(April 28, 2000)
1999 Felony Convictions Detailed in Court Report
The number of men convicted in Tennessee last year for committing felony crimes was 14,401, nearly six times greater than the 2,480 felony convictions for women, a new court report shows.
Total reported felony convictions statewide rose by 1,809, from 15,072 in 1998 to 16,881 in 1999. Data for the Felony Judgment Documents Report is compiled annually by the Administrative Office of the Courts based on information submitted by court clerks across the state.
Of the 105 first-degree murder convictions in 1999, seven resulted in death sentences, up from four the previous year out of 102 first-degree murder convictions. Increased convictions also were reported in 1999 for second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, vehicular homicide, all kidnapping categories, all robbery categories, rape and statutory rape, aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and “other” crimes against persons.
Felony convictions for property crimes increased for all theft categories, aggravated burglary, burglary of motor vehicle, forgery and “other” property crimes. Convictions for Class C cocaine, “other” drugs and “other” felonies also rose last year over the previous year.
Categories in which there were decreases were criminally negligent homicide, rape of child, carjacking, burglary, Class B cocaine, cocaine-attempted, marijuana and facilitation of a felony.
Average sentences ranged from life with parole for first-degree murder to 1.82 years for Class E theft. By law, a life with parole sentence is 60 years in Tennessee, of which at least 51 years – or 85 percent - must be served.
Nearly half of convicted felons last year were
represented by public defenders; 29.2 percent retained private lawyers; 13.9
percent had court-appointed attorneys; 0.8 percent represented themselves; and
the information was not available for 7 percent. More than 96 percent of the
felons entered guilty pleas.
(April 27, 2000)
Media Advisory
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 to rehear released that week.
This change and others adopted by the court are aimed at improving efficiency in the disposition of cases.
(04/17/2000)
Supreme Court Rejects Appeal In Murder-For-Hire Capital Case
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-degree murder conviction overturned. A Hamilton County trial court had upheld the conviction in 1997, but granted a new sentencing hearing after determining that Wilcoxson was denied his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel during the sentencing phase of his original trial.
The evidence at trial revealed that the victim’s wife, Evelyn Mosher, hired Wilcoxson to kill her husband, a chemical engineer with the DuPont Company. Mosher’s body was discovered in the garage of the home he shared with his wife and daughter. A piece of plastic had been shoved down Mosher’s throat, causing his death. He also suffered cuts on his face, one arm and his back.
The murder was unsolved until 1985 when police discovered listings for Wilcoxson and his brother in Evelyn Mosher’s personal address book. A federal penitentiary parolee also implicated Wilcoxson, who was on parole from the same federal penitentiary. Other evidence revealed that Evelyn Mosher collected more than $209,000 in life insurance following her husband’s death. In 1986, she was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for her role in the killing.
(04/11/2000)
State Supreme Court Upholds
Death Sentence in Shelby County Case
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 the punishment.
The victim, Betty Keough, was stabbed to death in 1995 following an argument with her estranged husband. Her companion, Kevin Berry, also was stabbed by Keough, but escaped and survived his wounds.
Betty Keough and Berry were drinking beer in a bar when Roy Keough arrived. An argument ensued and continued as the three left the business and walked toward the victim’s car. Keough pushed Betty Keough and then stabbed Berry when he attempted to intervene. Berry was stabbed two more times as he fled into the bar. When police arrived, they found Betty Keough’s body slumped over the steering wheel of her car.
On appeal, the court rejected Keough’s claim that there was insufficient evidence of premeditation for a first-degree murder conviction.
“In our view, the evidence of premeditation, although far from overwhelming, was legally sufficient to support the jury’s verdict,” Chief Justice Riley Anderson wrote for the Supreme Court.
Keough also contended in his appeal that the trial court erred in refusing to allow his attorney to cross-examine a police detective concerning a statement Keough made to other officers. In the statement, Keough said his wife carried a gun and had once shot at him. Because the detective had no personal knowledge of what Keough told the other officers, the trial court refused to allow the cross-examination. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling and also concluded that Keough “is not entitled to relief on this issue because there was other evidence in the record that the victim had threatened to kill the defendant on the day in question.”
In sentencing Keough to death, jurors found one aggravating circumstance as defined by state law – that the defendant previously was convicted of one or more felonies involving violence. The jury concluded that the aggravating circumstance outweighed evidence of any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, as required by Tennessee law.
Supreme Court justices also conducted the statutorily mandated proportionality review, which compares a case with cases involving similar defendants and similar crimes. The court concluded that it had “upheld the death sentence in numerous cases bearing similarity” to Keough’s case and that the sentence was not “aberrant, arbitrary or capricious.”
“Since no two defendants and no two crimes are precisely alike, our review is not mechanical or based on a rigid formula,” the chief justice wrote.
In addition to the death sentence, Keough was sentenced to 40 years for the attempted first-degree murder of Berry.