Court Opinion

ID: 9777535
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:14:58.517783+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:55.942563
License: Public Domain

REID, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent from the majority opinion and would modify the defendant’s punishment to life imprisonment. First, I would hold that the trial court acted beyond its authority when it rejected the State’s decision to impose a life sentence and compelled the State to seek the death penalty. Second, I find that the failure of the trial court to grant a *585continuance when the State did not file timely notice of its intent to seek the death penalty precludes imposition of that penalty.
The record indicates that prior to trial the defendant and the State engaged in plea negotiations during which the parties agreed that the defendant would receive a life sentence in this case and would plead guilty to charges in a different case for which he would receive a second, consecutive life sentence. When the agreement was presented to the trial court, the court adamantly refused to approve it.
Well, obviously, I presided at the prior trial, and I know what the facts of this case are, and I reject the plea bargain. I think that this is a case that ought to be decided by a jury, and I do not think it in the interest of justice to allow the plea bargain in this case, and I reject it.
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From the facts of the commission of the crime, I am of the opinion that this case meets the criteria for imposition of the death penalty. I think that the manner in which the deceased was treated was especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel — now, I did not define that to the last jury, but I felt like that our statute then goes on to define it — “in that it involves torture or depravity of mind.” And then I also take the Potter Stewart approach in that situation, that even though the jury may not have known the legal definition of those terms, “I know it when I see it,” and this is, certainly, a particularly heinous and brutal crime. And I think that it is one in which the citizens of this county should consider the imposition of the death penalty in, and that is the reason for my rejection of the plea bargain.
Under the system adopted in the State of Tennessee, it is left to the discretion of the district attorney general whether to seek the death penalty in a case of first degree murder. See Tenn.R.Crim.P. 12.3(b); see also State v. Bigbee, 885 S.W.2d 797, 817 (Tenn.1994); State v. Nichols, 877 S.W.2d 722, 736 (Tenn.1994); State v. Brimmer, 876 S.W.2d 75, 86 (Tenn.1994); State v. Cazes, 875 S.W.2d 253, 268 (Tenn.1994); Cooper v. State, 847 S.W.2d 521, 536 (Tenn.Crim.App.1992). The decision of the district attorney general in this case, although couched in the language of a plea bargain agreement, was an explicit exercise of his discretion not to seek the death penalty, operating as a withdrawal of the prior notice of intent to seek that punishment. It was beyond the authority granted the trial court to restrict this determination. Yet, as the words of the court quoted above show, the trial court assumed for itself the prerogative reserved to the district attorney general to determine whether the law, the facts and the public good require that the case be prosecuted as a capital offense. The court clearly was acting outside its authority. Inasmuch as the district attorney general had elected not to seek the death penalty, the court was constrained to accept that determination and enter a sentence of life imprisonment.
The majority finds that the trial judge has the authority under Tenn.R.Crim.P. 11(e)(2) to reject the plea agreement. This case is not controlled by that rule. The court’s rejection of the agreement left only one choice for the State — to seek the death penalty. Permitting the court to restrict the district attorney’s decision under these circumstances subverts the authority of the district attorney general to decide whether the State will seek the death penalty. For these reasons, I would hold that the trial court erred in refusing to accept the State’s decision not to seek the death penalty and would modify the sentence to life imprisonment. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-206(d)(2).
Additionally, the sentence in this case must be modified to life imprisonment because of the violation of the mandatory provisions of Tenn.R.Crim.P. 12.3(b). This rule requires that, when a capital offense is charged and the district attorney general intends to ask for the death penalty,
written notice thereof shall be filed not less than thirty (30) days prior to trial. If the notice is filed later than this time, the trial judge shall grant the defendant upon his motion a reasonable continuance of the trial. (Emphasis supplied.)
In the present case, the defendant filed two motions asking the State to provide written *586notice of its intent to seek the death penalty and of the aggravating circumstances upon which it would rely at resentencing. The State did not respond to these motions until the week before trial. The defendant then filed a motion for a continuance based in part on the State’s failure to give timely notice under Rule 12.3(b).
The majority opinion finds that a continuance was not required because the original notice filed by the State before the first trial provided the defendant with sufficient notice to satisfy the Rule’s requirements. However, TenmCode Ann. § 39-13-204(k) (Supp. 1990) [formerly Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-2-203(k) ] provides that
[i]n the event that the trial court, or any other court with jurisdiction to do so, orders that a defendant convicted of first degree murder ... be granted a new trial, either as to guilt or punishment or both, the new trial shall include the possible punishments of death or life imprisonment.
This statute indicates that upon resentencing the General Assembly intended that the State and the defendant return to the positions they occupied before the first trial or sentencing hearing. All possible punishments are once again available to the State. A defendant is, likewise, no longer on notice of any particular intent on the part of the State regarding the penalty. Under these circumstances notice under the guidelines of Rule 12.3(b) is as necessary at resentencing as at the original trial.
The facts of this case illustrate this necessity. The jury at the first sentencing hearing had rejected one of the four aggravating circumstances presented by the prosecution. The defendant was at a loss as to whether the State would continue to rely on that circumstance or whether it might seek to present new circumstances. Without notice, he was forced to prepare his defense without certain knowledge of the aggravating circumstances he would have to rebut or challenge. The requirements of Rule 12.3 were intended to alleviate such uncertainty. See Tenn. R.Crim.P. 12.3 Advisory Commission Comments. The holding of the majority, however, deprives a defendant,of these procedural protections at resentencing. Furthermore, in a case such as this one, where the State has led the defendant to believe that it will not seek the death penalty by agreeing to a sentence of life, notice of the State’s intent becomes critical. To avoid misleading the defendant, the State should be required to file a notice of its intent under Rule 12.3(b) before it may proceed to seek the death penalty on a resentencing hearing.
Rule 12.3(b) mandates that notice of the State’s intent to seek the death penalty specifying the aggravating circumstances upon which the State will rely be given not less than thirty days before trial. If the State fails to perform this duty, “the trial judge shall grant the defendant upon his motion a reasonable continuance of the trial.” (Emphasis supplied.) As this Court wrote concerning a parallel situation under Rule 12.3(a), “It is academic that the use of the word ‘shall’ in a statute is indicative of a mandatory legislative intent.” State v. Lowe, 811 S.W.2d 526, 527 (Tenn.1991). In Lowe, the Court found that the trial court’s refusal to sustain the defendant’s motion for a continuance, pursuant to Tenn.R.Crim.Proc. 12.3(a), required that the notice of enhancement be stricken, that the sentence be vacated and that the defendant be resentenced as if the notice had not been filed. Nothing in the present case suggests that we should depart from this remedy.
The majority decision on notice is not clear. The decision only finds that the procedure followed in this case was not reversible error. It saves the sentence. Reasonable questions regarding notice on rehearing, previously settled, are now unanswered: Is notice required? If so, how much notice is required? What aggravating circumstances must be included in the notice? Is a showing of prejudice a condition for relief where the State has not given notice as required by the rule? Is the holding abandoning the principles of State v. Lowe ?
I would modify the defendant’s sentence to life in accord with State v. Lowe.1

. In its opinion, the majority relies upon the case of State v. Stephenson, 752 S.W.2d 80, 81 (Tenn.1988), for the proposition that the failure to file timely notice does not render the notice ineffec*587tive in the absence of a showing of prejudice to the defendant. Stephenson, however, involved a case where the defendant had not requested a continuance and was specifically distinguished in Lowe on that ground.