ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — The prosecution and defense rested their cases Friday afternoon in Sean Finnegan's death penalty trial. The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Saturday when they will determine whether he is guilty of the 2020 rape, torture and murder of Jennifer Paxton.
If the jury finds Finnegan guilty of first-degree murder, they will move on to another trial to determine what his punishment should be. It's at this trial Finnegan could be sentenced to death.
"They can choose to vote unanimously for the death penalty. They can choose to vote for a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, meaning you will spend the rest of your natural life in jail, or the possibility of life with the possibility of parole, which means you would be eligible for parole after 51 years," said Don Bosch, a legal analyst.
It usually takes years before an execution takes place after a person is sentenced to death. Sometimes, defendants may die of natural causes before their execution date.
"It's a very lengthy and expensive process, and it needs to be. Because, obviously, when the state is seeking a punishment of taking somebody's life, there needs to be safeguards in place to make sure that proper procedures are being followed," said Bosch.
In East Tennessee, it is rare to see death penalty cases due to the time and expense they require.
The most notable death penalty cases from East Tennessee in recent years include Lemaricus Davidson, who was convicted of killing Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom in 2009. Christa Pike was also sentenced to death for the murder of Colleen Slemmer in 1996.
Thomas Huskey, otherwise known as "The Zoo Man," was also sentenced to death for the deaths of several people in 1992. Although Huskey was convicted of rape, he was never convicted of murder due to a hung jury.
He, Pike and Davidson are all still alive in prison.