USA - Tennessee. The Tennessee Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for Jerry Ray Davidson

The Tennessee Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence for Jerry Ray Davidson,71, White. Davidson was convicted of the September 1995 murder of Virginia Jackson. On September 3, 1997, a Dickson County jury sentenced Mr. Davidson to death. Justices decided to order a new sentencing hearing for Davidson in the slaying of Virginia Jackson in Dickson. Although the court upheld his convictions in the slaying of Jackson, justices determined that Davidson's lawyers failed to present mitigating evidence during the sentencing phase of his trial. They said his lawyers had records documenting his struggles with mental illness, but failed to present any evidence of it. Justices found that defense attorneys in death penalty cases are obligated by the constitution to present "mitigation evidence" that would help a jury assess the defendant's moral culpability.