State of Tennessee v. Devin Banks

This appeal involves a defendant who shot two persons during a robbery at the home of one of the
victims. One of the victims died. A Shelby County grand jury indicted the defendant for (1)
premeditated and intentional murder, (2) murder during the perpetration of a robbery, (3) attempted first degree murder, and (4) especially aggravated robbery. A jury found the defendant guilty on all counts. At the penalty phase of the trial, the jury found the presence of the aggravating circumstances in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(6) and (7) (2006) and sentenced the defendant to death. In a separate sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the defendant to twenty-five years for the attempted first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery convictions and ordered these sentences to be served consecutively to each other and to the sentence of death. The defendant appealed his convictions and sentences to the Court of Criminal Appeals. The Court of Criminal Appeals, after concluding that the trial court’s submission of the Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(6) aggravating circumstance to the jury was harmless error, affirmed the defendant’s convictions and the sentences. State v. Banks, No. W2005-02213-CCA-R3-DD, 2007 WL 1966039 (Tenn. Crim. App. July 6, 2007).