This week, state senators passed a bill that would allow those convicted of child rape to be sentenced to death, in addition to those convicted of first-degree murder, potentially adding to death row.
Tennessee s GOP-controlled Senate advanced legislation on Tuesday allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions as critics raised concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court has banned capital punishment in such cases.
Public records from the Tennessee Department of Correction obtained by NewsChannel 5 shed more light on the hours before the scheduled execution of Oscar Smith, an execution that Gov. Bill Lee delayed due to what he previously called a "technical oversight."