Stay of execution was wrong move

I can?t stand it when people ignore the constitution and laws under it, but the minute they get caught committing something like murder, they try and use what they have been ignoring to help themselves. When it comes to paying for their crimes with their lives, there seems to be one argument that I hear quite a lot ? it?s unconstitutional.

Take Sedley Alley for instance. He is currently requesting a stay on his execution because lethal injection causes pain, which is unconstitutional. That?s what he says. This is the reasoning from a man convicted of killing his victim by stabbing her in the head with a screwdriver. I can?t believe he was granted a stay earlier this week.

Murderers respect no laws and they abide by none. They pick a person and kill them with no more thought than you and I would give to swatting a fly. Alley?s victim was jogging when she was kidnapped, beaten, murdered ? and then sexually assaulted.

What was her crime when Alley sentenced her to death, being at the wrong place at the wrong times? Jogging? Being alone? Being unarmed? I think we have all been guilty of those crimes before. Even the most diligent person could slip up and commit one. Do we deserve to pay for them with our lives?

Did Alley think of the most humane way to murder his victim? In his opinion, piercing her skull with a screwdriver was an OK death, but dying by lethal injection isn?t. Well in that lies the solution. If it?s good enough for the victim, it should be good enough for the murderer. Let the punishment fit the crime.

It also irritates me someone who has no qualms about so violently killing someone else could have some much apprehension about their own death. If life means nothing to them, shouldn?t that include their own?

I forgot to mention one thing ? he?s innocent, or so he says. Like so many innocent people on death row, he was coerced by the police into confessing. I don?t know about you, but this is another excuse I?ve heard all too many times before. There is no doubt in my mind this man is guilty and 12 jurors agreed.

The case, in a nutshell, is this: After hearing the victim scream, two people saw Alley driving off. When the victim?s body was found, he stated he accidentally hit her when she was jogging. After the autopsy showed differently, he changed his story again and confessed to the crime. At trial, he tried to claim he had multiple personality disorder, which did not work with the jury, which probably figured if he did have multiple personalities ? they were all evil. He was subsequently sentenced to death.

Now, he wants Tennessee taxpayers to pay for DNA testing on evidence taken from the crime scene. He says DNA will prove his innocence.

I do believe there are some innocent people in jail but not this man. He is a cold-blooded murderer who has done everything he can to sustain his own life after brutally taking someone else?s. The crime happened in 1985, which means he has gotten to live 21 years longer than his victim, and in my opinion that?s long enough. The victim, Corporal Suzanne Marie Collins, was 19 when she was murdered.

The Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole recommended by a 4-3 vote to Gov. Phil Bredesen that he give Alley a stay of execution. I can?t understand the board?s reasoning but I believe it must be something other than common sense.

Lisa Hobbs is a reporter for the Standard. She can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].