Tenn. senators call for review of botched execution

NASHVILLE — Republican state senators are calling on the governor to review a botched execution attempt from May. In a letter sent to Gov. Bill Lee last week, a group of eight senators called for an independent review into the Tennessee Department of Correction for its mishandling of the execution of Tony Carruthers, a man condemned to death for the kidnapping and murder of three people in Memphis in 1994. Carruther's execution was called off after medical personnel tried for "well over an hour" to find a vein for a backup IV line, and failed. According to Carruther's attorneys, the execution team punctured him more than a dozen times in an attempt to establish the IV. An ACLU attorney witnessing the failed execution attempt called it "beyond barbaric." As a result, Lee issued a year-long reprieve on Carruther's execution. The senators signed onto the letter are self-described supporters of the death penalty who say the victims and people of Tennessee "are entitled to a Department of Correction capable of executing a lawful sentence competently." "Because we support the lawful administration of the death penalty, we cannot accept its incompetent administration," reads the letter. Signees include two members of Senate leadership: Majority Leader Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, and Speaker Pro Tempore Ferrell Haile, R- Gallatin. They are accompanied by state Sens. Becky Massey, R-Knoxville, Ken Yager, R-Kingston, Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro, and Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald. The governor's office did not respond to Six Rivers Media's request for comment on whether Lee intends to conduct another review. The senators specified the review should cover whether the personnel performing the execution were qualified to do so in the first place. They also want to know the criteria the department used in hiring these employees. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that the physician in charge of the execution, Dr. Mark Fowler, admitted in a deposition to having last placed a central line IV in 2013 — thirteen years prior to the execution. Later in the deposition, Fowler confirmed he was not authorized by any hospitals to practice or perform procedures at their facilities. Leadership with TDOC did not respond to Six Rivers Media's questions regarding their execution protocols and whether any insufficiencies have been identified. TDOC has a questionable history of following proper protocol. In 2022, an independent review found that the department had repeatedly failed to follow its own requirements for testing lethal injection chemicals, which resulted in Lee halting executions across the state to review the process. The senators were sure to point that out in their letter. "Repeated failures of this kind do not advance justice; they obstruct it, prolong the suffering of victims' families, and hand the opponents of capital punishment their most effective argument against a penalty Tennesseans have chosen to keep," reads the letter. The next scheduled execution is Darrell Hines on Aug. 13. Two others are scheduled for 2026: Christa Pike on Sept. 30 and Gary Wayne Sutton on Dec. 3.