McAfee v. State

463 S.W.2d 141, 3 Tenn. Crim. App. 424, 1970 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 400
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 21, 1970
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 463 S.W.2d 141 (McAfee 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
McAfee v. State, 463 S.W.2d 141, 3 Tenn. Crim. App. 424, 1970 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 400 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

OPINION

OLIVER, Judge.

Junior McAfee and Eugene McAfee, father and son respectively, indigent at the time of their trial and there represented by appointed counsel but represented here by retained counsel, were convicted in the Criminal Court of Greene County of second degree burglary and of grand larceny, upon a presentment charging, in the first count, that they burglarized the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Crum with the intent to steal lawful U.S. currency and coin and, in the second count, with stealing such money in excess of $100 belonging to the Crums, and were sentenced to concurrent terms of three years upon each count. Unsuccessful in their motions for a new trial, they are now before this Court upon an appeal in the nature of a writ of error duly perfected.

A severance was granted to one Alvin Hensley, a co-defendant jointly charged with the McAfees in the presentment, and he testified as a witness for the State in this case. The defendants’ Assignments of Error challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to warrant and sustain the verdict of the jury, their specific insistence being that they were convicted solely on the uncorroborated testimony of the accomplice Hensley.

The law is well settled in this State, and has been reiterated in numerous cases, that a guilty verdict by the jury, approved by the trial judge, accredits the testimony of the witnesses for the State and resolves all conflicts in favor of the theory of the State. Such a verdict removes the presumption of the innocence of the accused which stands as a witness for him until he is convicted, and raises a presumption of his guilt upon appeal, and he has the burden upon appeal of showing that the evidence preponderates against the verdict and in favor of his innocence. Gulley v. State, 219 Tenn. 114, 407 S.W.2d 186; Jamison v. State, 220 Tenn. 280, 416 S.W.2d 768; Webster v. State, Tenn.Cr.App., 425 S.W.2d 799; Brown v. State, Tenn.Cr.App., 441 S.W.2d 485.

To make one an accomplice, it must appear from the proof that he or she knowingly, voluntarily, and with common intent united with the principal offender in the commission of the crime. Moore v. State, Tenn.Cr.App., 432 S.W.2d 684.

The Supreme Court of this State has addressed itself many times to the question of the character and quality and quantum of evidence necessary to constitute legally sufficient corroboration of an accomplice. The rule, simply stated, is that there must be some fact testified to, entirely independent of the accomplice’s testimony, which, taken by itself, leads to the inference, not only that a crime has been committed, but also that the defendant is im[143]*143plicated in it; and this independent corroborative testimony must also include some fact establishing the defendant’s identity. State v. Fowler, 213 Tenn. 239, 373 S.W.2d 460; Boulton v. State, 214 Tenn. 94, 377 S.W.2d 936. This corroborative evidence may be direct or entirely circumstantial, and it need not be adequate, in and of itself, to support a conviction; it is sufficient to meet the requirements of the rule if it fairly and legitimately tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime charged. Sherrill v. State, 204 Tenn. 427, 321 S.W.2d 811.

In Binkley v. State, Tenn.Cr.App., 434 S.W.2d 336, Presiding Judge Walker wrote for this Court:

“Our Supreme Court has repeatedly held that slight circumstances may furnish the necessary corroboration of an accomplice’s testimony. Alexander v. State, 190 Tenn. 260, 229 S.W.2d 331; Garton v. State, 206 Tenn. 79, 332 S.W.2d 169.
“In Stanley v. State, 189 Tenn. 110, 222 S.W.2d 384, the Court said:
‘(1) The sufficiency of evidence required to corroborate an accomplice is well set forth in Clapp v. State, 94 Tenn. 186, 30 S.W. 214, 217, as follows :
‘ “The degree of evidence which shall be deemed sufficient to corroborate the testimony of the accomplice is for the determination of the jury. The law is complied with if there is some other evidence fairly tending to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime, so that his conviction will not rest entirely upon the evidence of the accomplice.”
‘(2, 3) This Court has likewise held that rather slight circumstances may be sufficient to furnish necessary corroboration. Winfree v. State, 174 Tenn. 72, 123 S.W.2d 827. The sufficiency of corroborating evidence where the testimony of an accomplice is in the main depended upon, depends upon the particular facts of each case. The weight of this testimony, that is, of the accomplice, corroborating the accomplice are ordinarily questions for the jury to determine. “That is to say, when the trial judge finds that there is some corroborative evidence, it is his duty to submit it to the jury for them to say, first, whether it is worthy of belief, and secondly, whether, if true it tended to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime charged. It is not necessary to show by independent proof a link between the accomplice’s testimony and corroborative proof; when the proof claimed to be corroborative tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the crime in such a way as may reasonably satisfy a jury that the accomplice is telling the truth, it is sufficient. For this purpose, if the accomplice is corroborated as to some material fact or facts, the jury may from that infer that he speaks the truth as to all.” Wharton’s Criminal Evidence, Vol. 2, Section 754, page 1272.
‘(4) It is not necessary that the corroboration extend to every part of the accomplice’s evidence. The same authority last above quoted from says,
‘ “The corroboration need not be conclusive, but it is sufficient if this evidence, of itself, tends to connect the defendant with the commission of the offense, although the evidence is slight, and entitled, when standing by itself, to but little consideration. Moreover, if the verdict is founded on slight evidence of corroboration connecting the defendant with the crime, it cannot be said, as a matter of law, that the verdict is contrary to the evidence.” Section 753, page 1271, supra.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
463 S.W.2d 141, 3 Tenn. Crim. App. 424, 1970 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcafee-v-state-tenncrimapp-1970.