Opinion ID: 1060393
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 45

Heading: Deleted Discussion of Failure to Answer the Jury's Question)

Text: WHETHER THE AGGRAVATING FACTOR APPLIED BY THE JURY IS A DUPLICATION OF THE CRIME Appellants contend that their death sentences are unconstitutional because the aggravating circumstance applied by the jury is a duplication of the offence for which they were convicted. We disagree. Although Appellants' argument is not entirely clear, they apparently contend that because the State used evidence of the Branam murder to show that they were the individuals who killed Griffin, the State was precluded from relying on their convictions for the Branam murder as the aggravating circumstance upon which the death penalty was sought. As support for this proposition, Appellants cite State v. Middlebrooks, 840 S.W.2d 317 (Tenn.1992). This reliance is completely misguided. In Middlebrooks , the Tennessee Supreme Court held that when a defendant is convicted of first degree murder solely on the basis of felony murder, the defendant cannot be sentenced to death because that same murder was committed during the commission, the attempt to commit, or the fleeing after the commission or attempt to commit certain felonies. Id. at 347. First, Appellants were convicted of premeditated and deliberate first degree murder, not felony murder. In addition, Appellants were convicted in this case of the Griffin murder, not the Branam murder. Thus, it is obvious that the aggravating circumstance in this case (the convictions for the Branam murder) was not a duplication of the crime for which Appellants were convicted in this case (the Griffin murder). This issue has no merit.