Tennessee
Death row inmate challenges new Tennessee post-conviction law
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee death row inmate is challenging the newly expanded authority of the appointed state attorney general to argue certain capital cases, a power that lawmakers shifted away from locally elected prosecutors under a new law after some expressed reluctance to pursue the death penalty.
The law passed in April by the GOP-led Tennessee Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee has generated opposition from attorneys and Democratic lawmakers. They say the change violates the state Constitution, bypasses the will of voters and targets progressive-minded district attorneys who have defied lawmakers in the past.
The statute is the latest example of attempts by GOP governors and legislatures in several states to take on locally elected officials who have de-prioritized enforcement of laws they deem unnecessary.
Lawyer Robert Hutton has filed a motion for Larry McKay, asking a judge to disqualify Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti from representing the state in McKay’s effort to have a judge hear new evidence and grant another trial.
McKay was convicted of two murders during a robbery and sentenced to death 40 years ago. McKay’s motion claims new scientific methods have revealed that firearms evidence presented at trial was unreliable and a ballistics expert’s conclusions cannot stand.
Skrmetti was handed authority over the case from the local prosecutor, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy, under the law passed this year.
The handoff involves collateral proceedings in death penalty cases before a trial court, which apply to issues related to new evidence, DNA testing and intellectual disability, for example. They don’t fall under the appeals process, which the attorney general oversees.
This photo provided by Tennessee Department of Correction shows Larry McKay. McKay, a Tennessee death row inmate is challenging the newly expanded authority of the appointed state attorney general to argue certain capital cases, a power that lawmakers shifted away from locally elected prosecutors after some expressed reluctance to pursue the death penalty. Credit: AP
Mulroy in Memphis and Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk in Nashville both have said they oppose the death penalty. Both have also said that they would make prosecuting doctors under the state’s abortion ban a low priority and that state laws targeting the LBGTQ+ community are unnecessary.
In recent years, other district attorneys around the country have refused to prosecute some Republican-passed state laws, from voting restrictions to limits on certain protest activity. In Georgia, lawmakers passed a bill in March establishing a commission to discipline and remove prosecutors who Republicans believe aren’t sufficiently fighting crime.
In Florida, former state attorney Aramis Ayala clashed with Republican governors Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis for refusing to seek the death penalty. Both governors reassigned death penalty cases to other prosecutors.
Richard Dieter, the Death Penalty Information Center’s executive director, said tension exists in capital cases where the district attorney has said the death penalty is flawed and that they will almost never seek it.
“Governors and attorney generals have taken steps toward removing individual cases from the local DA’s authority and even have sought to disqualify the DA from all potentially capital cases,” Dieter said.
Dieter said “it would make sense” for district attorneys to handle collateral challenges, which typically begin in trial courts.
Mulroy supports McKay’s motion, which argues that the new law hurts the district attorney’s ability to fulfill his responsibilities as an official elected locally under Tennessee’s Constitution. The attorney general is picked by Tennessee’s Supreme Court.
“The new statute also violates the voting rights of such voters,” Mulroy’s filing states.
Tennessee has put seven inmates to death since 2018, the most recent occurring in February 2020.
In 2019, Funk agreed to seek a sentence reduction to keep Black death row inmate Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman in prison for life. Abdur’Rahman had petitioned a judge to reopen his case on claims that trial prosecutors treated Black potential jurors differently from white ones.
Republican Sen. Brent Taylor, the sponsor of the bill passed in April, argued that under the previous law, district attorneys could be unfamiliar with the sometimes decades-old death penalty cases under appeal. That means the post-conviction challenges “lose their adversarial characteristic that ensures justice,” Taylor said.
He also contended that the attorney general should control more of the cases that his office already handles through appeals. Additionally, Taylor said victims’ families would be better off communicating with just the attorney general’s office.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari, the Democratic minority leader, said the law shouldn’t be changed because of possible dislike for the “policies of our more liberal district attorneys.”
