State v. McKee, C
| Decision Date | 11 December 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. C,C |
| Parties | STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. Kenneth Alan McKEE, Appellant. C.A. 183. 803 S.W.2d 705 |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Mack Garner, Maryville, for appellant.
Charles W. Burson, Atty. Gen. and Reporter, James W. Milam, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nashville, William Reedy, Asst. Dist. Atty. Gen., Athens, for State of Tenn.
The defendant, Kenneth McKee, convicted of driving under the influence (second offense), was sentenced to 11 months and 29 days in jail, all but 45 days of which were suspended, and fined $500.00.
In this appeal, the defendant claims that the 45-day jail sentence violates state and federal constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment. We disagree.
At the sentencing hearing, the defendant contended that he was claustrophobic. At age 22, the defendant receives social security disability benefits. For the last two years, he has received prescription medication for anxiety, depression, and high blood pressure. The defendant was medically discharged from the National Guard for ulcers and other health problems.
At the sentencing hearing, the defendant testified that when confronted with closed spaces or a strange environment, he has panic attacks which result in bleeding ulcers and dangerously high blood pressure. After his arrest and initial incarceration on this charge, the defendant stated that he had suffered a nervous breakdown, requiring a two-day hospitalization. He has received monthly counselling from mental health services in Blount County for approximately two years. His actual diagnosis is agoraphobia (a fear of open spaces) with panic disorders. He states that he is only comfortable when in a home environment and is afraid of closed spaces.
The state presented no proof. A report from the defendant's psychological counsellor was stipulated but not made a part of the record.
In Cozzolino v. State, 584 S.W.2d 765, 767 (Tenn.1979), our Supreme Court held that the provision in the state constitution against cruel and unusual punishment places "no greater restriction" on punishment than that permitted by the corresponding provision of the federal constitution. See U.S. Constitution, eighth amendment; Tennessee Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 16. Here, the defendant concedes that the 45-day jail sentence required by Tenn.Code Ann. Sec. 55-10-403(a)(1) is not, on its face, cruel and unusual punishment; instead, he claims that it is unconstitutional only as it applies to his particular condition.
In Ingraham v. Wright, 430 U.S. 651, 97 S.Ct. 1401, 51 L.Ed.2d 711 (1977), the Supreme Court held that the eighth amendment places the following limitations on statutory punishment:
First, it limits the kinds of punishment that can be imposed on those convicted of crimes (citation omitted);...
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State v. Harris
...by this state than does the federal constitution." Cozzolino v. State, 584 S.W.2d 765, 767 (Tenn.1979); accord State v. McKee, 803 S.W.2d 705, 706 (Tenn.Crim.App.1990). Just last year, however, we recognized that "although the Eighth Amendment to the Federal Constitution and Article I, § 16......