Philip Workman

Who was Philip Workman?

Philip Workman was a death row inmate executed in Tennessee on May 9, 2007. He was convicted in 1982 for the murder of a police officer following a botched robbery of a Wendy's restaurant in Memphis, Tennessee, and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

Five of the jurors that convicted Workman in 1982 have since signed affidavits renouncing either the sentence or the verdict or both. They cited subsequent medical investigation and ballistics evidence, unheard during the trial, that suggested the fatal shot was inconsistent with the bullets in Workman's gun and has suggested possible accidental shots from other officers, though no official confirming statement was filed. Additionally, one prosecution eyewitness was found to have lied in his testimony, and during trial it was found that officers had covered up details concerning shots fired at the shooting of the slain officer.

After his execution, Workman's last meal request received widespread media coverage. Workman requested that a vegetarian pizza be given to a homeless person but the prison officials denied this request.