Alabama authorities can’t find evidence in Arthur case

Tommy Arthur came within hours of execution for the third time last week, before the Alabama Supreme Court blocked the execution so it could review new evidence that another inmate confessed to committing the murder for which Arthur is in prison. And a state prosecutor has now admitted that the rape kit – including key biological evidence from the crime scene – is lost.

An editorial in Sunday’s Tuscaloosa News calls on Alabama officials to improve evidence preservation to avoid injustices like this in the future.

The lapse is stunning. Alabama has never provided adequate funding for criminal investigation — the Department of Forensic Sciences has been particularly shortchanged — yet we have one of the highest-paid attorneys general in the country. Arthur’s attorney, Suhana Han, wants to know why King’s office is only now inquiring about the rape kit when defense lawyers have been litigating for it since 2002.

Read the full editorial here

. (Tuscaloosa News, 08/02/08)

The Innocence Project has consulted on this case with Han and Arthur’s other attorneys. There is other evidence to be tested in the case even if the rape kit is not found, and thousands of Innocence Project supporters have spoken up on Arthur’s behalf in recent days, sending emails to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley urging him to order testing in the case.

Send your email now

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Arthur’s legal battles far from over