State v. Hartman

OPINION

FONES, Justice.

This is a direct appeal of a death penalty case. Defendant was convicted of first degree murder in the perpetration of kidnapping, and sentenced to death upon the jury’s finding of three aggravating circumstances, to-wit: the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; it was committed while defendant was engaged in kidnapping; and it was committed while the defendant was in lawful custody, etc.1

I

The victim was Kathy Nishiyama, age sixteen, who lived with her parents on Charlemagne Street, near its intersection with Highway 41A in Clarksville, Tennes*109see.2 She…