Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

AOC Press Releases

(December 30, 1998)

Chief Justice To Swear In New Attorney General

Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson of the Tennessee Supreme Court will administer the oath of office to Paul Summers as the state’s 25th attorney general at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 8 in a public ceremony at the War Memorial Building in Nashville.

Summers, 48, of Somerville was named by the Supreme Court Dec. 10 to succeed Attorney General John Knox Walkup, who announced in August he would not seek reappointment to the office. Under the Tennessee Constitution, the court appoints an attorney general to an eight-year term of office.

Summers, a Court of Criminal Appeals judge since 1990, was district attorney general for the 25th Judicial District from 1980 until his appointment to the appellate bench. He earned his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and a law degree from the University of Tennessee. He also graduated with distinction in 1986 from the Army Command and General Staff College. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Reserves and is a colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard.

As attorney general, Summers will represent the state in civil litigation and prosecute criminal cases in the appellate courts. The attorney general also provides legal advice to state agencies and the Tennessee General Assembly.

(December 15, 1998)

Tennessee Supreme Court Appoints Attorney General

Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Paul Summers of Somerville was selected Thursday by the Tennessee Supreme Court to succeed state Attorney General John Knox Walkup, who announced in August he would not seek reappointment to the office.

Under the Tennessee Constitution, the state’s chief legal officer is appointed by the Supreme Court to an eight-year term. The attorney general’s office is independent of the three branches of government. Walkup was sworn in Feb.14, 1997, to fill an unexpired term which ended Sept. 1, 1998. He agreed to serve in the position until a new attorney general is appointed and takes the oath of office.

“The selection of an attorney general is a responsibility the court takes very seriously,” Chief Justice Riley Anderson said. “We conducted an open selection process to attract an outstanding and diverse pool of applicants from which to choose a successor to General Walkup. Four very capable individuals sought the position, making the court’s decision difficult. After reviewing the applications, conducting a public hearing and interviewing each applicant, we believe Judge Summers is best qualified to serve the citizens of Tennessee as attorney general. He has the legal and administrative experience and abilities to ensure that the tradition of excellence continues in the Office of Tennessee Attorney General.”

Summers, 48, earned his undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and a law degree from the University of Tennessee. He also graduated with distinction in 1986 from the Army Command and General Staff College. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force and Reserves and is a colonel in the Tennessee Army National Guard. Summers was district attorney general for the 25th Judicial District from 1982-1990, during which time he served as president of the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference. In 1990, he was appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals. He was elected to the court in 1992 and in 1998.

(November 23, 1998)
Supreme Court Establishes Mental Evaluation Procedure in Death Penalty Cases

A capital case defendant who plans to use expert mental health testimony in an effort to avoid the death penalty must file a pretrial notice of intent and may be ordered to undergo a separate psychological evaluation by the prosecution’s specialist, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Monday.

In a unanimous decision, the court said accused murderers Paul Dennis Reid and Christopher Davis must comply with orders by three trial judges in Davidson and Montgomery counties requiring them to file pretrial notices of intent to present expert testimony as mitigation evidence at the sentencing phases of their trials. After notices are filed, the trial judges in their cases may, if requested by prosecutors, order Reid and Davis to undergo evaluations by mental health experts selected by the state.

“The defense will be afforded access to any expert reports prior to trial. The state will be afforded access to the reports only after a jury returns a verdict of guilty and the capital defendant confirms his or her intent to offer expert mental condition evidence in mitigation at the sentencing hearing,” Justice Frank Drowota wrote for the court.

Drowota wrote that providing the reports to the defense will “serve interests of judicial economy” by providing time to review the results and decide whether to confirm or withdraw the notice of intent. If the reports were withheld until after conviction, the sentencing phase would be delayed and jurors would be held up while the defense reached a decision based on the results, he wrote.

Justices adopted the notice, examination and disclosure requirements spelled out in the opinion as the governing procedure in every death penalty trial in which the defendant intends to introduce expert mental health mitigation evidence. Under the procedure adopted by the court, reports resulting from the mental health evaluations will be filed under seal with the trial court before jury selection begins.

The Supreme Court consolidated appeals filed by Reid and Davis and heard oral arguments in the case Oct. 15. The two defendants appealed orders by the trial judges requiring them to provide pretrial notice of their intention to introduce evidence relating to their mental condition during the sentencing phases of their trials.

