Uncertainty and Unanswered Questions Shroud Tennessee Execution
Sedley Alley Executed with Evidence Untested and Guilt in Doubt
Nashville: Despite serious questions as to the reliability of his conviction, the state of Tennessee executed Sedley Alley in the early hours of the morning. Alley’s execution came only days after the Chicago Tribune revealed evidence that Texas executed an innocent man, Carlos De Luna, in 1989.
Sedley Alley was convicted of the 1985 murder of Suzanne Marie Collins, but recently revealed evidence has led to questions about his guilt. Evidence withheld from the defense at trial reveals that Alley was under police surveillance at the time of Collins’ death. The state also placed heavy emphasis on Alley’s supposed confession, but the confession bore all the earmarks of being false or coerced. Many “facts” of Alley’s confession bear no resemblance to the facts of the actual murder. More disturbingly, Alley was interrogated by police for over two hours, but the tape recording of the interrogation is under one hour long. The tape includes seven places where the recording was stopped and then restarted. DNA evidence exists that could be tested to prove, once and for all, whether Alley was guilty or innocent. But the state continually refused to allow the testing.
“Tennesseans deserve certainty, and in the case of Sedley Alley, we have been denied that,” said Randy Tatel, the Executive Director of the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing. “This execution has demonstrated that the state is more interested in pursuing revenge than the truth.”
Across the nation, 124 death row inmates have been freed from death row after evidence of their innocence came to light. Even more disturbingly, Carlos De Luna’s case makes the fourth time in nineteen months that investigative journalism exposed an execution of an innocent man. In Tennessee, Paul House still sits on death row after 20 years despite DNA evidence pointing to his innocence.
“The people of Tennessee are coming to realize that our capital punishment system is clearly broken,” said Tatel. “The execution of Sedley Alley once again demonstrates the risks inherent in the use of the death penalty. Until we can be certain that no innocent person will be threatened with execution, we call for an immediate halt to all executions.”
The official cause of death listed on the death certificate of a person who has been executed reads homicide.
“The murder of Suzanne Marie Collins was a tragedy. Her family members are the survivors of a homicide victim, and our hearts go out to them,” said Tatel. “But, by its actions tonight, the state of Tennessee has made Sedley Alley’s two innocent children, David and April, survivors of a homicide victim as well.”
