Emergency application · Capital case
DNA testing before execution
Tony Carruthers v. Tennessee
What did the Court do?
The Court denied the request on May 21, 2026 and refused to halt the execution.
Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case.
What's being asked
Tennessee death-row prisoner Tony Carruthers asks the Supreme Court to pause his execution while it considers whether to review his case. He seeks time to pursue DNA testing of untested evidence tied to the crimes. He says results could support his innocence, weaken his death sentence, or point to another suspect.
What the Court did
The Court refused emergency help and denied Carruthers's request for a stay (a temporary pause) of his execution. It also denied his petition for Supreme Court review (refused to hear the case), but did not decide his underlying claims. The Court did not publish how the justices voted.
What it means
This emergency ruling addresses a temporary pause, not whether Carruthers should receive DNA testing or win his underlying claims. The application challenges a Tennessee Supreme Court ruling. Carruthers's filing says DNA-testing litigation was pending in state and federal courts, but the record gives no later status. The docket lists no related Supreme Court case or argument date.
Sources
Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 25A1290. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.