Brown v. Jordan
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The Supreme Court accepted a question of law from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and concluded that a defendant convicted of first-degree murder committed on or after July 1, 1995 and sentenced to life in prison under Tenn. Code Ann. 39-13-202(c)(3) may be released, at the earliest, after fifty-one years of imprisonment.
The certified question in this case concerned the interpretation and application of the Tennessee sentencing statutes governing release eligibility of criminal defendants under Tenn. Code Ann. 40-35-501(h) and (i). After analyzing the statutes, the Supreme Court held that a defendant convicted of first-degree murder that occurred on or after July 1, 1995 may be released after service of at least fifty-one years if the defendant earns the maximum allowable sentence reduction credits.
Court Description:
Authoring Judge: Justice Roger A. Page
Trial Court Judge: Judge Julia Smith Gibbons
We accepted certification of a question of law from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that requires us to determine if a defendant convicted of first-degree murder committed on or after July 1, 1995, and sentenced to life in prison under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-202(c)(3) will become eligible for release, and if so, after how many years. We conclude that a defendant so convicted and sentenced to life in prison under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-202(c)(3) may be released, at the earliest, after fifty-one years of imprisonment.
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