State v. Preston Carter ( 2003 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE
AT JACKSON
April 8, 2003 Session
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. PRESTON CARTER
Automatic Appeal from the Court of Criminal Appeals
Criminal Court for Shelby County
No. 93-09760 and 93-09761 Jon Kerry Blackwood, Judge
No. W2000-02204-SC-DDT-DD - Filed September 18, 2003
ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., J., dissenting.
I continue to adhere to the views expressed in a long line of dissents beginning with State v.
Chalmers, 28 S.W.3d 913, 923-25 (Tenn. 2000) (Birch, Jr., J., concurring and dissenting), and
elaborated upon in State v. Godsey, 60 S.W.3d 759, 793-800 (Tenn. 2001) (Birch, Jr., J., concurring
and dissenting), expressing my view that the comparative proportionality review protocol currently
embraced by the majority is inadequate to insulate defendants from the arbitrary and disproportionate
imposition of the death penalty. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-206(C) (1997). Accordingly, I
cannot, for the reasons stated in my previous dissents, concur in the imposition of the death penalty
in this case.
_______________________________
ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., JUSTICE