MEMPHIS (WTVF) — The ACLU is challenging Tennessee’s denial of fingerprint testing for death row inmate Tony Carruthers, who is scheduled to be executed May 21.
The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee and Quarles & Brady LLP filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking access to fingerprint evidence and other forensic testing in Carruthers’ case.
The complaint argues Tennessee courts wrongly denied Carruthers’ request for fingerprint testing and improperly refused to consider newer evidence, including records the lawsuit says confirmed a key witness had worked as a paid confidential informant.
Carruthers has maintained his innocence for decades. His attorneys argue no physical evidence links him to the killings and say six fingerprints recovered from the crime scene did not match him. The complaint also cites prior DNA testing that excluded Carruthers from an unidentified male DNA profile found on a blanket recovered with the victims.
The lawsuit follows a separate request filed in the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking additional DNA testing. That request remains pending, according to the complaint.
Carruthers was convicted and sentenced to death for the kidnapping and killings of Marcellos Anderson, his mother Delois, and Anderson’s friend Frederick Tucker in 1996 after a trial in which he represented himself. A Memphis judge ruled last month that Carruthers is competent to be executed.
Carruthers’ execution remains scheduled for May 21.
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