicted for the 1987 murders of Angela Clay and her two daughters, Latoya and Lakeisha Clay.
Oscar Smith (Davidson County), who was convicted for the 1989 murders of his estranged wife Judy Smith and her two sons, Chad and Jason Burnett.
Henry Hodges (Davidson County), who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death for the 1990 murder of Ronald Bassett during a robbery.
Donald Middlebrooks (Davidson County), who was convicted for the 1987 murder of Kerrick Majors.
Pervis Payne (Shelby County), who was convicted for the 1987 murders of Charisse Christopher and her two-year-old daughter, Lacie, as well as the assault of Christopher’s three-year-old son, Nicholas.
Tony Carruthers (Shelby County), who was convicted for the 1994 murders of Marcellos Anderson, Delois Anderson and Frederick Tucker.
Farris Morris (Madison County), who was convicted in 1997 for the murders of Erica Hurd and Charles Ragland, as well as for the rape of Angela Ragland.
Gary Sutton (Blount County), who was convicted, along with co-defendant James Dellinger, in the 1992 murders of Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam.
Harold Nichols (Hamilton County), convicted for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pulley. Nichols has also been convicted for a series of other rapes.
Like the five men who have been executed since August 2018, many of the men above have a history of severe mental illness.
The Scene received this response from Assistant Federal Public Defender Kelley Henry:
We learned of the request for mass executions late yesterday after receiving the requests in the mail. Seven of the nine are represented by my office. All of the remaining Davidson county cases are included in the request. We were surprised by the request for mass executions. Each case is unique and represents a number of fundamental constitutional problems including innocence, racism, and severe mental illness. We will oppose the appointed Attorney General’s request.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/...-row-prisoners
Bookmarks