“When you come for an entire office and change how things proceed based on who holds that seat at that time, that’s when you’re making bad policy,” Akbari said on the floor last month.
Mulroy, a Democrat, has said he opposes the death penalty “as a policy matter” and that he would vote against it if he were a legislator.
Still, Mulroy is pursuing the death penalty against Ezekiel Kelly, who is charged with killing three people during a Memphis shooting rampage. In announcing the decision, Mulroy said it’s his duty to follow the law in Kelly’s case but maintained his general opposition to the death penalty.
Funk also has said he personally opposes the death penalty.
“I still follow the law, in that I review those cases and have a team of assistant DAs to work through the case to then provide any recommendations” about whether to seek death, the Democrat told The Associated Press in 2021.
McKay has always maintained his innocence. His motion notes that the district attorney can seek a lesser penalty if case circumstances change, a possibility that would benefit McKay if he were granted a new trial.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan is presiding over McKay’s motion. She previously ruled that death row inmate Pervis Payne was intellectually disabled and unfit to be executed, removing him from death row.
Attorneys fear the state could use the law to step into other matters in capital cases and argue against consideration of DNA evidence and intellectual disabilities.
“The Attorney General’s intervention bill is fiscally irresponsible, unconstitutional, and an attack on the voters of Shelby and Davidson County, which will result in an unnecessary delay in the adjudication of death penalty cases by an entity that is not accountable to the voters,” said Kelley Henry, Payne’s lawyer.
The attorney general’s office said it will file its response to McKay’s motion but declined further comment. Skahan set a June 2 hearing about the motion.
Tennessee
ESPN moves Tennessee back into College Football Playoff, gives Vols return trip to Georgia
Losses on Saturday by Indiana, Alabama and Ole Miss moved Tennessee up to No. 8 in ESPN’s new projected College Football Playoff rankings. The projection had the Vols as the No. 9 seed in the 12-team bracket, making a return trip to No. 8 Georgia in the first round of the playoffs.
The other first-round matchups were No. 12 Arizona State at No. 5 Ohio State, No. 11 Indiana at No. 6 Penn State and No. 10 SMU at No. 7 Notre Dame. Oregon was ranked No. 1 and seeded first by ESPN’s Heather Dinich.
“As long as Tennessee doesn’t lose at Vanderbilt on Saturday — and that’s hardly a guarantee — the Vols should be in the committee’s top 12 on Selection Day,” Dinich wrote, “now that Ole Miss played itself out.”
ESPN keeps Alabama at No. 12 in playoff rankings despite third loss
The College Football Playoff selection committee will release its new rankings and bracket projection Tuesday night. The official bracket will be announced on December 8.
ESPN on Saturday night had Ohio State ranked No. 2 and seeded fifth. Texas was ranked No. 3 and seeded second as the presumed SEC champion. Miami was ranked No. 6 and seeded third as the projected ACC champ and Boise State was ranked No. 10 and seeded fourth as the projected Mountain West champs.
Alabama stayed in the top 12 at No. 12 in the ESPN rankings, but was bumped out of the bracket by Arizona State, which was ranked No. 17 but would be in the field as the projected Big 12 champion.
“Alabama needs help even if it is still in the top 12 on Tuesday night,” Dinich wrote, “because the Tide would be bumped out for the Big 12 champion in this scenario. Alabama needs to beat rival Auburn and hope there is more fallout above them.”
ESPN dropped Indiana to No. 11 in its rankings. Just outside the top 12 was No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 14 South Carolina, No. 15 Texas A&M and No. 16 Clemson. BYU dropped to No. 18 after its loss at Arizona State and Colorado dropped to No. 20 after its loss at Kansas.
Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Saturday, Noon ET, ABC
Tennessee (8-2, 5-2 SEC) beat UTEP 56-0 on Senior Day at Neyland Stadium Saturday afternoon and now goes to Vanderbilt (6-5, 3-4) this week in the regular-season finale.
