The Tennessee Supreme Court has upheld the death penalty for a West Tennessee man who was convicted of first degree murder and kidnapping, among other crimes.
John T. Freeland, Jr. kidnapped at gunpoint a 61-year-old woman outside the Fred’s store in Henderson, southeast of Jackson, in 2009. Mr. Freeland, two accomplices, and the victim drove in two separate cars to a remote location, and Mr. Freeland shot the woman in the head along the side of the road.
After encountering Mr. Freeland on a traffic stop and arresting him for driving on a suspended license, police questioned Mr. Freeland about the murder and kidnapping. On three separate occasions, Mr. Freeland submitted to interviews with the police, each time signing a “Rights Waiver Form” that indicated he understood his rights to not speak and to have an attorney present.
The day after his third statement, Mr. Freeland agreed to a polygraph test. Again, he signed a waiver stating his participation was voluntary. Just as preparations for the test began, Mr. Freeland admitted to shooting the victim. The police halted the test and took a written statement from Mr. Freeland, in which he confessed to kidnapping, robbing, and shooting the victim.
Mr. Freeland waived his right to a jury trial, and after a bench trial, was found guilty of first degree premeditated murder, first degree murder in the perpetration of especially aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated kidnapping, and tampering with evidence.
Mr. Freeland appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals, which upheld the convictions and sentence of death, noting one minor error when the trial court failed to merge the murder convictions into a single first degree murder conviction. Mr. Freeland then appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
The Court reviewed several aspects of the case, including whether Mr. Freeland’s waiver of his right to an attorney was voluntary and knowing; whether his confession was voluntary; and whether the death sentence was proportionate when compared with other similar death penalty cases. The Court ruled that in each instance, the lower courts’ rulings were proper.
Justices Sharon G. Lee and William C. Koch, Jr. wrote a concurring opinion in which they conducted a separate analysis of the appropriateness of the sentence of death when compared with cases in which a life sentence or death penalty has been imposed. They determined that, using that method, the death sentence was appropriate in this case.
Read the majority opinion in State of Tennessee v. John T. Freeland, Jr., authored by Justice Janice M. Holder, and the separate concurring opinion by Justices Lee and Koch.