Coleman v. State

3 S.W.3d 19, 1998 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1229
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 4, 1998
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 3 S.W.3d 19 (Coleman v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. State, 3 S.W.3d 19, 1998 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1229 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

OPINION

SMITH, Judge.

The appellant, Michael Angelo Coleman, appeals the Shelby County Criminal Court’s order denying his second petition for post-conviction relief. In 1980, Appellant received a death sentence after he was convicted of first degree felony murder. On appeal, he claims that he is entitled to a new sentencing hearing due to the jury’s erroneous reliance on the felony murder aggravating circumstance to support the imposition of the death penalty. See State v. Middlebrooks, 840 S.W.2d 317 (Tenn.1992). After a thorough review of the record, we find no reversible error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.

BACKGROUND

The proof at trial, as set out by our Supreme Court on direct appeal, was as follows:

Appellant and his codefendant were convicted of the killing of Leon Watson during a robbery, which occurred in Memphis, Tennessee, on May 2, 1979. That morning, Mr. Watson left his home to go to a nearby grocery store. He did not return. At about 10:00 p. m. Mrs. Watson was contacted by a representa[21]*21tive of the Memphis Police Department and was taken to view a white 1964 Buick automobile, which she identified as being that of her husband’s. Blood was found on the seat and floor of the automobile, and a bullet was found in the left door.
Appellant and codefendant Bell were arrested about one hour later on another charge. The next morning, at about 5:15 a. m., both appellant and Bell were advised of their Miranda rights. Appellant then told the officers of finding a body of a black man in a field near Third Street in Memphis. He directed officers to the scene where they found the body of Mr. Watson. Mr. Watson’s empty billfold was on the ground near his body. Items from Mr. Watson’s automobile were strewn around the body, indicating the automobile had been ransacked before it was driven from the scene.
Appellant was advised again of his Miranda rights. Thereafter, he confessed to shooting and killing Mr. Watson in Mr. Watson’s automobile. He also admitted going through the victim’s billfold after the shooting, and stated he had removed the C.B. radio from the automobile, but had decided not to keep it.
Codefendant Bell, in his statement to the police and in his testimony at the trial, named appellant as the man who shot and killed Mr. Watson. He also testified that a pistol belonging to Mr. Watson was taken after the shooting and that appellant had taken the gun to his grandmother’s house.

State v. Coleman, 619 S.W.2d 112, 113-14 (Tenn.1981). At the sentencing hearing following Appellant’s conviction, the jury found two (2) aggravating circumstances to be applicable, namely: (1) that the appellant was previously convicted of one or more felonies involving violence, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-2404(I)(2) (Supp.1977); and (2) the murder was committed while the appellant was engaged in committing a robbery, Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-2404(I)(7) (Supp.1977).1 After finding no mitigating circumstances that would outweigh the aggravating ones, the jury imposed a sentence of death. Appellant’s conviction and death sentence were affirmed by the Tennessee Supreme Court. State v. Coleman, 619 S.W.2d at 116.

Subsequently, Appellant filed his first petition for post-conviction relief alleging numerous constitutional errors, including an ineffective assistance of counsel claim. The trial court denied relief, and this Court affirmed on appeal. State v. Michael Angelo Coleman, C.C.A. No. 31, Shelby County (Tenn.Crim.App. filed June 28, 1984, at Jackson). Permission to appeal was denied by the Tennessee Supreme Court on October 29,1984.

Thereafter, the Tennessee Supreme Court issued its opinion in State v. Middlebrooks, which held that when a defendant is convicted of first degree murder “solely on the basis of felony murder,” the felony murder aggravating circumstance “does not narrow the class of death-eligible murderers sufficiently under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and Article I, § 16 of the Tennessee Constitution,” and as a result, that aggravating circumstance is unconstitutionally applied where the death penalty is imposed for first degree felony murder. 840 S.W.2d at 346.

In May 1993, Appellant filed his second petition for post-conviction relief, claiming that his death sentence should be overturned due to the Middlebrooks error at his sentencing hearing. Appellant raised various other issues and also requested the opportunity to present additional mitigation proof. The trial court found that the Middlebrooks error was harmless and denied relief. The court also noted that the other issues, including that regarding inef[22]*22fective assistance of counsel at trial, were barred by the statute of limitations. From the trial court’s ruling, Appellant brings this appeal.

MIDDLEBROOKS ERROR2

Appellant contends that he is entitled to a new sentencing hearing because of the unconstitutional reliance on the felony murder aggravating circumstance pursuant to State v. Middlebrooks, supra. He claims that a harmless error analysis is inappropriate in this case and further argues that he has an interest in having a jury, not this Court, determine his sentence. Additionally, he urges this Court to allow him to present additional mitigation evidence to support his claim that the Middlebrooks error was not harmless.

A.

It is undisputed in this case that a Middlebrooks error occurred at Appellant’s sentencing hearing. Because Appellant was convicted “solely on the basis of felony murder,” the jury’s consideration of the felony murder aggravating circumstance in sentencing was constitutionally invalid. State v. Middlebrooks, 840 S.W.2d at 346.

However, this does not end this Court’s analysis. In State v. Howell, 868 S.W.2d 238 (Tenn.1993), the Supreme Court held that a harmless error analysis is appropriate in determining whether re-sentencing is required as a result of a Middlebrooks error. A capital sentencing jury’s consideration of an invalid aggravating circumstance may be considered harmless only if the appellate court concludes, beyond a reasonable doubt, “that the sentence would have been the same had the sentencing authority given no weight to the invalid aggravating factor.” State v. Howell, 868 S.W.2d at 260 (citing Stringer v. Black, 503 U.S. 222, 230, 112 S.Ct. 1130, 1137, 117 L.Ed.2d 367 (1992)). In making this determination, the appellate court should consider “the number and strength of remaining valid aggravating circumstances, the prosecutor’s argument at sentencing, the evidence admitted to establish the invalid aggravator, and the nature, quality and strength of mitigating evidence.” Id. at 261.

Applying a Howell analysis to the case sub judice,

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Bluebook (online)
3 S.W.3d 19, 1998 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1229, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-state-tenncrimapp-1998.