Alfred Turner awarded new trial by Tennessee Supreme Court

October 13, 2011

Tennessee: The Tennessee Supreme Court has awarded defendant Alfred Turner a new trial based on his appeal from the murder trial of Emily Klyce Fisher. Turner is currently serving a prison sentence for facilitation to commit felony murder, which was reduced from first degree murder in his 2004 trial. The basis of the appeal is that jurors were told during the course of the trial that George Tate and Rodney Blades, whom Turner upholds committed the crime, had been acquitted. Chief Justice Janice Holder wrote in her decision that, "The State's reliance on the evidence of the acquittals of Mr. Blades and Mr. Tate to rebut defendant's theory of the case is not well-founded."