News
May 17, 1999
The death sentence a Sullivan County jury imposed for a 1984 murder committed during a country store robbery is constitutionally valid, the Tennessee Supreme Court held Monday, rejecting an appeal by inmate Leonard Edward Smith and affirming the penalty.“We have considered the defendant’s…
May 18, 1999
A death row inmate represented at trial by an attorney who abused drugs and alcohol and another lawyer with no capital case experience has been granted a new sentencing hearing based on his claim of “ineffective assistance of counsel.” The Tennessee Supreme Court allowed state prosecutors and…
June 21, 1999
Arguments before the Tennessee Supreme Court in Promise Doe v. Don Sundquist, a case involving Tennessee’s adoption records law, will be aired at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 23, on Metro Government Channel 3 on InterMedia in Davidson County.“The court welcomes the public scrutiny and hopes that many…
June 21, 1999
The Tennessee Supreme Court has unanimously rejected an appeal by death row inmate Donald Wayne Strouth, sentenced to death for murdering a Kingsport merchant by hitting him in the head and slitting his throat during a robbery at the victim’s used clothing store.Strouth and Jeffrey Stuart Dicks,…
July 6, 1999
In a decision released Monday, a unanimous Tennessee Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Donald Ray Middlebrooks, who was sentenced to death for torturing and murdering a 14 year-old Nashville boy in 1987. The court rejected alleged numerous constitutional violations raised by the defendant…
July 12, 1999
An appeal by Gary June Caughron, convicted of the 1987 murder of a Sevier County woman, was denied Monday by the Tennessee Supreme Court.Caughron alleged in a post-conviction petition that his attorney was ineffective during the guilt and sentencing phases of his trial; that the court erred in…
January 1, 1999
Judges, lawyers, legal scholars, the media and others needing information about more than 500 first-degree murder cases in Tennessee can have the data at their fingertips with a new high-tech tool initiated by the state Supreme Court.A Microsoft™ Windows 95 compatible CD-ROM, produced by the…
September 7, 1999
Violations of state laws spelling out how jury pools must be selected and requiring that jurors in death penalty trials be sequestered have resulted in the Tennessee Supreme Court ordering a new trial for Pat Bondurant, sentenced to death for the 1986 Maury County murder of William Ronnie Gaines.…
September 20, 1999
The Tennessee Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments in a post-conviction appeal filed by death row inmate Heck Van Tran who claims his execution would be unconstitutional because he is incompetent. Tran was convicted of three murders committed during the 1987 robbery of a Memphis restaurant.In…
October 8, 1999
More than 750 students from 22 public and private high schools in Shelby County will participate Nov. 17-18 in a program developed by the state Supreme Court to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.The students and their teachers will attend special Supreme Court…
October 11, 1999
The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied an appeal by death row inmate Timothy Morris, whose victim was bludgeoned to death in 1981 during a business trip through the state. Morris, a drifter, was convicted of the murder in Greene County and sentenced to death.In an order filed Monday, the court…
December 27, 1999
The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied an appeal by death row inmate Nicholas Todd Sutton, sentenced to death for the 1985 stabbing death of another prisoner at the Morgan County Regional Correctional Facility. Sutton was serving a life sentence for three previous murders when he and a co-defendant…
December 27, 1999
After more than 17 years on the bench, including nearly a decade as a state appellate court judge, and three terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, Court of Criminal Appeals Judge John H. Peay of Clarksville is leaving public life effective Dec. 30.In a resignation letter to Gov. Don…
January 3, 2000
The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied an appeal by Richard Hale Austin, sentenced to death in 1977 and again this year for hiring an escaped convict to kill Julian Watkins, an undercover agent with the Memphis Police Department.In 1997, the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Austin’s…
February 28, 2000
A post conviction appeal by inmate Donnie Edward Johnson, sentenced to death in Shelby County for the 1984 suffocation murder of his wife, was denied Monday by the Tennessee Supreme Court.Johnson, 49, killed his wife, 30-year-old Connie Johnson, by stuffing a plastic bag in her throat after…
March 6, 2000
An appeal by David Lee McNish, who was sentenced to death in 1984 for the beating death of a 70-year-old woman in Elizabethton, Tennessee, was denied Monday by the state Supreme Court.The court rejected eight issues raised by McNish in his post-conviction appeal, including whether electrocution is…
March 20, 2000
More than 1,000 students from 13 public and private high schools in the 12th Judicial District will participate March 28-29 in a state Supreme Court program designed to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.Students and their teachers from high schools in Franklin,…
April 11, 2000
The death sentence a Shelby County jury imposed upon Roy E. Keough for the murder of his estranged wife was supported by the evidence and was not “arbitrary or disproportionate” when compared to sentences in similar cases, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Monday in a unanimous decision affirming…
April 17, 2000
An appeal by death row inmate Bobby R. Wilcoxson, who was convicted for the 1982 suffocation death of Signal Mountain resident Robert Mosher in a murder-for-hire scheme, was denied Monday by the Tennessee Supreme Court.The unsuccessful post-conviction appeal sought to have Wilcoxson’s 1986 first-…
April 27, 2000
Beginning May 1, Tennessee Supreme Court opinions will be released five days a week – Monday through Friday at 10 a.m. This is a change from the long-established Monday-only releases. An “opinions released” list will be prepared at the end of each week including all opinions and orders on petitions…