State of Tennessee v. Leonard Edward Smith

In this automatic appeal,1 the defendant, Leonard Edward Smith, raises numerous challenges to the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals which affirmed his sentence of death for the 1984 murder of Novella Webb. After carefully examining the entire record and the law, including the thorough opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals and the briefs of the defendant and the State, this Court entered an Order limiting review at oral argument to the following three issues:2 (1) Whether the trial court was correct in allowing the defendant to control the presentation of mitigating evidence and to waive closing argument against counsel’s advice; (2) Whether the admittance of victim impact testimony and argument at the sentencing hearing constituted reversible error; (3) Whether the sentence of death is arbitrary or disproportionate in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-206(c)(1)(A)-(D) (1997 Repl.).