SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW RULING DELAYING
TENNESSEE EXECUTION
The United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument
Tuesday in a Tennessee capital murder case. The state appealed a federal
appeals court ruling which granted additional delay to a murderer’s
execution. The case of Bell v. Thompson focuses on a Sixth
Circuit Court of Appeals June 2004 ruling reversing itself on a claim
it previously deemed meritless. The court ordered further hearings for
a conviction and sentence which occurred 20 years ago. The Criminal
Justice Legal Foundation has filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court)
brief encouraging a decision overturning the Sixth Circuit ruling.
The case involves the brutal robbery and murder of a woman
in Shelbyville, Tennessee, on New Year’s Day in 1985. That day,
Gregory Thompson and a teen-age, female companion abducted Brenda Lane
at knifepoint in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Thompson forced Lane to drive
to a remote area where he stabbed her repeatedly and then ran over her
with her own car. The car was later found in Marietta, Georgia, where
Thompson lived. At the time of Thompson’s arrest, a traffic ticket
found in his jacket showed that he had been cited while driving the
victim’s car from Tennessee to Georgia. Shortly after his arrest,
Thompson confessed to the murder and showed police the location of the
victim’s body. At trial, a pathologist testified that Ms. Lane
had suffered multiple stab wounds and would have remained conscious
until she bled to death. After considering the overwhelming evidence
of guilt, a jury convicted Thompson of first-degree murder.
During the subsequent sentencing hearing, Thompson’s
attorney introduced the testimony of family members and friends to encourage
mercy from the jury. A defense psychologist testified that Thompson
felt remorse for the murder. The prosecution presented evidence of Thompson’s
violent record and dishonorable discharge from the Navy. A prosecution
psychologist testified that he found no remorse in Thompson and that
he had tried to fake a mental disorder, claiming he heard voices and
was unable to read. After reviewing this evidence, the jury found three
aggravating circumstances related to the murder and sentenced Thompson
to death.
On appeal, Thompson’s multiple claims of trial and
sentencing error were rejected by the state court of appeals and further
review was denied by the state supreme court. Later, a federal District
Court denied Thompson’s claims on habeas corpus, including his
mental claims. The court refused to reopen the case when Thompson submitted
an additional psychologist’s report he had previously omitted.
In January 2003, the Sixth Circuit upheld the District Court’s
rejection of Thompson’s claims. In December of that year the United
States Supreme Court refused to hear Thompson’s appeal. The Tennessee
Supreme Court subsequently set an execution date for August 19, 2004.
As this was occurring and without giving the state notice or any opportunity
to present argument, a judge of the federal Court of Appeals, who had
written the opinion affirming Thompson’s conviction and sentence,
conducted his own review of the case. Six months later, on June 23,
2004, the panel reversed its earlier ruling and ordered the District
Court to accept Thompson’s new psychiatric evaluation and hold
another hearing to determine his mental condition. When the Supreme
Court agreed to hear Tennessee’s appeal of this surprise ruling,
CJLF joined the case. The Foundation argues that the Sixth Circuit manipulated
legal procedure to reconsider Thompson’s claims and misinterpreted
Supreme Court precedent and federal law. “When the Supreme Court
denies review of a case, that should normally be the end. Further review
should be reserved for the rare cases where there is a genuine question
of guilt, which there is not in this case,” said CJLF Legal Director
Kent Scheidegger.
CJLF Legal Director Kent Scheidegger is available for comment at
(916) 446-0345.
The Foundation has helped win three U. S. Supreme Court decisions during
the current term.
CJLF's Brief in Bell v. Thompson is available on the internet
at http://www.cjlf.org/briefs/ThompG.pdf
|
