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Thread: Jonathan Wesley Stephenson - Tennessee Death Row

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    Jonathan Wesley Stephenson - Tennessee Death Row




    Facts of the Crime:

    At approximately 10:00 a.m. on December 4, 1989, police were called to investigate a shooting death. They found the victim, Lisa Stephenson, sitting in the driver’s seat of her car with a large hole in her forehead. She had been shot to death through the windshield. The investigation led police later that night to the home of Ralph Thompson in Morristown, Tennessee, where a high powered rifle was recovered.

    Jonathan Stephenson was originally sentenced to death on October 19, 1990. He was eventually re-sentenced to death in 2002.

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    STATE v. STEPHENSON

    STATE of Tennessee v. Jonathan Wesley STEPHENSON.

    No. E2003-01091-SC-DDT-DD.

    June 2, 2006

    JANICE M. HOLDER, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which WILLIAM M. BARKER, C.J., and E. RILEY ANDERSON, and CORNELIA A. CLARK, JJ., joined.  ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., concurred in part, dissented in part, and filed a separate opinion.

    OPINION

    The appeal in this capital case arises from the resentencing of Jonathan Wesley Stephenson, who was convicted in 1990 of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder for his role in the contract killing of his wife.   Following the resentencing hearing, the jury imposed a sentence of death, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.   Upon automatic appeal under Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-206(a)(1), we designated the following issues for oral argument: 1  1) Do dual sentences of incarceration for conspiracy and death for first degree murder in this case violate double jeopardy;  2) Did the trial court err in admitting the prior testimony of two witnesses, Glen Brewer and Michael Litz;  3) Did the trial court err in not considering the defendant's motion to suppress his statement to the police;  4) Did the trial court lack jurisdiction to resentence the defendant;  and 5) Is the defendant's death sentence comparatively proportionate and is the sentence valid under the mandatory review of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-206(c)(1).   Having carefully reviewed the record and relevant legal authority, we conclude that none of the errors alleged by the defendant warrants relief.   With respect to issues not herein specifically addressed, we affirm the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals.   Relevant portions of that opinion are published hereafter as an appendix.   Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is affirmed.

    I. BACKGROUND

    In March 1990, Jonathan Wesley Stephenson (“the defendant”) was charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder for his role in the contract killing of his wife, Lisa Stephenson (“Mrs. Stephenson”).   Ralph Thompson, Jr. (“Thompson”) was charged as a co-defendant in both indictments.   Thompson received a life sentence for Mrs. Stephenson's murder, plus a sentence of twenty-five years for conspiracy to commit murder.   The defendant was also convicted of both counts of the indictment.   The jury sentenced the defendant to death for the first degree murder, and the trial court imposed a consecutive sentence of twenty-five years for the conspiracy.   On direct appeal, this Court affirmed both of the defendant's convictions but remanded for resentencing.  State v. Stephenson, 878 S.W.2d 530 (Tenn. 1994).  On remand, the parties agreed that the defendant would receive a sentence of life without parole for the first degree murder and a sentence of sixty years for the conspiracy.   In 1998, the defendant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus challenging the legality of his sentence of life without parole.   In Stephenson v. Carlton, 28 S.W.3d 910, 912 (Tenn. 2000), this Court held that the defendant's sentence of life without parole was illegal because such sentence was not statutorily authorized at the time of the offense.   We declared the sentence of life without parole void and remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings.   Following a resentencing hearing, the jury again imposed a sentence of death, and the Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed.

    [For the remainder of this opinion, click on link below]

    http://caselaw.findlaw.com/tn-suprem...t/1475258.html

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    September 20, 2011

    Competency portion of Stephenson appeal begins

    By Gilbert Soesbee
    The Newport Plain Talk

    Jonathan Wesley Stephenson's 20-year battle with the court system in connection with the December 1989 shooting death of his wife is continuing this week before Circuit Judge Ben W. Hooper II in criminal court.

    With his attorneys now formally contending that their client is legally incompetent to assist in his own defense and communicate with his attorneys, Stephenson will not accept that. Instead, he wants to proceed with his scheduled motion for post-conviction relief in an effort to overturn the death penalty he is facing.

    Judge Hooper has set aside seven full court days to hear Stephenson's post-conviction motions and, potentially, a new sentencing hearing in the case, which has been bouncing up and down Tennessee criminal court system for two decades. It is currently Cocke County's only active death-penalty case.

    The body of 26-year-old Lisa Gail Stephenson, of Talbot, was found inside of her car parked in the Bruner's Grove community of Cocke County on December 3, 1989.

    Jonathan Stephenson and a co-defendant were convicted in 1990 and sentenced to death for the alleged first-degree murder of the Hamblen County woman, whom prosecutors allege was lured to rural Cocke County in what they have called a "murder for hire." In the two decades of legal proceedings which have followed, Jonathan Stephenson was sentenced to death in 1990, had the sentence overturned in 1994 by the Tennessee Supreme Court, was sentenced to death a second time in 2002, and saw the second death penalty upheld in 2006 by a 4-1 vote of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Now, Judge Hooper has agreed to hear the defendant's most recent petition for post-conviction relief.

    As the sentence currently stands, the 47-year-old defendant is facing death by lethal injection for first-degree murder. After a second Cocke County criminal court jury levied the death penalty on the murder charge at the close of a re-sentencing hearing in October 2002, Judge Hooper handed down a consecutive sentence of 60 years on the conspiracy conviction.

    http://newportplaintalk.com/story/36049

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    Jonathan Wesley Stephenson v. State of Tennessee

    Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals

    Date: January 13, 2013

    A Cocke County jury convicted petitioner, Jonathan Wesley Stephenson, of first degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first degree murder. The jury imposed the death penalty for the murder conviction, and the trial court sentenced petitioner to twentyfive years for the conspiracy conviction. After several appeals, remands, and collateral proceedings, petitioner’s resulting sentence was the death penalty for the murder conviction and a sixty-year sentence for the conspiracy conviction. Petitioner then sought postconviction relief. Following an evidentiary hearing, the post-conviction court denied relief. Petitioner now appeals the denial of relief, alleging multiple claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Following our review of the record, we discern no error and affirm the judgment of the post-conviction court.
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    On September 4, 2014, Stephenson filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    http://dockets.justia.com/docket/ten...4cv00414/72475

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    On September 7, 2021, Stephenson filed a civil rights lawsuit in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/te...1cv00698/87573
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

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    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    On November 22, 2022, Stephenson filed an appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/ci...ts/ca6/22-6021
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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