Court Opinion

ID: 1060391
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2013-10-09 18:48:24.845836+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:38:07.397538
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE
                              AT NASHVILLE
                                  February 5, 2002 Session

               STATE OF TENNESSEE v. WILLIAM R. STEVENS

                          Appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeals
                            Criminal Court for Davidson County
                            No. 98-A-825    Steve Dozier, Judge

                     No. M1999-02067-SC-DDT-DD - Filed May 14, 2002

ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., J., concurring and dissenting.

        I concur with the majority’s decision to affirm the defendant’s convictions. With regard to
the imposition of the death penalty in this case, however, I cannot agree. Repeatedly, I have
expressed grave concerns about the comparative proportionality review protocol employed by the
majority to impose the death penalty. See, e.g., State v. Chalmers, 28 S.W.3d 913 (Tenn.
2000)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); State v. Keen, 31 S.W.3d 196 (Tenn. 2000)(Birch, J.,
concurring and dissenting); State v. Carruthers and Montgomery, 35 S.W.3d 516 (Tenn.
2000)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); State v. Sims, 45 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2001)(Birch, J.,
concurring and dissenting); Terry v. State, 46 S.W.3d 147 (Tenn. 2001)(Birch, J., concurring and
dissenting); State v. Stout, 46 S.W.3d 689 (Tenn. 2001)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); State
v. Bane, 57 S.W.3d 411 (Tenn. 2001)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); State v. Godsey, 60
S.W.3d 759 (Tenn. 2001)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); State v. McKinney, ___ S.W.3d ___
(Tenn. 2002)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); State v. Dellinger and Sutton, ___ S.W.3d ___
(Tenn. 2002)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting); see also State v. Bland, 958 S.W.2d 651 (Tenn.
1997)(Birch, J., concurring and dissenting). As detailed in my prior dissents, I do not believe the
Court is properly fulfilling its statutory obligation to determine whether “the sentence of death is
excessive or disproportionate to the penalty imposed in similar cases.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-
206(c)(1)(D) (2001). Because I have not detected any meaningful effort to address and rectify my
concerns, I respectfully dissent from the imposition of the penalty of death in this case.

                                                     ___________________________________
                                                     ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., JUSTICE