Reid is charged in Davidson County with two counts of premeditated first degree murder and two alternate counts of first degree felony murder and in Montgomery County with two counts of first degree premeditated murder and two alternate counts of first degree felony murder for two separate killings. Davis is charged in Davidson County with two counts of premeditated first degree murder and two alternate counts of felony first degree murder. In each of the cases, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

(11/16/1998)
Supreme Court Affirms Public’s Right to Government Documents, Computer Records

The public is entitled by law to view and obtain copies of most state government documents, including computerized records regardless of format, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Monday in a decision stemming from a lawsuit filed by a newspaper.

“Our review is governed solely by the language in the Public Records Act and the clear mandate in favor of disclosure,” Chief Justice Riley Anderson wrote in the unanimous opinion.

Anderson said the language and meaning of Tennessee’s Public Records Act is “plain” and government agencies are required to comply, even with the advent of computers and move away from paper records. Under the act, government records, except those specifically exempted by the legislature, are available, regardless of the form in which they are kept. Citizens, the media and others asking for the records may be charged “actual costs” for disclosing the material, the court said.

“In the present case, we are confronted with an issue of first impression in Tennessee, that is, the application of the Public Records Act to information that is stored and maintained via computerized technology,” the chief justice wrote. “Our interpretation will have broad application because of the increasing use of such technology to store public information.”

Justices granted the appeal to address whether a government agency, the Nashville Electric Service, should be required to disclose customer names, addresses and telephone numbers as a public record. The electric service did not dispute that the information falls under the Public Records Act, but argued that it is not maintained in NES computers in the exact format in which it had been requested by The Tennessean newspaper.

Also, the court considered whether a government agency may require payment of costs incurred in disclosing the information and the cost of notifying those whose names, addresses and telephone numbers had been requested. Justices agreed with a trial court finding that the information is a public record “consistent with the legislative mandate of providing the fullest possible public access to public records.” However, the Supreme Court disagreed with a trial court decision that the newspaper should be required to pay customer notification costs, estimated to exceed $86,000.

“Although The Tennessean concedes that NES could properly charge for the costs incurred in making or extracting the requested material from its existing records, it argues that the charges assessed under NES’s customer notification policy were not authorized by statute and amounted to an effective denial of records,” the chief justice wrote. “ . . . Those actual costs incurred by NES for disclosing the material requested by The Tennessean are recoverable by this statute. In contrast, there is no authority under the act allowing an agency to establish rules that would substantially inhibit disclosure of records.”

Anderson wrote that the court does not question “the sincerity or intention of NES in making a policy” aimed at protecting the privacy of customers, but the Public Records Act does not authorize a charge for mailing notices to customers that their records have been requested. He said only the legislature declares public policy in the state, including the rights of access under the Public Records Act.

(11/05/1998)

Justices Unanimously Affirm Death Sentence for Murder of Memphis Teen

The jury’s sentence of death for a Memphis man convicted of killing an unarmed teenager was unanimously upheld Monday by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Kevin Burns received a death sentence for the 1992 murder of 17-year-old Damond Dawson and was sentenced to life in prison for killing 20-year-old Tracey Johnson. The victims were murdered as they sat in a car in Dawson’s driveway.

The two victims and a third man who was wounded, but survived, were robbed and then shot. A fourth friend who also was in the car fled unharmed as shots were fired in his direction. The shots also missed a group of teenagers playing basketball in the driveway.

Burns, 23 at the time of the crime, told authorities after his arrest by the FBI in Chicago that he and four other men went to Dawson’s home for a confrontation with the victims and their friends. Instead, witnesses said, the victims were robbed of money and jewelry before being shot. Dawson, who was shot five times, died after being transported to a hospital. Johnson died at the scene.

Chief Justice Riley Anderson and Justices Frank Drowota, Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. and Janice Holder agreed with a Court of Criminal Appeals decision and rejected Burns’ claims that errors in his trial and sentencing hearing affected the outcome. Justice William Barker was not a member of the court when the case was heard in Jackson.

Writing for the court, Anderson said Burns showed no remorse for his crimes and fled to Chicago after committing the robbery and murders.

“We have determined that none of the alleged errors claimed by the defendant affected the convictions for felony murder or the sentences imposed by the jury,” Anderson wrote for the court. “We have further concluded that the evidence supports the jury’s findings as to the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and the sentence of death is not arbitrary or disproportionate to the sentence imposed in similar cases, considering the nature of the crime and the defendant.”

