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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE
August 15, 2001 Session STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JERRY W. JORDAN
Appeal from the Criminal Court for Davidson County No. 96-C-1641 Seth Norman, Judge

No. M1999-00813-CCA-R3-CD - Filed October 11, 2001

The Defendant, Jerry W. Jordan, was convicted of second degree murder in the Criminal Court of Davidson County. After a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range I offender to twenty-two years of imprisonment. In his appeal as of right pursuant to Rule 3(b) of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Defendant argues that (1) the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, (2) the Defendant's Due Process and Equal Protection rights were violated when the State excluded four AfricanAmerican jurors, (3) the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury as to reckless homicide as a lesser-included offense, and (4) the trial court erred in sentencing the Defendant to twenty-two years. We reverse the Defendant's second degree murder conviction due to the trial court's failure to instruct the jury regarding reckless homicide as a lesser-included offense to first degree murder. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Reversed and Case Remanded DAVID H. WELLES, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., JJ., joined. JOE G. RILEY, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. Paul J. Bruno, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Jerry W. Jordan. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, District Attorney General; and Pamela Anderson, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION

On May 17, 1996, Onie Benson, the victim, and her fianc

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