George Sibley

Alabama

August 4, 2005

The state of Alabama is scheduled to execute 62-year-old George Sibley, Jr., a white man, on Aug. 4, 2005 for the June 10, 1994 murder of an Opelika police officer, Roger Lamar Motley, in Lee County. Sibley’s common-law wife, Lynda Lyon Block, 54, died in the electric chair for the same crime on May 10, 2002.

The couple was heading through Alabama from Florida when they stopped so Block could use a payphone. While Block was on the phone a witness reportedly saw Block’s son in the car crying for help. This witness called Officer Motley to investigate the situation. Officer Motley asked Sibley for his driver’s license. When Sibley indicated that he did not have a driver’s license, Officer Motley attempted to arrest him. Sibley, believing that this arrest was unlawful, pulled a gun. Sibley and Block shot Officer Motley.

At trial, the forensic tests were inconclusive as to which gun fired the fatal shot. Sibley was unable to prove his claim that Motley had a history of corruption as a police officer. Block and Sibley were both found guilty and sentenced to death. They failed to file appeals. After Block was executed Sibley decided to pursue his appeals. Sibley’s scheduled execution in November of that year was stopped two days before he was to die of lethal injection, when he filed an appeal.

On appeal, Sibley chose to represent himself despite the extraordinarily technical and complex legal issues involved in appealing a capital conviction.
In that appeal, Sibley claimed that Alabama’s death penalty law is unconstitutional because it allows the judge, not the jury, to make the final decision on a death sentence. A federal court dismissed the appeal, saying Sibley missed deadlines for filing such a motion. He failed to properly file a timely application for his post conviction relief, therefore being denied his habeas corpus review. Sibley claimed that his execution date was set when he still had one more day to make an appeal.

The death penalty does not deter crime nor does it create a more just society. It is more costly to administer than other alternatives and it disproportionately affects people with fewer resources. Please take a moment to contact Gov. Bob Riley and the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles and ask them to spare the life of George Sibley.

February 09, 2010

Subject:

I am writing to you in regards to the upcoming execution of George Sibley, Jr. My sympathies go out to the friends and loved ones of Roger Lamar Motley. However, I believe that George Sibley should not be executed. Both Sibley and his wife were involved in the crime. At trial, the forensic tests were inconclusive as to which gun delivered the fatal shot. Sibley did not have effective assistance of counsel because he was defending himself in a highly technical case without having the legal background needed to effectively file his appeals. He contends that the execution date was set when he still had one day left to appeal. It is my belief that the death penalty is not sound public policy. It is more costly to administer than alternatives and there is no evidence that it deters crime. I urge you to spare the life of George Sibley and to support legislation to place a moratorium on executions in Alabama. Thank you for your time and consideration.
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