Dear Honorable Governor Riley

Letter to Governor Riley, 7-29-08, sent via email through his official website:

Subject: Prison and Paroles

Re: Mr. Thomas Arthur's Execution

Dear Honorable Governor Riley:

During your time in office you have used the name of Jesus, spoken of your faith and of doing the right thing. Please know that regarding the subject of Mr. Arthur and the case in general, that I understand that you wish, and rightfully so, to help bring closure to the family of Mr. Wicker, the victim. It is public knowledge that you have used this as a reason to not grant Mr. Arthur a stay of execution pending the requested DNA testing. Honorable Governor, I submit to you that while this reason sounds good, it does not make sense upon examining the facts of the case and the way Mr. Arthur has already been treated by our state during his trial; and especially since members of Mr. Wicker‘s own family also wish the testing to be done. Therefore, as a fellow citizen of this state and as your Sister in our Lord, I beseech you to reconsider your decision and grant Mr. Arthur a stay of execution pending the DNA testing.

If you allow this execution to go forward without checking the evidence taken by good law enforcement officers years ago; how can you say justice has been carried out? For if you do not check the evidence; especially in a case where execution is the outcome, and Mr. Arthur is put to death wrongfully, justice will not have been served. Also, if Mr. Arthur is innocent, that means a real murderer and criminal has been walking around free for almost thirty years, while an innocent man has been incarcerated.

You have also used the cost of the test as a reason for not ordering the testing; stating to our shame and disgrace, that we as a state can‘t afford the cost of the test. However, the Innocence Project has stepped forward and stated they would cover the cost of the test, so that reason is not valid either. (I submitt that we cannot afford to not do the test.)

Have you noticed that businesses are giving bids to other states and not coming to Alabama? Do you not know that the outcome of this case is being viewed by the rest of our country and perhaps the world? Your actions are important, and you cannot say you don’t have the power, for it has been stated by those that know, that indeed you do have the power to stop the execution pending the testing. The question is why will you not order it?

Could it be that you are aware that if Mr. Arthur is found innocent and freed that the state of Alabama will be liable for the time he has spent in prison? And it is true that we would be opened to a liable suit; however, considering what Mr. Arthur has been through he would deserve some kind of compensation from a state that wouldn’t listen to him before, during, or since the trial; a state that did not enter witnesses that would have corroborated his alibi for the time of Mr. Wicker’s murder, etc. Please know that I had rather pay Mr. Arthur proper compensation, than be a party to an innocent man’s murder.

Governor, I am not a lawyer, but I do know right from wrong and what Jesus taught. According to the teaching of Jesus to, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” how can you not wish to know the truth regarding the murder of Mr. Wicker? If it were you, your wife, or one of your children in Mr. Arthur’s place, facing death after saying for almost thirty years that you/they are innocent and there was a means to use to at least check information given, wouldn’t you want it to be used; wouldn’t you want it to be tested before any execution took place? If you answered yes to that question, you have no choice but to grant Mr. Arthur a stay until this testing may be done for him in his case. Again, I beseech you in Jesus’ name, (Jesus who knows about sham trials) and in the name of true justice, to stop this execution until all the evidence has been examined and taken into consideration. Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter. May you be well.

Sincerely,
In Jesus' Precious Name,

Sarah Wires