Governor Lee Says He Will Not Intervene In Thursday’s Execution

Image Credit: Governor Bill Lee / Facebook & Canva

***Note from The Tennessee Conservative – this article posted here for informational purposes only.

The Center Square [By Kim Jarrett] –

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday he does not plan on intervening in the execution of convicted murderer Anthony Darrell Hines.

Hines is set to die by lethal injection on Thursday for the 1985 murder of Catherine Jenkins, a motel maid in Kingston Springs. 

“After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Lee said in a statement. 

Hines’ attorneys also petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a decision by the Tennessee Supreme Court to review Hines’ case in light of the failed execution of Tony Carruthers in May. 

A primary IV line was already inserted into Carruthers, but medical personnel could not find a required second line for a backup, according to a statement from the Tennessee Department of Corrections. 

Lee granted Carruthers a one-year reprieve from execution but did not grant him clemency. Carruthers was convicted in 1996 for the murders of Marcellos Anderson, his mother, Delois Anderson and Frederick Tucker, whose bodies were found in a Memphis cemetery. A codefendant, James Montgomery, was also sentenced to death, but his case was reversed, according to court documents. A third codefendant died by suicide while in jail. 

“It would be a grotesque spectacle for Tennessee to move forward with the execution of Darrell Hines given his debilitated medical condition and the many unanswered questions following the botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers,” said Kit Thomas, an attorney for Darrell Hines, in a statement provided to The Center Square on Tuesday. 

The Tennessee Department of Corrections will not say if the same doctor will be used for Hines’ execution, according to Hines attorneys.

The doctor involved in Tony Carruthers’ attempted execution in May is facing a medical malpractice complaint filed by Carruthers’ sister. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has not issued a ruling as of Tuesday afternoon. 

Jenkins’ daughter, Melissa, has spoken about her mother’s murder as Hines execution date gets closer. 

“The criminal gets all of the focus because they are the ones still alive walking around,” Melissa Jenkins told Nashville’s WKRN in an interview. “Everybody forgets about the victim and the victims’ families.”

Nine Senate Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson, sent a letter to Lee in June asking him for an independent review of Carruthers’ attempted execution before another takes place.

“Because we support the lawful administration of the death penalty, we cannot accept its incompetent administration,” the senators said in the letter. “We raise these concerns not in opposition to the death penalty but in defense of it-out of respect for the rule of law, the verdicts of Tennessee juries, and the families still awaiting justice.”