By Associated Press
Montgomery, AL – A state appeals court is being asked to set aside a ruling that could send Alabama death row inmate Tommy Arthur to the execution chamber.
The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals hears arguments Tuesday on whether a Jefferson County circuit judge properly threw out another inmate's confession in the Arthur case. Arthur was sentenced to die for the 1982 shooting death of Troy Wicker in his home in Muscle Shoals.
After a judge in Birmingham rejected the confession of life-term inmate Bobb Ray Gilbert, who claimed he killed Wicker, the state attorney general asked the Supreme Court to set an execution date for Arthur. Defense attorneys want the criminal appeals court to overturn the Birmingham ruling and allow further review of Gilbert's claim.