Governor Kay Ivey announced on Friday that she was commuting the death sentence of Robin “Rocky” Meyers, 63, condemning him to life without parole, claiming she was insufficiently convinced of his guilt or innocence.
Meyers was convicted of capital murder for the 1991 stabbing of his neighbor, 69-year-old Ludie Mae Tucker. Court records claim Meyers entered Tucker’s Decatur home in the middle of the night, stabbing her before going into another room and stabbing her houseguest and cousin, Marie Dutton.
Dutton survived the attack. However, Tucker later succumbed to her injuries at the hospital.
The jury found Dutton guilty of the offense in 1994, recommending life imprisonment. However, the judge in the case ignored the jury’s recommendation and sentenced him to death. He was slated to die by nitrogen hypoxia in a matter of months.
Meyers has always maintained his innocence through multiple appeals. Recently, a juror from his 1994 trial urged Ivey to grant Meyers clemency, claiming he believed Meyers to be innocent.
Anti-death penalty organizations, such as the ACLU, have pushed for Meyers to be granted clemency, claiming the prosecution was flawed in multiple respects.
On Friday, Ivey announced that she had utilized her authority to commute Meyers’s death penalty sentence, condemning him instead to life without the possibility of parole. Ivey says she notified members of Tucker’s family first.
“Thus far as governor, I have presided over 22 executions, and I will never waver in my belief that the death penalty is just punishment for society’s most serious crimes,” Ivey said. “I also reject all attempts to manipulate the system by activist lawyers for death row inmates who make unfounded claims of contrived injustices.
“However, in the case of Ludie Mae Tucker’s murder, I have enough questions about Mr. Myers’ guilt that I cannot move forward with executing him. For example, no murder weapon was found, and no DNA evidence or fingerprints or other physical evidence tied Mr. Myers to the scene of the crime. Although Ms. Tucker knew Mr. Myers and let her attacker inside the house, neither she nor Marie Dutton – the only two eyewitnesses to the crime – ever identified Mr. Myers as the assailant. There is also other circumstantial evidence, but it is riddled with conflicting evidence from seemingly everyone involved.”
“In short, I am not convinced that Mr. Myers is innocent, but I am not so convinced of his guilt as to approve of his execution. I therefore must respect both the jury’s decision to convict him and its recommendation that he be sentenced to life without parole.”
From court records, it appears the most significant piece of evidence was a videocassette recorder (VCR) Meyers sold. Police say the VCR was taken from Tucker’s home on the night of the murder. However, Meyers claims he found the VCR in the bushes behind his house and traded it for cocaine.
Ivey’s decision drew immediate support from anti-death penalty and human rights advocates such as Death Penalty Action and Amnesty International.
“We celebrate the news that Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has commuted Rocky Myers’ death sentence, even more so at a time when the state had initiated the process to set his execution date,” said TJ Riggs, Alabama State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Amnesty International. “After over 30 years on death row, this moment could not come any sooner.
“The U.S. criminal justice system is terribly flawed and discriminatory, and Rocky Myers’ case has been emblematic of many of those flaws. Today’s decision by Governor Ivey to commute his death sentence is a first critical step towards justice for him and his family.
To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email craig.monger@1819news.com.
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