We are writing to ask you to spare the life of Gary Sutton, who sits on death row in Tennessee, accused of killing his close friend, Tommy Griffin. For nearly 30 years, Gary has fiercely maintained his innocence. Gary was convicted and sentenced to death in large part due to testimony from the now-disgraced Dr. Charles Harlan, an “expert” who lied on the witness stand and offered false testimony.

To avoid killing an innocent man, we implore you to act. Using the authority granted to you as Governor by the Tennessee Constitution, we ask you to commute Gary’s sentence to life in prison so that he may continue working to prove his innocence and because:

● Gary lives with a diagnosed intellectual disability, which makes it unconstitutional to execute him. Thanks to your leadership and that of Tennessee state lawmakers, a new bill signed last year protects Gary from execution due to his intellectual disability under the Supreme Court ruling on Atkins vs. Virginia.

● There is no direct evidence tying Gary to the death of his close friend Tommy Griffin. In fact, the prosecution ignored evidence of alternative suspects. Moreover, the prosecution failed to establish a motive for why Gary would wish for his close friend to die—a concession the state made during Gary’s trial.

● The medical examiner, Dr. Charles Harlan, lied about his credentials when he presented bogus scientific testimony about Tommy’s time of death—the linchpin of the prosecution’s case tying Gary to the murder. Dr. Harlan’s testimony has since been deemed medically impossible and discredited by numerous experts. Gary is on death row because of Dr. Harlan’s testimony even though the State itself stripped him of his license for gross misconduct, incompetence, and negligence. Other victims of Dr. Harlan’s ineptitude have recently been exonerated.

● Lester “Festus” Johnson is an alternative suspect who had a clear motive for killing Tommy Griffin after Griffin was subpoenaed to testify against Johnson in an unrelated trial. Johnson traveled to east Tennessee shortly after he was acquitted.

From bogus testimony offered by a discredited witness to credible alternative suspects, there are too many questions left unresolved with Gary’s case. Is the State of Tennessee prepared to execute an innocent man with intellectual disability? We ask that you commute Gary’s sentence so that these issues can be addressed in a timely manner.