State of Tennessee v. Daryl Hooper

Summary

The Tennessee Supreme Court held that a sentencing court may deny probation and order incarceration based solely on the need for general deterrence so long as the record contains evidence from which a reasonable person could conclude that (1) a need to deter similar crimes exists in the community, jurisdiction, or state, and (2) the defendant's incarceration may rationally serve as a deterrent to others similarly situated and likely to commit similar crimes. Applying that standard de novo with a presumption of correctness, the court found the proof sufficient — Hooper ran an organized, profit-driven marijuana-trafficking operation, dealt repeatedly, and McEwen's police chief testified to a serious local drug problem — reversed the Court of Criminal Appeals' grant of a probated sentence, and reinstated Hooper's original four-year term. The court abolished the 'deterrable per se' doctrine, rejected any requirement that the record show incarceration 'will' deter, announced five non-exclusive guidepost factors, and barred reliance on a sentencing judge's extrajudicial observations.