USA UPDATE: EXECUTION WOULD VIOLATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

Dear Governor,

Please stop the May 21, 2026, execution of Tony Carruthers. After the judge lost patience with Mr. Carruthers’ conduct toward a succession of lawyers, he was forced to represent himself at his 1996 trial and sentencing. Under international law, self-representation must not be imposed on a defendant; a person cannot be deemed to have forfeited their right to a lawyer as a punishment for misconduct. Carrying out a death sentence imposed through unfair proceedings would violate the right to life guaranteed under international human rights law.

Tony Carruthers’ self-representation was deemed so prejudicial to his co-defendant – who was tried alongside him and was also convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death – that the co-defendant was granted a new trial. He was allowed to plead to lesser charges, sentenced to 27 years in prison, and released in 2015. Tony Carruthers was clearly prejudiced by his forced self-representation given his lack of competence and his conduct in court, yet his convictions and death sentence have been upheld. Today, as far as is known, he is set to become the first person in the USA in more than a century to be executed after being forced to represent himself at trial.

Tony Carruthers has a severe mental illness (disability) with symptoms including paranoid delusions and distorted thought processes. He also has serious brain damage. Although he is said to be aware of his conviction and impending execution, he lacks a rational understanding of them, raising the prospect of an unconstitutional execution that also violates international law. Other aspects of his case presented in the clemency petition before you raise additional serious concerns. I urge you to grant clemency and commute his death sentence.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]