State v. Bobo

OPINION

BEN H. CANTRELL, Special Judge,

Sitting by Designation.

The defendants, Cecil Johnson and Tony Bobo, were convicted by a jury of second degree murder. The convictions were affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeals, and we granted permission to appeal to determine whether the trial judge committed reversible error by replacing one of the regular jurors with a previously discharged alternate after deliberations had begun.

The evidence shows that the victim and both defendants were inmates on death row at the Tennessee State Penitentiary. On July 7, 1985, the victim was attacked and beaten…