Brown v. State

477 S.W.2d 525, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 471
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee·Decided October 19, 1971·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

MITCHELL, Judge.

Cecil Lewis Brown, who will be referred to as the defendant or by name, on the 14th day of December, 1969 with a pistol shot and killed Horace V. Keys. He was convicted in the Criminal Court of Knox County of murder in the first degree and the jury fixed his punishment at ninety-nine years in the penitentiary.

After the motion for a new trial was overruled, the Trial Judge Honorable Joe D. Duncan, pronounced judgment upon the defendant for ninety-nine years in the penitentiary. The defendant appealed and assigned errors that:

1. The evidence preponderates against the verdict of the jury.
2. The trial court erred in not granting a mistrial because of remarks made by the District Attorney General during argument.
3. The trial court erred in admitting into evidence the contents of a brown paper bag found on the defendant’s property.
4. The trial court erred in refusing to allow a lay witness to testify that the defendant had passed out and by allowing said witness to testify that the defendant was asleep.

According to the testimony of Mrs. Elizabeth Harbin Parton she was present on December 14, 1969 when the defendant shot and killed Horace Keys. At that time she was Mrs. Elizabeth Harbin but has since married Lowell Parton.

Mrs. Parton testified that she had been working at the Standard Knitting Mill for ten years. She formerly lived on Monmouth Street. That she and the defendant Brown owned the house together and she sold him her part of the house. They had bought the house on Monmouth Street together before either of them were divorced. The defendant Brown would come by of a morning and have breakfast and occasionally she would pack his lunch, but he had spent the night there on occasions in the back bedroom. They were not married to each other.

That she worked on week-ends at the Jiffy Restaurant at Fountain City commencing about October or November, 1969. That she met Horace Keys at the Jiffy Restaurant about three weeks before the shooting. She had heard his wife had died, and she (Mrs. Harbin-Parton) was not married at that time. That Mr. Keys had known her mother several years. On Tuesday immediately before December 14, they met and had coffee together. Wednesday he called her on the phone. On Friday he called again and asked her to go out with him Saturday night. She had not been out with him before that except for coffee. Mr. Horace Keys came alone in his car to her house between 7:00 and 8:00 P. M. They had planned to go out with her sister and her boyfriend. Mrs. Harbin’s car was in the garage at her house. Mrs. Harbin’s sister and her date Carlos Martin, together with Mr. Keys and Mrs. Harbin left in Mr. Martin’s car, leaving Mr. Keys’ car in the driveway. They went uptown to the Tennessee Theater. The movie was over about 11:00 o’clock. Then the four of them went to the Krystal on Broadway where they had coffee, and were there about fifteen minutes, and then went back home about 11:15 P. M.

Her daughter, age 15 and her brother Bobby Preen, age 21 were staying with her at that time. Her brother had lately arrived from Germany and was scheduled to leave for Viet Nam. Mrs. Harbin and Mr. Keys got out of Mr. Martin’s car and got [527]*527into Mr. Keys’ car and went for a drive. They went to Harbison’s crossroads, then to the Krystal, then to Whittle Springs and then back home about 12:35 A. M. They drove in the driveway and Mrs. Harbin opened the car door to get out when her brother-in-law’s car pulled up across the street almost behind the driveway. Her brother-in-law’s car was light blue. She thought it was her brother-in-law looking for her sister. It pulled out and went on up to the church on Fairview and set there for perhaps two minutes to five minutes and then it came back. Mr. Keys and Mrs. Harbin were still sitting in the car. Mr. Keys in the driver’s seat and she was on the other side of the seat. The lights of her brother-in-law’s car were still on and it came back down in front of Mr. Jones’ house, beside the garage. It was not blocking the driveway.

Mr. Brown, the defendant got out of the car, and started up on her side but she did not know who it was at the time. He then went around on Mr. Keys side of the car and hit the glass. Mr. Keys was sitting with his right leg up on the seat facing Mrs. Harbin with his back to the window or door glass. The glass in the door was closed, that is the window was up. Mr. Brown hit the glass with the pistol twice and said, “how long have you been staying here?” Mr. Keys turned around and Mr. Brown opened the car door and he got Mr. Keys by the shoulders of the coat. He had his head pulled over between the car and the car door. “It happened in a matter of seconds. He just grabbed him and he just pulled him over there and put the gun to his head and shot.” That before he shot Mr. Keys, the defendant said, “Aw, hell.” “He said aw hell, and pulled the trigger.”

Mr. Keys had no gun or weapon of any kind. Mr. Keys did not say anything to the defendant Brown. At the time Mr. Keys was shot he was still sitting in the seat but had his head out between the door and the car. Mrs. Harbin got out of the car and started to run around to the other side and said to the defendant, “Lord have mercy, what have you done ?” The defendant raised the gun and Mrs. Harbin thought he was going to shoot her too and she ducked in front of the car. When she raised up the defendant had the gun down by his side. Mr. Keys was still sitting in the car with his head over. The defendant Brown said, “I don’t know what you’ve made me do”, and the defendant then reached and took hold of Mr. Keys. Mrs. Harbin ran to the house and latched the screen door. She looked back and saw the defendant had not closed the door on her brother-in-law’s car and its lights were still on in the car in which the defendant had driven up.

Mrs. Harbin identified a picture of herself which belonged to the defendant in a paper bag which was found on the defendant’s lawn. According to Mrs. Harbin the defendant had kept the picture in a frame under glass on his mantle over the fireplace. She told the officer about the shooting of Mr. Keys by the defendant.

Detective Robert Chadwell testified he went to 2100 Edgewood where he investigated the killing of Horace Keys, December 14, 1969. That deceased had a gunshot wound in the head almost between the eyes. That Mrs. Elizabeth Harbin gave him the name of the defendant Cecil Brown and his address, 3317 Monmouth and told how the killing happened. That they went to the place for the purpose of arresting the defendant but did not find him at home and as they were leaving, walking through the defendant’s yard they found a brown paper bag containing broken glass apparently from a picture frame and a torn photograph of Mrs. Elizabeth Harbin. There was some writing on the back of the picture. That the brown paper bag and its contents had been in his possession since that date.

They took photographs at the scene. They found a Plymouth automobile in the driveway at Mrs. Harbin’s house, 2100 Edgewood headed into the garage with the driver’s door open and the body of Horace Keys laying face down on the driveway be[528]*528side the car. Mr. Keys did not have a weapon.

Detective Chadwell went to the University Hospital to examine the body of Horace Keys, then went to Kodak, Tennessee to locate Ronald Stinnett who is Mrs. Harbin’s brother-in-law, where he saw and talked to Mr. Stinnett.

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Brown v. State, 477 S.W.2d 525, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 471 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1971).

477 S.W.2d 525 (Brown v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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