Jeffries v. State

640 S.W.2d 854, 1979 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 326
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedApril 12, 1979
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 640 S.W.2d 854 (Jeffries 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
Jeffries v. State, 640 S.W.2d 854, 1979 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 326 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION

WALKER, Judge.

On his trial in Shelby County the appellant, Bobby Lee Jeffries, was found guilty of unlawfully selling a controlled substance, to wit, heroin, and his punishment fixed at six to 12 years’ imprisonment. The habitual criminal count of the indictment was then presented to the jury and it found him guilty under it, enhancing his punishment to life imprisonment. From that judgment and sentence he appeals to this court.

The appellant was first indicted in two counts for selling a controlled substance on the 12th day of February, 1977, and for possessing it with intent to sell. After some negotiations between counsel, the state on May 12, 1978, reindicted him for the same offenses but alleged that the offenses occurred on the 12th day of February 1978. The second indictment added the habitual criminal charge.

[856]*856Because the state’s proof showed that the incident occurred on February 12, 1977, rather than February 12, 1978, the appellant first insists that this variance required a directed verdict in his favor. He also says that the trial judge incorrectly instructed the jury, in effect, that the date was immaterial so long as the offense occurred prior to the finding of the indictment.

TCA 40-1808 says:

“The time at which the offense was committed need not be stated in the indictment, but the offense may be alleged to have been committed on any day before the finding thereof, or generally before the finding of the indictment, unless the time is a material ingredient in the offense.”

In Shadden v. State, 488 S.W.2d 54, 62 (Tenn.Cr.App.1972), we said:

“The rule is that the offense must be proved to have been committed prior to the finding of the indictment and within the time specified by any applicable statute of limitations; and, except where a special date is essential or time is of the essence of the offense, the time of the commission of the offense averred in the indictment is not material, and proof is not confined to the time charged.”

Thus the error of substituting “1978” for “1977” is inconsequential. The appellant was clearly apprised of the charge against him and was not misled. He relied on an alibi for February 12, 1977, and there was no uncertainty of the time of the incident under .investigation. This assignment is meritless.

The appellant contends that his constitutional rights were violated when, upon his refusal to plead guilty to the charge of selling heroin, the state reindicted him and added the habitual criminal charge. The United States Supreme Court considered this question in Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 98 S.Ct. 663, 54 L.Ed.2d 604 (1978), and rejected a similar contention. It held that due process is not violated when a state prosecutor carries out a threat made during plea negotiations to have the accused reindicted for more serious charges for which he is plainly subject to prosecution if he does not plead guilty to the offense for which he was originally charged. This assignment is likewise overruled.

By the testimony of Memphis police officers E.K. Martin and James Michael Willis, they were working undercover in the investigation of narcotics violations. On February 12, 1977, at 8:30 p.m., they met a confidential informant, Steve Howell, and went in the informant’s car to Marcus Jazzland Record Shop. Howell could not be found at the time of the trial although both sides wanted his testimony.

The informant went into the record shop and returned with the appellant. Officer Martin testified that he, the informant and the appellant got into another automobile parked at the record shop and that he purchased four quarter-teaspoons of heroin from the appellant for $100. Although he did not know the appellant personally, he had seen his photograph and recognized him. He described the appellant and his clothing in detail and identified him in the courtroom.

Officer Willis remained in the informant’s car 30 to 35 feet away. He says he saw the transaction from that distance, and he also made an in-court identification of the appellant. A laboratory test showed that the purchased material was heroin.

The officers testified that the lighting was good and that they had no difficulty in seeing the appellant. Although the appellant did not testify, his witnesses said that there were no outside lights there at this time and that the lighting was bad.

The appellant relied on an alibi. His girl friend testified that he was with her at the time in question on February 12, 1977; she remembered this because this was two days before Valentine’s Day. She also testified that his clothing that day was entirely different from that described by the officers.

[857]*857The appellant’s mother, Ms. Clara Sykes, testified that on February 12, 1977, he was wearing different clothing at 5:00 p.m. from that the officers described and that he had the same clothes on when she saw him at 4:30 or 5:30 the following morning. The appellant’s uncle testified that the appellant and his girl friend were at his (the uncle’s) home during the time in question and that the appellant’s clothing was not at all similar to what the officers claimed it was. Lucinda Mann testified that she took the appellant’s place at the record store at 2:30 or 3:00 p.m., and that she did not see him again during that evening. She was there until 10:30 or 11:00 p.m.

The appellant’s mother and uncle testified that they remembered February 12 particularly because it was the birthday of their mother, Mrs. Mary L. Jeffries.

In rebuttal the state presented Shirley Wallace, deputy registrar of the Shelby County election commission, who testified over objection that the records of her office showed the date of birth of Mrs. Jeffries was April 21, 1904.

The court refused an adjournment to permit Mrs. Jeffries to testify when it appeared that she could not attend that afternoon and no exact time for her appearance was given.

In surrebuttal Mrs. Sykes testified that she had never heard of her mother’s birthday being April 21, 1904, but had always known it as February 12; the family had always linked it with Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, and her mother’s Social Security records showed that birth date.

Following this testimony both sides argued the case. On the following morning defense counsel informed the court that Mrs. Jeffries was on the way to court with documented proof of her birth date, and that the appellant wanted an opportunity to present her testimony. The court denied the motion and charged the jury. After the verdict of the jury on the first phase of the case, the court permitted the appellant to offer Mrs. Jeffries’ testimony outside the jury’s presence that February 12 had always been her birth date. She also offered a written statement from the Social Security office to the effect that this was her birth date.

Proof was then submitted on the habitual criminal count with the jury returning a verdict of guilty on it with the enhanced punishment.

The most serious question presented is the admissibility of the evidence of Mrs. Wallace that the records of her office showed the date of birth of Mrs. Jeffries to be April 21, 1904.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
640 S.W.2d 854, 1979 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 326, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jeffries-v-state-tenncrimapp-1979.