Martin v. State

542 S.W.2d 638, 1976 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 355
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 20, 1976
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 542 S.W.2d 638 (Martin 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
Martin v. State, 542 S.W.2d 638, 1976 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 355 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

OPINION

TATUM, Judge.

Appellants, Luther Martin, R. S. (Nig) Cline and Ross Martin were convicted in the Criminal Court of Monroe County of assault to commit murder in the second degree and they were sentenced to not less than two nor more than five years in the State Penitentiary. We must affirm.

The evidence accredited by the jury discloses the following facts: On July 14,1975, Wilford Bookout was doing farm chores at his residence in a rural section of Monroe County. Appellants passed by his residence in a pickup truck. They then returned and again passed the Bookout residence with Luther Martin driving the truck. Ross Martin was seated in the center and R. S. Cline on the right side. R. S. Cline and Ross Martin commenced firing shots, Ross Martin firing from the driver’s window and R. S. Cline firing out of the right window. Wilford Bookout procured his shotgun from a vehicle in his garage and fired it into the front windshield of the truck, wounding Luther Martin in the neck. This occurred after appellants commenced firing.

The Sheriff found two pistols and a pair of “knucks” in appellants’ pickup truck shortly after the shooting episode. Cline was intoxicated.

There was evidence that Ross Martin had threatened to kill Wilford Bookout and his son. Ross Martin’s son has since been convicted of the homicide of Wilford Bookout’s son.

Appellants’ version of the incident was that they were going to Ross Martin’s house to get fruit jars for canning beans and that as they approached Wilford Bookout’s residence, Bookout began shooting at them and then R. S. Cline reached into the glove compartment of the pickup truck and got a pistol and returned Bookout’s fire.

A jury having found appellants to be guilty and the Trial Judge having approved the verdict, appellants stand before this court clothed in a presumption of guilt. [640]*640We cannot reverse under the first assignment of error unless we find that the evidence preponderates against the verdict of the jury. Halpin v. State, 515 S.W.2d 658 (Tenn.Cr.App.1974). We do not find that the evidence preponderates against the jury verdict and therefore Assignment of Error I is overruled.

Assignment No. II complains of the action of the Trial Judge in overruling appellant’s motion to dismiss the indictment, “because the same showed on its face it had been changed or amended”.

The indictment is for murder in the first degree. It was prepared on a printed form with the main body of the charge written in long hand, and states in part as follows:

“. . . and feloniously and willfully make an assault upon the body of Wilford N. Bookout with a deadly weapon; to-wit: a pistol, by firing the same at the said Wilford N. Bookout unlawfully,

Where the word “pistol” appears above, the word “firearm” had been originally written and stricken with a pen and the word “pistol” placed in lieu thereof. The words “with the” had been written before the word “unlawfully” and the words “with the” had been stricken. All of the above quoted portion of the indictment was written in long hand with a pen.

After the jury had been sworn, appellant made a motion to dismiss the indictment on the grounds that it had been amended. The Assistant District Attorney General offered to take the stand and testify concerning the indictment.

In support of their contention, appellants cite the 1847 case of McKinley v. State, 27 Tenn. 72 (1847). In that case, the State sought and obtained leave of the Court to resubmit an indictment to the Grand Jury for an amendment. The Supreme Court held the amendment had not been spread on the minutes of the Trial Court, showing that the amendment was an act of the Grand Jury and that the amended indictment was therefore bad. We have the opposite situation before us here. The indictment with the word “pistol” and the other alterations appear to be in Minute Book 14 at pages 820, 821 of the Criminal Court of Monroe County. The record certified to us shows that the indictment was in the corrected condition when it left the Grand Jury.

The Supreme Court, in McKinley v. State, supra, affirmed the well-known rule that an appellate court is bound by the record as certified to it. We are bound to presume that this indictment left the hands of the Grand Jury altered as above-described and that the record as certified to us is correct. Assignment of Error II is overruled.

The third assignment of error is that appellants had been placed in former jeopardy.

There was no plea of former jeopardy. On suggestion of diminution of the record, the Clerk of the Trial Court certified to this court a copy of an indictment returned in August, 1974, and order in case numbers 4083, 4084 and 4085. It does not appear that this indictment and order were actually a part of the record in this case (no. 4248). The indictment in this case, no. 4248, was returned in May, 1975. The order above mentioned directed a jury verdict on the August, 1974 indictment.

The first indictment is substantially the same as the second indictment except in the first indictment this offense was charged to have been committed with a “rifle” and the second indictment charged that a “pistol” was used.

Without going into the question of whether the defense was properly pleaded and proved, we will consider this assignment on its merits. Appellant contends that the order directing a verdict in favor of appellants in the first prosecution barred the second prosecution. The verdict was directed on the first indictment because there was a material variance between the indictment and the proof.

In support of their contention, appellants cite Young v. State, 185 Tenn. 596, 206 [641]*641S.W .2d 805 (1947). While this case correctly states the applicable rule of law, it does not support appellants’ theory. The Supreme Court, speaking through Judge Prewitt, held:

“(1) In Hite v. State, 17 Tenn. 357, the Court laid down the rule that to entitle a prisoner to the benefit of the plea, it is necessary that the crime charged be precisely the same in each indictment, and said at page 378 of 17 Tenn.:
< * * * gu^j jf variances are in those things which are material, autre-fois acquit cannot be pleaded in bar— either the first indictment was ineffectual, and therefore the acquittal of no avail, or the record will prove not applicable to the evidence, and therefore the objection is needless; * *
Thus, if there be a material variance between the averments, the two prosecutions are separate as a matter of law.” 206 S.W.2d 805, at 805.

In the first indictment, appellants were accused of making an assault with a rifle and the proof was that they used a pistol. In State v. Brooks, 224 Tenn. 712, 462 S.W.2d 491 (1970), the defendants were indicted for and convicted of armed robbery. Under a previous indictment, the defendants had been charged with using a pistol but the proof was that they had used a .22 caliber rifle and a directed verdict of not guilty had been entered. Subsequently, the defendants were indicted for armed robbery with a rifle for which they were convicted.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State of Tennessee v. Perry A. March
293 S.W.3d 576 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2008)
State v. Kirkland
696 S.W.2d 544 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1985)
State v. Moss
662 S.W.2d 590 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1984)
State v. Caldwell
656 S.W.2d 894 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1983)
State v. Elendt
654 S.W.2d 411 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1983)
State v. Cox
644 S.W.2d 692 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1982)
Bolton v. State
617 S.W.2d 909 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1981)
Johnson v. State
596 S.W.2d 97 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1979)
Delk v. State
590 S.W.2d 435 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1979)
Ramsey v. State
571 S.W.2d 822 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1978)
Bryant v. State
549 S.W.2d 956 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
542 S.W.2d 638, 1976 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martin-v-state-tenncrimapp-1976.