(03/15/1999)
Justices Deny Coe Appeal, Set Execution Date
The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied the third and final post-conviction appeal by Robert Glen Coe, sentenced to death for the 1979 kidnaping, rape and murder of 8-year-old Cary Ann Medlin of Greenfield. The court also set a June 15 execution date for Coe, whose only remaining federal appeal is to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Coe was convicted in 1981 of choking and stabbing his victim after she told him “Jesus loves you.” The little girl was riding her bicycle when Coe lured her into his car. He later confessed to the crimes.
The state Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and death sentence in 1983. His first post-conviction petition, filed in 1984, was denied by the trial court, Court of Criminal Appeals and Tennessee Supreme Court. His second petition, also rejected, was filed in 1992. Coe’s third petition, filed in 1995, was pending when U.S. District Court Judge John Nixon vacated his convictions and sentence in 1996. On Nov. 16, 1998, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Nixon’s decision, and in a Feb. 25 ruling, the federal court refused to reconsider Coe’s appeal.
Since 1995, Tennessee inmates hoping to have their sentences overturned or appeals granted on constitutional grounds have been limited to a single petition in state courts. The state Supreme Court supported the single-petition provision enacted in the Post-Conviction Procedures Act. The law was designed to end successive appeals filed by inmates. The act also requires that petitions for post-conviction relief be filed within one year in most cases.
In another case, the Supreme Court has agreed to consider an appeal filed by Frederick Sledge, convicted of robbery and murder in Shelby County. In 1997, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Sledge’s death sentence and ordered a new sentencing trial. The Supreme Court will consider three issues concerning the guilt phase of his trial.
Sledge was convicted of killing Johnny Harris in 1991 during a robbery outside the victim’s Memphis apartment. Harris died from a gunshot wound to his back. The victim was found lying in a parking lot with his pockets turned inside out.
(03/09/1999)
800 Local Students Participating in Supreme Court Program
More than 800 students from 17 public and private high schools in Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Hardin and Henry counties will participate April 14-15 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 sessions at the Henry and Hardin County Courthouses where the five justices will hear oral arguments in actual cases. The students will be divided into five groups, with each group hearing one case argued before the Supreme Court. Following oral arguments, students will meet for question and answer sessions with the attorneys who argued their cases.
Students hearing cases April 14 in Paris will be guests for lunch with the Supreme Court at First Methodist Church, sponsored by the Henry, Carroll and Benton County Bar Associations and the community. Those attending the program April 15 in Savannah will join the court and other guests for lunch at the Savannah Church of Christ, sponsored by the community.
Schools participating April 14 in SCALES - an acronym for the Supreme Court Advancing Legal Education for Students - are Henry County, Lakeside Christian, Camden Christian, Bruceton Central, Huntingdon, Clarksburg, West Carroll, Camden Central, Big Sandy, McKenzie, Calvary Christian and Grace Christian High Schools and Carroll Academy. Schools participating April 15 in Savannah are Hardin County, Harbert Hills, Riverside and Scotts Hill High Schools. The SCALES Project is being coordinated in Paris by General Sessions Court Judge Hansel McCadams and in Savannah by Circuit Court Judge Creed McGinley. Circuit Court Judge Julian Guinn is presiding judge in the five-county 24th Judicial District.
"The Tennessee Supreme Court believes that knowledge and understanding of the judicial branch of government are essential to good citizenship,” Chief Justice Riley Anderson said. “The SCALES Project is designed to educate young participants about the system they will inherit. The interaction we have with the students at lunch and throughout the day also renews our faith that our nation’s future is in good hands.”
Teachers whose classes are involved in the project will attend a professional development session from 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, March 30, at Riverside High School in Parsons. Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Jerry Smith will discuss the state and federal court systems and present an overview of the cases to be argued when students attend SCALES. Teachers also will be provided with notebooks of materials to use in their classrooms, including suggested activities, and SCALES Project handbooks for each student.
Local judges and attorneys will attend the inservice session to schedule classroom visits to review the cases and issues to be considered by the Supreme Court. After justices rule in the cases, copies of the court's opinions will be provided to the classes.
Students attending the Supreme Court session will receive scales of justice lapel pins donated by the William J. Harbison Foundation of the Tennessee Bar Association. The foundation, established to honor the memory of a former state Supreme Court justice, promotes the education of students about the legal system.
"The SCALES Project is important because it creates a partnership between the judiciary and schools to promote a better understanding of the judicial branch of government," the chief justice said. "We hope that teachers will use the materials to make judicial education a continuing part of their curriculum."
Including SCALES in the 24th Judicial District, more than 7,000 Tennessee students from 187 schools have taken part in the project since it was initiated by the state Supreme Court in 1995.
(February 10, 1999)
Supreme Court Appoints Interim Courts Director
Elizabeth (Libby) Sykes, former director of the Tennessee Sentencing Commission, has been named by the state Supreme Court to serve as interim director of the Administrative Office of the Courts. Sykes, of Clarksville, also will continue her duties as the AOC’s director of statistical services, Chief Justice Riley Anderson said Tuesday.
