Sentence in killing overturned
Turner successfully challenges his conviction in Fisher’s death
A divided state appeals court Wednesday overturned the conviction of a Memphis man convicted in the brutal 1995 stabbing death of prominent Midtown resident Emily Klyce Fisher.
Two members of the three -judge panel ruled that defendant Alfred Turner should receive a new trial because jurors in 2007 were told that two men initially accused of the murder were acquitted in a 1996 trial.
Turner’s defense was that those two men — George Tate and Rodney Blades — actually committed the crime, although the trial judge allowed prosecutors to tell jurors that Tate and Blades had been ac- quitted.
“The general rule is that the admission of ev- idence of a judgment of acquittal is inadmissible as being irrelevant,” wrote Court of Criminal Appeals Judge John Everett Williams, who was joined by Judge J. C. Mclin. “Even if a court were to find the information of the acquittal relevant, (its value) is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, and the possibility of misleading the jury.”
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Camille McMullen said this case was different.
“Given these unique facts and circumstances, it is more likely that the jury would have been
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misled and confused the issues had they not heard that Tate and Blades were arrested, charged, and acquitted,” McMullen said.
Turner, 39, who had no prior record, was not linked to the crime until 2004, when an accomplice gave police his name and DNA tests showed that blood found at the crime scene belonged to him.
In 2007, Turner was convicted of a reduced charge of facilitation to commit felony murder by jurors who felt he was involved, but were not sure who did the actual killing.
Fisher, 52, an accountant who also was active in charitable, music and civic orga- nizations, was stabbed more than 50 times on Feb. 27, 1995, in her home on Central near Belvedere.
In addition to DNA evidence, the prosecution had the testimony of Aaron D. Williams, who was identified as a suspect in a tip to Crime Stoppers.
Williams testified that he was at the Fisher home that day, but that Turner was the one who repeatedly stabbed Emily Fisher.
He said Turner wanted to collect a $20 drug debt from Fisher's son, who was not at home.
Criminal Court Judge W. Otis Higgs Jr. said in sen- tencing Turner to the maximum 25 years in prison in February 2007 that the murder was the most brutal he had seen in 40 years.
State prosecutor Tom Henderson said Wednesday he will ask the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office to appeal the ruling to the state Supreme Court.
“Obviously, we disagree with the majority opinion and believe the dissenting opinion is much more reasoned and in line with the precedents,” he said.
Turner, who was represented in trial by attorneys Gerald Skahan and Juni Ganguli, has been turned down for parole once and is scheduled to meet the parole board again in 2013. His sentence is scheduled to expire in 2026.
— Lawrence Buser: 529-2385