05/09/94 State Tennessee V. Jonathan Wesley

In this capital case, the defendant, John Wesley Stephenson, was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. In the sentencing hearing, the jury found one aggravating circumstance; "the defendant . . . employed another to commit the murder for remuneration or the promise of remuneration." Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(4)(1991). The jury found that "there are no mitigating circumstances sufficiently substantial to balance or outweigh" the statutory aggravating circumstance and sentenced the defendant to death by electrocution. The trial court also sentenced the defendant to twenty-five years consecutive to the death penalty on the conspiracy conviction.