The interim director is a 1982 graduate of Memphis State University School of Law. She was in the private practice of law for four years before becoming a staff attorney for the state Department of Health and later the Department of Corrections. She was executive director of the Sentencing Commission from 1993- 95 when she joined the AOC which provides support services to the state court system.
The court also appointed Harlan Goan to serve as acting deputy director while continuing his duties as human resources manager at the AOC and director of the judicial performance and evaluation program. Goan is a fourth generation Tennessean and was a judge and court administrator in Montana before joining the AOC staff.
“Ms. Sykes and Mr. Goan will serve as the management team until a new administrative director is chosen,” Anderson said. “The court anticipates making a selection as quickly as possible.”
Former AOC Director Charles Ferrell resigned in January.
Court Appoints First Non-Lawyer to Board of
Professional Responsibility Office
A retired Tennessee State University English professor has become the first non-lawyer vice chair of the state Board of Professional Responsibility which investigates complaints against attorneys and disciplines those who violate professional codes of conduct.
McDonald Williams of Nashville is the first lay person to hold the office since the board’s 1975 creation by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Williams, who earned a Ph.D and was a TSU faculty member for 30 years, was named to the board April 7, 1998. The 12 members, including nine lawyers, are appointed by the Supreme Court to three-year terms.
In 1996, the Supreme Court adopted a rule adding three non-attorney members to the board, increasing its membership from nine to 12. In its order, the court said the participation of lay members would “enhance public confidence in the fairness and effectiveness of the board’s disciplinary process and bring a valuable perspective to evaluation of complaints.”
Richard Fisher of Cleveland, a former state prosecutor and legislator, has been appointed chairman of the board, which is an arm of the Supreme Court.
(1/25/1999)
Supreme Court Rejects Triple Murder’s Petition to Appeal
A death row inmate who killed his wife and her two teenage sons has no constitutional grounds on which to appeal his convictions and three death sentences, the Tennessee Supreme Court said Monday in an order setting a May 17 execution date.
Oscar Franklin Smith claimed in a petition filed with the state Supreme Court that his trial and appellate attorneys were ineffective. Justices, after reviewing the record in Smith’s case, denied his post-conviction application to appeal. In 1993, the Supreme Court also affirmed Smith’s convictions and sentences on direct appeal. Smith’s case may be continued in the federal court system.
Smith was found guilty in Davidson County of shooting and stabbing to death his estranged wife, Judy Smith, and her sons, Jason and Chad Burnett. Evidence presented at his 1990 trial included a 911emergency services tape recording in which Jason Burnett was heard crying, “Help me” and his brother is heard shouting, “Frank, no. God help me.” A bloody hand print, identified as Smith’s, was on the bed sheet next to Judy Smith’s body.
His post-conviction appeal was denied earlier by a state trial court and the Court of Appeals. Capital defendants are entitled to three stages of review under Tennessee and federal laws - direct appeal review, post-conviction review and federal habeas corpus review.
(01/11/1999)
Court Director Charles Ferrell Announces Resignation
Charles Ferrell, director of Tennessee’s Administrative Office of the Courts, announced Monday he will resign effective April 30.
“There never is an ideal time to make such a decision, but after much thought and discussion with my family and friends, I have concluded that I want to leave government service and pursue opportunities in the private sector,” Ferrell said.
Prior to joining the Tennessee court system in 1992, Ferrell, 50, was a vice president with the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, VA. He previously served as state court administrator in Oklahoma.
“Mr. Ferrell has been instrumental in bringing many positive changes to the Tennessee court system,” Chief Justice Riley Anderson said. “I and my colleagues on the Supreme Court appreciate all that he has done to improve the administration of justice in our state. We will conduct a search to find a successor committed to continuing the progress we have made under Mr. Ferrell’s leadership.”
The Administrative Office of the Courts provides support to the entire state court system. The director, appointed by the Supreme Court, is administrative officer for the courts and oversees the AOC.
Ferrell said he will assist the court in the recruitment of a successor and work to ensure a smooth transition.
“I will miss the association I have with judges, clerks and support personnel across the state. We have one of the most efficient judicial systems in the nation and it has been a pleasure and honor to have played a part in its growth and modernization.”
(01/04/1999)
Tennessee Supreme Court Rejects Appeal by Death Row Inmate
The Tennessee Supreme Court has denied an appeal by death row inmate Olen Eddie Hutchison, convicted of conspiring to murder his victim to collect $800,000 in life insurance and other benefits.
A Campbell County jury convicted Hutchison in 1991 of first degree murder, conspiracy to take a life and solicitation to commit first degree murder for the 1984 drowning death of Hugh Huddleston. Hutchison, along with six co-conspirators, arranged to have the 45- year-old victim, who could not swim, pushed from a fishing boat in Norris Lake. Witnesses said Huddleston had a “father-son relationship” with a 19-year-old co-defendant and had made him beneficiary of his will.
Hutchison’s conviction and sentence of death were affirmed by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 1995. The court also rejected an earlier post-conviction petition to appeal. Hutchison has federal appeals remaining in his case.