TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Apr 29, 2026

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is challenging Tennessee’s denial of fingerprint testing for death row inmate Tony Carruthers, who is scheduled to be executed May 21, NewsChannel 5 reports. The ACLU, the ACLU of Tennessee and Quarles & Brady LLP filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking access to fingerprint evidence and other forensic testing in Carruthers’ case. The complaint argues Tennessee courts wrongly denied Carruthers’ request for fingerprint testing and improperly refused to consider newer evidence, including records allegedly confirming that a key witness worked as a paid confidential informant. Carruthers has maintained his innocence. His attorneys argue no physical evidence links him to the killings and say six fingerprints recovered from the crime scene did not match his. The lawsuit follows a separate request filed in the Tennessee Supreme Court seeking additional DNA testing, which remains pending, according to the complaint.