Opinion ID: 1058342
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: constitutionality of tennessee death penalty statutes

Text: The defendant raises numerous challenges to the constitutionality of Tennessee's death penalty provisions. Included within his challenge that the Tennessee death penalty statutes violate the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, and Article I, sections 8, 9, 16, and 17, and Article II, section 2 of the Tennessee Constitution are the following: 1. The requirement in Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-204(f) and (g) that the additional element of aggravating circumstance be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a second proceeding after a conviction of first degree murder has in effect given the defendant a life sentence renders the statute unconstitutional as violating protections against double jeopardy. This argument has been rejected by our supreme court. See Houston v. State, 593 S.W.2d 267, 276 (Tenn.1980), overruled on other grounds by State v. Brown, 836 S.W.2d 530 (Tenn.1992). 2. Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-204(c) permits the introduction of hearsay in the second stage of proceedings as evidence in the State's proof of aggravation or rebuttal of mitigation and thus violates the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 and 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. As our supreme court has noted many times, hearsay is admissible in first degree murder sentencing hearings. See Austin, 87 S.W.3d at 459; State v. Odom, 928 S.W.2d 18, 28 (Tenn.1996). 3. The sentencing system provided in Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-204 is so vague, broad, and internally contradictory that it results in the arbitrary and capricious imposition of the death penalty in Tennessee in violation of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions. This argument was rejected in State v. Johnson, 762 S.W.2d 110, 119 (Tenn.1988), cert denied, 489 U.S. 1091, 109 S.Ct. 1559, 103 L.Ed.2d 862 (1989). 4. The infliction of death as a punishment for a conviction for murder is without justification and so severe as to constitute cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. The defendant's argument that the death penalty by any means constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the state and federal constitutions has been repeatedly rejected by our appellate courts. See State v. Keen, 31 S.W.3d 196, 233 (Tenn.2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 907, 121 S.Ct. 1233, 149 L.Ed.2d 142 (2001); State v. Pike, 978 S.W.2d 904, 925 (Tenn. 1998) cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1147, 119 S.Ct. 2025, 143 L.Ed.2d 1036 (1999); State v. Nesbit, 978 S.W.2d 872, 902-03 (Tenn. 1998) cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1052, 119 S.Ct. 1359, 143 L.Ed.2d 520 (1999); State v. Vann, 976 S.W.2d 93, 118 (Tenn.1998), cert. denied, 526 U.S. 1071, 119 S.Ct. 1467, 143 L.Ed.2d 551 (1999); State v. Blanton, 975 S.W.2d 269, 286 (Tenn.1998), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 1180, 119 S.Ct. 1118, 143 L.Ed.2d 113 (1999); State v. Cribbs, 967 S.W.2d 773, 796 (Tenn.) cert. denied, 525 U.S. 932, 119 S.Ct. 343, 142 L.Ed.2d 283 (1998); State v. Cauthern, 967 S.W.2d 726, 751 (Tenn.) cert. denied, 525 U.S. 967, 119 S.Ct. 414, 142 L.Ed.2d 336 (1998). 5. The death penalty statute fails to sufficiently narrow the population of defendants convicted of first degree murder, who are eligible for a sentence of death in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 & 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. Although the defendant fails to assert what aggravating circumstances fail to narrow the class of death-eligible defendants, with respect to the (i)(6) and (i)(7) aggravators applicable in the case sub judice, our supreme court has rejected such a claim on previous occasions. See Vann, 976 S.W.2d at 117-118 (appendix); State v. Keen, 926 S.W.2d 727, 742 (Tenn.1994). 6. The death penalty statute fails to sufficiently limit the exercise of the jury's discretion because, once the jury finds aggravation, it can impose the sentence of death no matter what mitigation is shown, in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 & 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. This argument was rejected by State v. Smith, 857 S.W.2d 1, 21-22 (Tenn.1993); see also Franklin v. Lynaugh, 487 U.S. 164, 178-80, 108 S.Ct. 2320, 2330, 101 L.Ed.2d 155 (1988); State v. Hurley, 876 S.W.2d 57, 69 (Tenn.1993). 7. The death penalty statute fails to sufficiently limit the exercise of the jury's discretion by mandating the jury to impose a sentence of death if it finds the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 & 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. This argument has previously been considered and specifically rejected by the Tennessee Supreme Court. See Smith, 857 S.W.2d at 22 (holding that Tennessee's death penalty statutes do[ ] not in any way constitutionally deprive the sentencer of the discretion mandated by the individualized sentence requirements of the constitution). 8. The death penalty statutes fail to require the jury to make the ultimate determination that death is appropriate in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 & 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. This argument has likewise been rejected by the supreme court. See State v. Hall, 958 S.W.2d 679, 718 (Tenn.1997); State v. Brimmer, 876 S.W.2d 75, 87 (Tenn.1994); Smith, 857 S.W.2d at 22. 9. The death penalty statutes fail to inform the jury of its ability to impose a life sentence out of mercy in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 & 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. Our appellate courts have consistently rejected the argument that the mercy instruction is required at a capital sentencing hearing. See Cauthern, 967 S.W.2d at 749; State v. Bigbee, 885 S.W.2d 797, 813-14 (Tenn.1994); State v. Cazes, 875 S.W.2d 253, 269 n. 6 (Tenn.1994), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 1086, 115 S.Ct. 743, 130 L.Ed.2d 644 (1995). 10. The death penalty statutes provide no requirement that the jury make findings of fact as to the presence or absence of mitigating circumstances, thereby preventing effective review on appeal in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8 & 16 of the Tennessee Constitution. This claim was rejected in Cazes, 875 S.W.2d at 268-69. 11. The death penalty statutes prohibit the jury from being informed of the consequences of its failure to reach a unanimous verdict in the penalty phase in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and Article I, Sections 8, 9, 10, and 16 of the Tennessee Constitution.