Upon application for a pardon by a person sentenced to capital punishment, if the governor is of opinion that the facts and circumstances adduced are not sufficient to warrant a total pardon, the governor may commute the punishment of death to imprisonment for life in the penitentiary.
Commutation of death penalty on application for pardon
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-27-105, under Executive Clemency.
Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-27-105