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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 19 November 2019
Judge denies DNA testing sought 13 years post-execution

By ADRIAN SAINZ and TRA- killing a third at a Catholic
VIS LOLLER Supply store there about
Associated Press a year ago. Scheck said
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The investigators had told him
daughter of a man execut- Bruce attended the same
ed 13 years ago for murder avionics course as Collins in
does not have legal stand- Millington.
ing to seek DNA testing of St. Louis County Prosecut-
evidence in the case, a ing Attorney Wesley Bell
Memphis judge ruled Mon- has made no public state-
day, but the judge also said ments about a possible
the ruling wasn’t based on connection between Col-
the merits of the claims. lins and Bruce. A phone
April Alley is the daughter message left Monday with
of Sedley Alley, executed Tim Swope, a spokesman
in 2006 for the murder two for Bell, was not immedi-
decades earlier of Marine ately returned.
Lance Cpl. Suzanne Collins. Brice Donnelly, Bruce's at-
Earlier this year, April Alley torney, declined comment.
petitioned the court on be- April Alley has been reluc-
half of her father’s estate tant to talk about her effort
to order DNA testing. The to get DNA testing. Along
move came after investi- with her brother, she wit-
gators in a Missouri murder nessed her father’s execu-
case contacted the Inno- tion. They had their hands
cence Project about a pos- up against the glass as he
sible connection between - In this Oct. 14, 2019 file photo, April Alley, front, daughter of Sedley Alley, hugs a member of her spoke his last words, telling
a suspect in that case and legal counsel in a Memphis, Tenn., courtroom. them he loved them and to
Collins. Associated Press "stay strong."
“I’m heartbroken,” Alley ed. A statement from the been beaten, raped and on Tennessee’s death row, On Monday, she issued
said in a Monday state- Innocence Project on Mon- mutilated. was put to death by injec- a statement thanking
ment about the ruling. day said they were very dis- Sedley Alley confessed to tion on June 28, 2006. her supporters and vow-
“Frankly, I’m numb.” appointed in the decision the crime after 12 hours of That might have been the ing to “see this through to
Since the early 1990s, 22 and have already filed a questioning but later said end of the story if Scheck the end, no matter what
death row inmates around notice of appeal. the confession was co- had not received a call ear- it takes.” Shelby County
the U.S. have been ab- Collins was 19 and stationed erced. lier this year from investiga- Criminal Court Judge Paula
solved of crimes through at the former Memphis Na- Shortly before Alley was ex- tors in St. Louis. He said they Skahan heard arguments
DNA evidence. Innocence val Air Station in Millington, ecuted, Innocence Project wanted to discuss a pos- in the case last month and
Project attorneys had Tennessee, when she went co-founder Barry Scheck sible connection between dismissed the petition Mon-
hoped to use such evi- jogging in a nearby park on helped argue for DNA evi- Collins and Thomas Bruce, day, ruling that April Alley
dence for the first time to the night of July 11, 1985. dence testing. The request who is jailed in Missouri and lacked standing to bring
exonerate a person who Her body was discovered was denied. Alley, 50, who charged with sexually as- the petition on behalf of
has already been execut- early the next day. She had had spent two decades saulting two women and her father’s estate. q

Chick-fil-A halts donations to

3 groups against gay marriage

By DEE-ANN DURBIN dent Tim Tassopoulos said angered some conserva-
AP Business Writer the company — which is tives, who say they stood
Chick-fil-A is ending dona- closed on Sundays — will by the restaurant in 2012
tions to three groups that still consider donations to when CEO Dan Cathy said
oppose gay marriage in an faith-based groups. The in several interviews that
effort to halt protests and company wouldn’t say he didn’t support gay mar-
broaden its customer base. whether it will consider an riage. In more recent inter-
But the move has angered organization’s position on views, Cathy — who is the
some of the fast food gay rights before donating. son of Chick-fil-A’s founder
chain’s fans. The Atlanta- In 2017 and 2018, the Chick- — has reiterated his person-
based company said Mon- fil-A Foundation gave $2.4 al beliefs but says he treats
day that starting next year, million to the Missouri-based all customers with respect. This July 19, 2012, file photo shows a Chick-fil-A fast food
it will focus its giving on Fellowship of Christian Ath- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike restaurant in Atlanta. Chick-fil-A is ending donations to three
three areas: hunger, home- letes for sports camps for Huckabee said in a tweet groups that oppose gay marriage in an effort to halt protests
lessness and education. underserved youth and Monday that he coordinat- and broaden its customer base.
“This decision was made to $165,000 to the Salvation ed a national appreciation Associated Press
create more clarity — and Army to buy Christmas day for the company in around 2,400 restaurants, because of the company’s
to better address three gifts for needy children. 2012. Now, Chick-fil-A is be- has been also feeling heat gay rights record. Some
critical needs facing chil- The foundation also gave traying supporters, he said. from opponents. Earlier this college campuses have
dren across the communi- $6,000 to the Paul Ander- “They surrendered to anti- year, airports in Buffalo, banned the chain. A lo-
ties Chick-fil-A serves,” the son Youth Homes. Christian hate groups. Trag- New York, and San Anto- cation in the United King-
company said in a state- Chick-fil-A’s decision to no ic,” Huckabee tweeted. nio blocked the restaurant dom is closing because of
ment. Chick-fil-A Presi- longer support the groups Chick-fil-A, which operates from opening at their sites protests.q