(10/12/98)
Supreme Court Says Judges In Most Criminal Trials Must Be Attorneys

Municipal and General Sessions Court judges without law licenses are constitutionally prohibited in Tennessee from presiding over criminal cases without the defendants' approval, the state SupremeCourt said Monday.

The 4-1 Supreme Court decision, written for the majority by Justice Frank Drowota, involves a non-lawyer judge in White House. Following the 1994 election of Charles R. Bobbitt, Jr. as the city's municipal judge, district attorneys general for the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Judicial Districts declined to prosecute state criminal cases in his court. They cited concerns that defendants might be denied constitutionally guaranteed due process because Bobbitt was not an attorney.

The Supreme Court, affirming a Court of Appeals decision, said in nearly all criminal cases in Tennessee, including misdemeanors, defendants may be incarcerated and are entitled to due process. The court's decision applies to cases tried or retried after Oct. 12 and cases on appeal if the issue was properly raised by the defendant.

In a dissent, Justice Janice Holder disagreed with the majority that criminal defendants tried before non-attorney judges are denied their constitutional rights. She said criminal defendants in Tennessee have an automatic right to appeal the decision of a non-attorney judge to a higher court presided over by a judge who is licensed to practice law. Also, she said, no provisions in the state or federal constitutions require attorney judges.

"Accordingly, I would hold that this area is purely one of legislative prerogative and reserved for the voting public," she wrote.

The majority of the court said a criminal defendant is constitutionally entitled "to a determination of his status with the full panoply of rights at the earliest hearing on the merits" without having to appeal.

"It is unreasonable to require an appeal in order to obtain access to all the safeguards deemed essential for a fair trial," Drowota wrote. "The second hearing will not only recreate anxiety, insecurity and strain, but is likely to be time consuming, expensive and burdensome as well."

Drowota said non-attorney judges have made a "valuable contribution" to the administration of justice in Tennessee. He also said the Supreme Court decision in the White House case does not mean "municipal or general sessions judges must be licensed attorneys to hold office or to exercise other duties and jurisdiction," such as presiding in civil cases, criminal cases not involving potential incarceration and criminal cases in which a defendant waives the due process right to have an attorney judge. Across the state, 22 general sessions judges and 75 municipal judges were not licensed attorneys in 1996, according to the Municipal Technical Advisory Service.

(10/12/98)
Public Invited to Clarksville Reception for Tennessee Supreme Court

The public is invited to a reception for the Tennessee Supreme Court from 5-6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Montgomery County Civic Center.

The reception, sponsored by the Montgomery and Robertson County Bar Associations, is being held in conjunction with the Supreme Court SCALES Program for more than 400 high school students from Montgomery and Robertson counties. SCALES, an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students, was developed by the court to educate young Tennesseans about the judicial branch of government.

The students and their teachers will attend a special Supreme Court session Thursday at the Montgomery County Courthouse where the five justices will hear oral arguments in actual cases. Students will be divided into three groups, with each hearing one case argued before the Supreme Court.

After the oral arguments, students will meet for question and answer sessions with the attorneys who argued their cases. All of the participating students and teachers will join the Supreme Court and other guests for lunch at the Montgomery County Civic Center, also sponsored by the Bar Associations and area businesses.

A fourth case, beginning at 2:30 p.m., will be open to the public. The court will consider issues in the criminal cases of Paul Dennis Reid and Christopher Davis.

Schools participating in SCALES are Northwest, Clarksville, Montgomery Central, East Robertson, Greenbrier, Jo Byrns, Springfield, Northeast and Kenwood High Schools and Clarksville Academy. The Clarksville SCALES Project is being coordinated by Circuit Court Judge John Gasaway, III, presiding judge for the 19th Judicial District.

Including SCALES in Clarksville, nearly 7,000 Tennessee students from 170 schools have taken part in the project since it was initiated by the state Supreme Court in 1995.

(10/09/1998)

Supreme Court Announces Open Process for Attorney General Applicants

In an open selection process, the Tennessee Supreme Court will accept applications through Nov. 30 from attorneys interested in becoming the state’s next attorney general, Chief Justice Riley Anderson said Friday.

“The court would encourage attorneys from across the state to apply,” Anderson said. “We designed the selection process to ensure that we have an outstanding and diverse pool of applicants allowing us to select the most qualified individual to become the state’s chief legal officer. Tennessee has been served throughout its history by some of the finest attorneys general in the nation and we are confident that the tradition of excellence will continue.”