Indiana lost 38-15 at Ohio State, Ole Miss lost 24-17 at Florida and Alabama lost 24-3 at Oklahoma. Texas A&M also lost at Auburn for its second SEC loss.
The Tennessee-Georgia winner in the ESPN projection would advance to face No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Georgia can play its way out of the first round by winning the SEC Championship game. Georgia has clinched a spot in Atlanta and will face the winner of Saturday’s game between Texas and Texas A&M.
“The Vols got some help on Saturday,” Dinich wrote. “With Ole Miss and Indiana both losing, Tennessee should move up by default — not because it hammered UTEP 56-0.
“The head-to-head loss to Georgia will keep them behind the Bulldogs, which makes putting them ahead of Alabama difficult for the committee in spite of the win against the Tide.”
The Tennessee Titans have to figure out what they’re going to do at the quarterback position moving forward.
Will Levis showed flashes of big-time potential during his rookie season last year. Unfortunately, in year two, he has taken a huge step back and shown a lot of regression.
That has led to questions about his future with the team.
Recently, it has been suggested that Aaron Rodgers could end up being a potential target for the Titans if they’re looking for another quarterback.
It’s widely expected that Rodgers will part ways with the New York Jets in the offseason. Some speculation has even suggested that he could cut ties with the Jets during the 2024 season.
With that being said, Mike Moraitis of The Sporting News has slammed the rumors of Rodgers being a potential target for Tennessee.
“However, for the Titans to even consider bringing Rodgers in, they would have to be confident they are just a quarterback away and that Rodgers can put them over the top,” Moraitis wrote. “And, Rodgers would have to believe that the Titans are right there in terms of being a contender. Nothing we’ve seen from Rodgers or the Titans in 2024 has indicated any of those things are the case.”
He continued forward, revealing his thoughts on what the Titans should actually choose to do.
“What the Titans need to do is find their long-term solution under center and not a shaky bridge quarterback,” he wrote. “If Levis doesn’t rebound, Tennessee needs to get their guy in the 2025 NFL Draft, where they will have a high pick.”
Obviously, in an ideal world, Levis would bounce back strong down the stretch of the season. He could still very well do that and there is no denying the talent he possesses.
Bringing in Rodgers would be entertaining, but it wouldn’t change much about the outlook for the franchise. Depending on the price, they could consider signing Rodgers to a one or two-year deal and drafting a rookie. Starting Rodgers and letting a rookie learn from the sideline could make sense.
Even with that being a possibility, the idea of Rodgers to Tennessee just doesn’t make a ton of sense. Fans should not expect to see the Titans try to pursue Rodgers this offseason.
Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
The Tennessee Titans are just one day away from their next matchup against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium.
The Titans are looking for their first win since Week 9, when they beat the New England Patriots at home. In the last two weeks, Tennessee has lost by double digits to strong playoff-contending teams, and this week might not be much different against the first-place Texans.
CBS Sports writer Pete Prisco believes the Titans’ struggles will continue, falling 31-21 to the Texans.
“The Texans are playing on a short week, but they looked better on offense against Dallas with Nico Collins back. The Titans will have trouble stopping them this week, so look for the Texans and C.J. Stroud to play well. Will Levis won’t keep up,” Prisco writes.
The Titans will have to stop Houston’s multi-dimensional offense with Joe Mixon on the ground and Collins and Tank Dell through the air. Tennessee has the No. 2 overall defense this season, so it should provide a good test for C.J. Stroud and the Texans offense, but it still doesn’t make them a favorite.
If the Titans want to win against the Texans, they will have to pressure Stroud and take advantage of their offensive line, which has proven to be suspect at times during the season.
When it comes to the Titans’ offense, it needs to take care of the ball. Giving the Texans shorter fields will be the easiest way to lose the game, so if the Titans can prevent the Texans from scoring up close on short drives, they will have a chance to be competitive against their division rival.
Kickoff between the Titans and Texans is set for 12 noon CT tomorrow. The game can be watched on CBS or streamed on Paramount+.
Make sure you bookmark Tennessee Titans on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
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