The governor may, likewise, commute the punishment from death to imprisonment for life, upon the certificate of the supreme court, entered on the minutes of the court, that in its opinion, there were extenuating circumstances attending the case, and that the punishment ought to be commuted.Code 1858, §5259; Shan., § 7234; Code 1932, § 11840; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 40-3506.
Tennessee Legal Code