Governor Bill Lee has issued a one-year stay of execution for Tony Carruthers after state officials failed to establish the necessary intravenous access for lethal injection.

州長比爾·李（Bill Lee）在州政府官員未能建立致命注射所需的靜脈通路後，已宣布暫緩執行東尼·卡魯瑟斯（Tony Carruthers）的死刑一年。

The cessation of the execution procedure occurred on Thursday at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. According to the Tennessee Department of Correction, while a primary intravenous line was successfully established, medical personnel were unable to secure a secondary backup line as mandated by state protocol. Subsequent attempts to insert a central line were also unsuccessful, leading to the termination of the process. Legal representatives for the inmate, including counsel from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), characterized the prolonged attempt as a period of physical distress for the condemned.

死刑程序的終止發生於週四的 Riverbend 最高安全監獄。根據田納西州懲教署的說法，雖然已成功建立主靜脈通路，但醫療人員無法按照州政府規定建立第二條備用通路。隨後嘗試插入中心靜脈導管同樣失敗，導致程序終止。包括美國公民自由聯盟（ACLU）在內的囚犯法律代表，將這次漫長的嘗試描述為死刑犯經歷身體痛苦的過程。

Historical and legal antecedents of the case reveal that Carruthers, 57, was convicted in 1996 for the 1994 triple homicide and kidnapping of Marcellos Anderson, Delois Anderson, and Frederick Tucker in Memphis. The conviction was predicated primarily on witness testimony, including that of a paid police informant, in the absence of physical evidence. A significant procedural irregularity noted in clemency petitions is that Carruthers was compelled to represent himself at trial after rejecting court-appointed counsel. Furthermore, the sentencing was influenced by medical examiner testimony regarding the victims being buried alive—a claim subsequently withdrawn and refuted by other experts.

該案的歷史與法律背景顯示，57 歲的卡魯瑟斯（Carruthers）於 1996 年被定罪，原因是他在 1994 年於孟菲斯綁架並殺害了馬塞洛斯·安德森（Marcellos Anderson）、德洛伊斯·安德森（Delois Anderson）及弗雷德里克·塔克（Frederick Tucker）三人。由於缺乏實物證據，定罪主要基於證人證詞，包括一名受僱的警察線人。在寬大處理申請書中提到的一項重大程序不正常之處在於，卡魯瑟斯在拒絕法院指派的律師後，被迫在審理中為自己辯護。此外，判刑受到了法醫關於受害者被活埋之證詞的影響，而該說法隨後被撤回並被其他專家反駁。

Stakeholder positioning remains polarized. The defense maintains that Carruthers is mentally incompetent for execution, citing schizoaffective disorder and bipolar type disturbances that manifest as complex delusions. These delusions allegedly include the belief that the execution is a coercive tactic to avoid the payment of millions of dollars owed to him by the government. Conversely, the Tennessee Supreme Court previously determined that the defendant's trial conduct, while self-destructive, was a result of his own volition. Additionally, the ACLU continues to advocate for forensic DNA and fingerprint testing of crime scene evidence, which the state has thus far declined to perform.

利害關係人的立場依然兩極分化。辯方主張卡魯瑟斯在精神上不適合執行死刑，理由是他患有分裂情感性障礙和雙極型障礙，表現為複雜的妄想。據稱這些妄想包括認為執行死刑是政府為了逃避支付欠他的數百萬美元而採取的脅迫手段。相反，田納西州最高法院此前認定，被告在審理中的行為雖屬自我毀滅，但係其本人的意願。此外，ACLU 繼續主張對犯罪現場證據進行法醫 DNA 和指紋檢測，但州政府至今拒絕執行。

This incident occurs within a broader context of institutional volatility regarding Tennessee's capital punishment protocols. The state recently concluded a three-year moratorium following revelations that lethal injection drugs had not been subjected to required purity and potency testing. An independent review confirmed that seven inmates executed since 2018 received drugs that had not been fully tested, and the state attorney general's office acknowledged that officials had provided incorrect testimony under oath regarding these procedures.

此次事件發生在田納西州死刑執行方案制度動盪的更廣泛背景下。在揭露致命注射藥物未經要求的純度與效力測試後，該州最近結束了為期三年的暫停執行期。一項獨立審查確認，自 2018 年以來被執行死刑的七名囚犯所注射的藥物未經過完整測試，且州總檢察長辦公室承認，官員在宣誓後就這些程序提供了錯誤的證詞。

Tony Carruthers remains incarcerated under a one-year reprieve while legal challenges regarding his mental competency and the validity of the evidence continue.

東尼·卡魯瑟斯（Tony Carruthers）在一年暫緩執行期內繼續被監禁，而關於其精神能力及證據有效性的法律挑戰仍在持續。