Under the Tennessee Constitution, the attorney general is appointed by the state Supreme Court. The court will choose a successor to Attorney General Knox Walkup, who announced in August he would not seek appointment to a full eight-year term. Walkup was appointed by the court in 1997 to fill an unexpired term and agreed to continue in the position until his successor is sworn in.

Attorney General applications are available from the Administrative Office of the Courts, Suite 600, Nashville City Center, 511 Union Street, Nashville, Tennessee 37243-0607 or by calling the office at (615) 741-2687. Candidates for the position must submit an original application, which includes extensive personal and professional history, and seven copies.

The court will conduct a public hearing at 9 a.m. Dec. 10 at the Supreme Court Building in Nashville to hear oral presentations from the applicants. The court also will consider written comments in support of or in opposition to any applicant. The comments may be submitted through Dec. 5 to the Administrative Office of the Courts. The Supreme Court will interview each applicant as part of the selection process.

“We are confident that this procedure will result in an outstanding pool of applicants, just as a similar open process did when we appointed Knox Walkup,” Anderson said.

The attorney general, who earns $110,304 annually, serves as the state’s attorney in civil litigation and prosecutes criminal cases in appellate courts. The attorney general also provides legal advice to the Tennessee General Assembly and state agencies.

“The court is grateful to Knox Walkup for his outstanding and dedicated service to the state,” the chief justice said. “Our goal through this selection process is to appoint an attorney general who will continue the same level of excellence.”

(10/05/1998)

Supreme Court Upholds Pike Death Sentence, Denies Triple Murderer’s Appeal

The Tennessee Supreme Court has unanimously upheld the conviction and death sentence of Christa Gail Pike for the 1995 Knoxville murder of a 19-year-old Job Corps student who was kicked, stabbed, slashed and beaten as she begged for her life and struggled to escape.

Also, in an order filed Monday, the court denied a post-conviction appeal by Cecil C. Johnson, sentenced to death for killing a 12-year-old boy and two men during the robbery of a Nashville convenience store in 1981. The court rejected Johnson’s allegations that the outcome of his trial and sentencing hearing were affected by legal errors

Johnson was convicted of three counts of first degree murder for the shooting deaths of Bobbie Bell, the convenience store owner’s son; cab driver James E. Moore; and Charles House, a passenger in the cab which was outside the market. He also was convicted of two counts of assault with intent to commit murder for shooting and wounding store owner Bob Bell, Jr. and Lewis Smith, who was inside the store when it was robbed.

In the Pike opinion, Justice Frank Drowota, writing for the court, said none of the alleged errors raised in her direct appeal have merit. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed her convictions and sentences on direct appeal, resulting in the automatic review by the state Supreme Court.

Pike, who boasted about the crime to several friends and provided details to police, was convicted of premeditated first degree murder, for which she was sentenced to death, and conspiracy to commit first degree murder, for which she received a 25 year sentence. The

Supreme Court heard oral arguments Sept. 9 in Knoxville concerning issues raised by Pike in her appeal.

Pike, 18 years old at the time of the crime, lured Colleen Slemmer into an isolated area on the University of Tennessee agricultural campus where she assaulted her with a box cutter, miniature meat cleaver, rocks and asphalt. Pike also kicked the victim and carved a pentagram on her chest while Slemmer was alive and conscious. The torture continued for 30 minutes to an hour, Pike told authorities following her arrest.

After murdering Slemmer, Pike returned to the Job Corps campus where she showed other students a piece of the victim’s skull she had taken as a “souvenir.” She also told a friend the victim had begged “them” to stop cutting and beating her, but Pike said she “did not stop because the victim continued to talk.” Witnesses testified at her trial that Pike laughed and danced as she described the torture and murder of Slemmer.

In a profanity-laced letter to her boyfriend and co-conspirator, Tadaryl Shipp, Pike complained about her sentence, writing that she was “trying to be nice to the hoe.”

“I went ahead and bashed her brains out so she’d die quickly instead of letting her bleed to death and suffer more...,” she wrote.

In the court’s decision, Drowota said the letter to Ship showed “Pike’s total lack of remorse.” He also said she displayed a “stunning lack of remorse for committing this horrific crime” as she recounted details to authorities.

“Pike showed no mercy; instead, she exhibited a total disregard for human life and human suffering when she committed this unprovoked and unjustified premeditated murder,” Drowota wrote for the court.

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