E.D.M. writing from Tennessee
“I had made a cooperation agreement with the state... They did not honor their end of the agreement, and still sought the death penalty against me.”
Location
Greene County, TN
Crime of Conviction
First Degree Murder, Attempted First Degree Murder, Aggravated Kidnapping, Especially Aggravated Kidnapping, Theft of Property under $1000
Year of Conviction
1998
E.D.M. plead guilty to three counts of first degree murder, one count of attempted first degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, and theft of property under $1000. E.D.M. accepts responsibility for carjacking and kidnapping, but maintains that he was not involved in his codefendants' decision to murder the victims. E.D.M. states that he was pressured into signing a plea deal from counsel and family members to avoid the death penalty after the prosecutor sought the death penalty in violation of E.D.M.'s cooperation agreement. E.D.M. claims that he was not told that he would receive, at minimum, a life sentence. He was eventually sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and 25 years to be served consecutively. In prison, E.D.M. has been involved in various Christian ministries and started a music therapy program.
Procedural issues
Prosecutorial Misconduct, Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
Counsel
No