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Tennessee death penalty statute author calls botched execution ‘catastrophic failure’
TennesseeGDELTGDELT event14% biasedFri, May 22, 2026, 12:00 AM
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Tennessee death penalty statute author calls botched execution ‘catastrophic failure’.Tennessee death penalty statute author calls botched execution ‘catastrophic failure’ Attorney David Raybin warns of legal ripple effects MEMPHIS, Tenn.(WMC) - The attorney who wrote Tennessee’s death penalty statute in 1976 is criticizing the medical staff involved in the botched execution of Tony Carruthers and warning of legal consequences.David Raybin, a practicing attorney in Nashville, called the process a catastrophic failure.The statute he wrote did not include how the death penalty would be administered.Raybin said Tony Carruthers’ attorney will file lawsuits and the incident will have a ripple effect for other death row inmates.“His lawyers are going to file a barrage of litigation to stop this.They are going to say they had one chance to execute him and they didn’t do it right.Therefore he should be granted an indefinite reprieve.There is some precedent for that in other states,” Raybin said.“But I think this is going to continue with other cases.Now everybody else on death row is going to say, ‘well look what happened with this guy, they are going to mess up my case too,’ and this going to slow this thing down even more.” Background on Tennessee executions Executions were put on hold in Tennessee four years ago when Gov.Bill Lee ordered an independent review of the state’s procedures and brought in new leadership to oversee the process.Executions continued last year after the protocol was revised.At that time, nearly 20 medical professionals sent a letter to the governor asking him to pause executions.They had concerns about the state’s reliance on a certain drug used in lethal injection cases.Click here to sign up for our newsletter!Click here to report a spelling or grammar error.Please include the headline.Copyright 2026 WMC.All rights reserved.