Alabama Governor Spares Inmate Rocky Myers From Death Sentence

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has commuted the death sentence of Robin “Rocky” Myers to life without parole, marking the first execution she has halted during her time in office.

Quick Takes

Myers was convicted for the 1991 murder of Ludie Mae Tucker despite maintaining his innocence for over three decades.
Governor Kay Ivey made the unusual decision to commute Myers’ death sentence, instead determining that he should remain in prison for life.
Governor Ivey cited a lack of physical evidence and doubts about Myers’ guilt as reasons for commutation.
The jury had originally recommended life imprisonment, but the judge imposed the death penalty.
Attorney General Steve Marshall expressed “astonishment” at the governor’s decision.
This marks the first death sentence commutation in Alabama since 1999.

Controversial Death Sentence Halted After Three Decades

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey made the rare decision to commute Robin “Rocky” Myers’ death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Myers, who has been on death row for nearly 30 years after being convicted of the 1991 murder of Ludie Mae Tucker in Decatur, has consistently maintained his innocence throughout his incarceration. The case has been fraught with controversy since the beginning, with multiple appeals and serious questions raised about the evidence presented at trial and the application of the death penalty against the jury’s recommendation.

This marks the first death sentence Governor Ivey has commuted since taking office in 2017 and the first such action by any Alabama governor since 1999. The decision comes after a detailed review of the case by the governor’s office, which concluded there were sufficient doubts about Myers’ guilt to halt his execution while still keeping him incarcerated for life. The high-profile nature of the case has drawn attention from anti-death penalty advocates and innocence projects across the country.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey commuted the death sentence of Robin “Rocky” Myers to life in prison, saying there were enough questions about his guilt that she could not move forward with his execution. https://t.co/i0okrMmVk1

— NTD News (@NTDNews) March 3, 2025

Evidence Concerns and Judicial Override

Governor Ivey’s decision was primarily based on the lack of physical evidence connecting Myers to the crime. No murder weapon was ever found, and no DNA evidence tied Myers to the scene. Adding to the controversy, the jury at Myers’ 1994 trial had actually recommended a life sentence, but Circuit Court Judge Claude Bennett McRae overrode this recommendation and imposed the death penalty. This practice of “judicial override” has since been abolished in Alabama, but it remained in effect when Myers was sentenced.

“In short, I am not convinced that Mr. Myers is innocent, but I am not so convinced of his guilt as to approve of his execution. I therefore must respect both the jury’s decision to convict him and its recommendation that he be sentenced to life without parole,” Ivey stated.

Further complicating the case, one of the jurors from the original trial, Mae Puckett, has since come forward to express her belief in Myers’ innocence and support for the commutation. Myers’ attorneys have pointed to multiple failures in his legal representation over the years, including missed filing deadlines by previous counsel that prevented certain evidence and claims from being fully considered by appellate courts. These procedural issues left Myers with limited avenues for relief.

Political Fallout and Public Reaction

The commutation has created tension between the governor and Attorney General Steve Marshall, who strongly opposed the decision. Marshall publicly expressed his astonishment at Ivey’s actions, criticizing what he called a “cursory review” of a case that his office had defended through appeals for three decades. The public disagreement between two high-ranking Republican state officials has drawn significant attention, as Ivey has generally maintained a tough-on-crime stance throughout her governorship.

Despite the controversy, organizations including Death Penalty Action and Amnesty International have praised the governor’s decision. Advocates point to Myers’ case as emblematic of broader concerns about the application of capital punishment, particularly in cases with limited physical evidence. Governor Ivey, while following through with the commutation, emphasized that she still believes in the death penalty but could not move forward with executing Myers given her doubts about his guilt. She also expressed sympathy for the Tucker family, acknowledging the difficult position this places them in after decades of believing justice would include Myers’ execution.