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State Supreme Court Upholds Tennessee?s Lethal Injection ? ... - The Chattanoogan
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Joseph F. Whalen, Associate Solicitor General; and Stephanie R. Reevers, Associate Deputy Attorney General, for the Appellees, Phil Bredesen, Quenton White, Ricky Bell, Virginia Lewis, and Tennessee Department of Correction. Stephen J. Zraleck and Melody Fowler-Green, Nashville, Tennessee, for Amici Curiae, American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and Sidelines Newspaper. Peter D. Heil, Nashville, Tennessee, for Amicus Curiae, Tennessee Medical Professionals. OPINION In 1987, Abu-Ali Abdur’Rahman, formerly known as James Lee Jones, (“petitioner”), was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death by a jury in Davidson County, Tennessee.1 State v. Jones, 789 S.W.2d 545, 550 (Tenn. 1990). Because the petitioner’s case has had a lengthy history in state and federal courts, we begin by summarizing the relevant procedural background. BACKGROUND State Court Proceedings In February of 1986, the petitioner and a co-defendant entered the home of Patrick Daniels and Norma Norman under the guise of buying drugs. After binding and blindfolding the victims, the petitioner repeatedly stabbed Daniels in the chest while Daniels pleaded for his life, and he stabbed Norman several times in the back. Daniels died as a result of the stab wounds to - more available