Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Commutes the Death Sentence of Rocky Myers

Yesterday, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Rocky Myers to a sentence of life without parole. This is the first time that Governor Ivey, a staunch supporter of capital punishment, has commuted a death sentence. The last time an Alabama governor commuted a death sentence was all the way back in 1999. We investigated and covered Rocky’s case on the Undisclosed Podcast with the goal of having his death sentence commuted; having him released at the time seemed like an impossibility because “an earlier attorney abandoned his case, causing him to miss a deadline to raise issues in federal court,” waiving any further appeals. But now, with Governor Ivey’s commutation and the questions she raised about his innocence, it seems like Rocky Myers being set free could be back on the table. So, what are the facts of Rocky’s case, and why was his death sentence commuted?

The thumbnail facts of the case are as follows:

Myers was convicted of capital murder in the 1991 stabbing of Ludie Mae Tucker, 69, at her Decatur home. Myers, who lived across the street from Tucker, has long maintained he is innocent, and a juror at his 1994 trial supported the push for clemency.

So, what did our reporting on Undisclosed uncover? I created this infographic in an attempt to summarize our findings and secure clemency for Rocky:

You can see the bolded section of the infographic above, which related to our most critical discovery. On the podcast, I spoke with Dr. Nicole von Wurmb-Schwark, co-author of the study, “Good shedder or bad shedder–the influence of skin diseases on forensic DNA analysis from epithelial abrasions.” According to the study, someone like Rocky Myers who has intreated eczema is 90% likely to leave behind a full DNA profile after touching objects like several objects Rocky supposedly touched at the crime scene. But none of his skin cells or DNA were found.

In connection with her order commuting Rocky’s death sentence, Governor Ivey stated that

in the case of Ludie Mae Tucker’s murder, I have enough questions about Mr. Myers’ guilt that I cannot move forward with executing him. For example, no murder weapon was found, and no DNA evidence or fingerprints or other physical evidence tied Mr. Myers to the scene of the crime. Although Ms. Tucker knew Mr. Myers and let her attacker inside the house, neither she nor Marie Dutton – the only two eyewitnesses to the crime – ever identified Mr. Myers as the assailant. There is also other circumstantial evidence, but it is riddled with conflicting evidence from seemingly everyone involved.”

Here is Governor Kay’s order commuting Rocky’s sentence:

For other updates on our Undisclosed cases, you can check out recent Relaunch episode of the podcast.

-CM