LAW OFFICES OF

RITCHIE, DILLARD, DAVIES & JOHNSON, P.C.

606 WEST MAIN STREET, SUITE 300
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE 37902

W. THOMAS DILLARD ROBERT W. RITCHIE (1938-2006)

WAYNE A. RITCHIE II CHARLES W.B. FELS (OF COUNSEL)
WADE V. DAVIES
STEPHEN ROSS JOHNSON TELEPHONE (865) 637-0661
JAMES R. STOVALL FACSIMILE (865) 524-4623
SAMANTHA I. WARCHOL
WWW.RDDJLAW.COM
April 30, 2019

The Honorable Bill Lee

Governor of the State of Tennessee
State Capitol, 1st Floor
600 Charlotte Avenue
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

Application for DNA Testing, Pardon and Exoneration of Sedley Alley

Dear Governor Lee,

Sedley Alley was executed by the State of Tennessee on June 28, 2006, for the rape
and murder of Marine Lance Corporal Suzanne Collins in Shelby County on July 12, 1985.
Mr. Alley was executed without the crime scene evidence being DNA tested, and to this
day it has never been tested. Sedley Alley’s daughter, April Alley, asks that you exercise
your constitutional clemency power to allow the DNA evidence to be tested and for the
pardon and exoneration of her father.

April Alley wants to know the truth. If her father was innocent, she wants to know
who really committed the crime for the sake of everyone involved in this tragic event, and
to make sure that person never commits another crime. There is no legitimate reason why
the truth should not be sought when the legal authority and scientific ability exists to reveal it.
An examination of the evidence in this case reveals that there is a substantial question
whether Mr. Alley was guilty of the rape and murder of Suzanne Collins.

The Tennessee Constitution of 1796 provided that the Governor of Tennessee “shall
have the power to grant reprieves and pardons…” Tennessee Constitution of 1796, Article
3, Section 6.

There is no time limitation on the Governor’s clemency power, and executive

clemency authority may be exercised for those who are deceased, such as Mr. Alley. The
extraordinary power of the executive to grant pardons has been part of the British, and later
American, body of law for more than one-thousand years. Herrera v. Collins, 506 U.S.390,

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412 (1993). The clemency power vested in the Governor of Tennessee is unfettered by
statute, the legislature, or the courts. State ex rel. Bedford v. McCorkle, 40 S.W.2d 1015,
1016 (Tenn. 1931). The power is “entrusted to [the Governor’s] judgment and discretion,
which cannot be interfered with, and of which he cannot be relieved.” State ex rel. Rowe v.
Connors, 61 S.W.2d 471, 472 (Tenn. 1933).

Mr. Alley’s conviction turned primarily on his confession, yet his confession does
not match the objective physical evidence in the case. Given what we now know about how
false confessions happen, there are serious concerns with the legitimacy of Mr. Alley’s
confession.

In 2006, the Board of Probation and Parole recommended that Governor Bredesen
exercise clemency power for the DNA testing of the crime scene evidence. The Board
agreed with counsel from the Innocence Project that DNA testing of multiple items found at
the crime scene, including men’s red underwear presumably worn by the perpetrator found
near Ms. Collins’ body, could prove Sedley Alley’s innocence or guilt, and even identify the
individual who committed the crime through a “hit” in the CODIS DNA database. The Board
recommended to Governor Bredesen that he stay Alley’s execution so that DNA testing could
be performed. Governor Bredesen accepted the Board’s recommendation and granted a
temporary stay of execution but deferred the question of DNA testing to the courts.

Tragically, the Tennessee courts denied DNA testing prior to Mr. Alley’s execution
under a now-reversed and clearly incorrect interpretation of the Post-Conviction DNA
Analysis Act of 2001. That interpretation rejected the idea that the statute was intended to
allow testing that could demonstrate innocence by showing a third party committed the crime
through a “hit” in the CODIS database, which could identify an unknown serial killer, or even
by comparing a crime scene DNA profile to an alternate suspect. The Tennessee Supreme
Court has since clarified - sadly 5 years after Mr. Alley’s execution - that this very type of
testing is what the Act was designed to accomplish, and in doing so discussed how the courts
in Mr. Alley’s case got it wrong. Powers v. State, 343 S.W.3d 36, 60 (Tenn. 2011) (finding
that Act serves two purposes: “first, to aid in the exoneration of those who are wrongfully
convicted and second, to aid in identifying the true perpetrators of the crimes.”) (discussing
and overruling incorrect analysis of Alley v. State, No. W2006-01179-CCA-R3-PD, 2006
Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 470 (Tenn. Crim. App. June 22, 2006) (“Alley II”).

If Sedley Alley were still alive, we believe he would be entitled to DNA testing to
determine actual innocence and the identity of the real killer under Tennessee’s Post-
Conviction DNA Act and the Tennessee Supreme Court’s decision in Powers. Both the law
and DNA science have evolved since 2006. The evidence to be tested is still in existence and
is preserved by the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office. And there is a reasonable
probability that Sedley Alley would not have been convicted or executed if DNA testing results
are exculpatory on the material items of evidence recovered from the crime scene.

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 Enclosed is a copy of a Petition for Post-Conviction DNA Analysis that has been
filed with the Shelby County Criminal Court Clerk by the Estate of Sedley Alley, and we
ask that you consider that Petition and its exhibits in the course of determining this
application. April Alley is the personal representative of her deceased father’s estate. She
now stands in the shoes of her father, seeking the truth.

While we believe the court has the authority to order the DNA testing of the evidence,
you also have that authority, which constitutionally is broader than the authority of the courts
in this matter. You can order the DNA testing in the course of considering the issuance of a
pardon and exoneration for Sedley Alley.

For these reasons, April Alley requests that you order the DNA testing of the crime
scene evidence in this case under your constitutional clemency powers and that you grant
a pardon and exoneration to Sedley Alley.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely yours,

RITCHIE, DILLARD, DAVIES & JOHNSON, P.C.

STEPHEN ROSS JOHNSON

SRJ:kem

Enclosures:
Petition for Post-Conviction DNA Analysis
and Exhibits

CC:
April Alley