TENNESSEE. GOVERNOR HALTS PLANNED EXECUTION

Tennessee's governor gave a 15-day reprieve to Sedley Alley just hours before his scheduled execution for killing a female US Marine, giving his lawyers time to seek DNA testing they say could exonerate him. Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen said he believed Alley was guilty of the 1985 rape and murder of US Marine Lance Cpl. Suzanne Collins, but followed the recommendation of the state's parole board to temporarily stay Alley's planned execution.
Collins, 19, was abducted, raped and killed while jogging near a naval air station close to Memphis, Tennessee.
"Based on the overwhelming weight of the evidence against him, I believe Mr. Alley to be guilty of this heinous crime. However, I am acutely aware that in capital cases mistakes cannot be corrected, and so out of respect for the Board's recommendation, I am reluctantly issuing a reprieve for 15 days," Bredesen said in a statement.
The reprieve will give Alley's attorneys time to seek permission from a state court to perform DNA tests, though Bredesen said he expected prosecutors to oppose the request.
"If Mr. Alley cannot convince the courts to allow such additional testing, or if such additional testing is performed without clearly exonerating Mr. Alley, then the vast weight of other evidence of his guilt will continue to prevail, and I expect that a new execution date will be scheduled promptly," Bredesen said, adding it was not his job to decide the appropriateness of DNA testing.
Alley, 50, had been scheduled to be executed by lethal injection early on May 17 at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution near Nashville.
Alley's lawyers claim he could be exonerated if DNA tests on Collins' underwear, swabs taken from her body and other evidence from the crime scene implicate some other offender whose DNA is on file.
Tennessee has executed one other inmate since 1960, Robert Glen Coe in 2000. There have been 18 people executed in the United States so far this year, and 1,022 since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.