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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON
Heard in Nashville June 2, 2004 Session STATE OF TENNESSEE v. GREGORY ROBINSON
Appeal by Permission from the Court of Criminal Appeals Criminal Court for Shelby County No. 97-13179-80 James C. Beasley, Jr., Judge

No. W2001-01299-SC-R11-DD - Filed September 28, 2004

We granted the State's application for permission to appeal to determine whether the Court of Criminal Appeals erred by reversing the defendant's conviction for premeditated first degree murder and his sentence of death. Upon review, we hold that the Court of Criminal Appeals erred in reversing the defendant's conviction and sentence. In particular, we conclude that the trial court did not err by failing to instruct the jury on facilitation and solicitation or by permitting the medical examiner to display the victim's cleaned and reconstructed skull as a demonstrative aid during his testimony; that the prosecution did not present inconsistent theories and evidence in the separate trials of the defendant and co-defendant Prentiss Phillips; and that the sentence of death is not disproportionate considering the circumstances of the crime and the defendant. Having reinstated the defendant's conviction and sentence, we have also reviewed and considered all other errors alleged by the defendant and conclude that none warrants relief. With respect to issues not herein specifically addressed, we affirm the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals. Relevant portions of that opinion are published hereafter as an appendix. Accordingly, the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is reversed in part, affirmed in part, and the judgment of the trial court is reinstated. Tenn. R. App. P. 11; Judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals Reversed in Part and Affirmed in Part; Judgment of the Trial Court Reinstated FRANK F. DROWOTA , III, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which E. RILEY ANDERSON , JANICE M. HOLDER, and WILLIAM M. BARKER, JJ., joined. ADOLPHO A. BIRCH , JR., filed a concurring-dissenting opinion. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Joseph F. Whalen, Associate Solicitor General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Patience R. Branham and Paula Wulff, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellant/appellee, State of Tennessee.

Joseph S. Ozment and Steffen G. Schreiner, Memphis, Tennessee (at trial); and Edmund L. Carey, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee, and Robert C. Brooks, Memphis, Tennessee (on appeal), for the appellee/appellant, Gregory Robinson.

OPINION

I. Factual Background The defendant, Gregory Robinson, was convicted by a Shelby County jury of the premeditated first degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping of Vernon Green. Proof presented at trial established that on the afternoon of April 30, 1997, a squabble between two small children in the Hurt Village Apartments in North Memphis led to an argument between the mothers of these children, which escalated into a fight, including gunfire, between the women's boyfriends, members of rival Memphis gangs

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Tennessee Law