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State v. Bondurant3/20/1998
Tenn. 1989); State v. Porterfield, 746 S.W.2d 441, 451 (Tenn. 1988); see also State v. Hodges, 944 S.W.2d 346, 357 (Tenn. 1997), cert. denied, --- U.S. ---, 118 S. Ct. 567 (1997); see State v. Bland, ---S.W.2d ---, No. 02S01-9603-CR-00032, slip op. at 13-14 (Tenn. Dec. 1, 1997) (applying factor (5) under section 39-13-204(I)(5)(1997)). Clubbing a victim to death is an especially violent form of homicide, and it involved torture at least to the point the victim became unconscious. Moreover, the desecration of the victim's body in an attempt to conceal the crime was reprehensible. See State v. Morris, 641 S.W.2d 883, 890 (1982). Furthermore, the evidence supports the jury's finding that the aggravating circumstances outweigh any mitigating circumstances. "The weight given aggravating and mitigating circumstances is entirely with the province of the jury. The jury determines whether or not mitigation exists and whether the aggravating circumstances outweigh mitigation beyond a reasonable doubt." Bland, --- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 15. In the present case, the presence of aggravating circumstance (2) alone supports the jury's finding that the aggravating circumstances prevail. See Boyd, --- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 8; Howell, 868 S.W. 2d at 261.
We are guided in our proportionality review under section 39-13-206(c) (1)(D) by our supreme court's opinion in Bland. Our proportionality review "`presumes that the death penalty is not disproportionate to the crime in the traditional [Eighth Amendment] sense. It purports to inquire instead whether the penalty is nonetheless unacceptable in a particular case because disproportionate to the punishment imposed on others convicted of the same crime.'" Bland, --- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 16 (quoting Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 42-43, 104 S. Ct. 871, 875 (1984)). Through utilizing a "precedent-seeking approach compares the case before [the court] to other cases in which the defendant[ ] convicted of the same or similar crimes by examining the facts of the crimes, the characteristics of the defendants and the aggravating and mitigating factors involved," Bland, --- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 21, our aim is to "eliminate the possibility that a person will be sentenced to death by the action of an aberrant jury and to guard against the capricious or random imposition of the death penalty." Id., slip op. at 22. The pool of cases to be considered consists of first-degree murder cases in which the jury considered the death penalty. Id., slip op. at 24-25. In conducting the review, the court should consider, in addition to aggravating and mitigating circumstances used in other cases, relevant factors which include:
(1) the means of death; (2) the manner of death (e.g., violent, torturous, etc.); (3) the motivation of the killing; (4) the place of death; (5) the similarity of the victims' circumstances including age, physical and mental conditions, and the victims' treatment during the killing; (6) the absence or presence of premeditation; (7) the absence or presence of provocation; (8) the absence or presence of justification; and (9) the injury to and effects on nondecedent victims.
Also evident from our reading of our prior cases are several criteria relevant to a comparison of the characteristics of defendants which include: (1) the defendant's prior criminal record or prior criminal activity; (2) the defendant's age, race, and gender; (3) the defendant's mental, emotional or physical condition; (4) the defendant's involvement or role in the murder; (5) the defendant's cooperation with authorities; (6) the defendant's remorse; (7) the defendant's knowledge of helplessness of victim(s); (8) the defendant's capacity for rehabilitation.
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