State of Tennessee v. Reginol L. Waters

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 30, 2003
DocketM2001-02682-CCA-R3-CD
StatusPublished

This text of State of Tennessee v. Reginol L. Waters (State of Tennessee v. Reginol L. Waters) 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
State of Tennessee v. Reginol L. Waters, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE November 19, 2002 Session

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. REGINOL L. WATERS

Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Davidson County No. 2000-C-1267 Steve R. Dozier, Judge

No. M2001-02682-CCA-R3-CD - Filed January 30, 2003

A Davidson County jury convicted the defendant, Reginol L. Waters, of two counts of aggravated rape, one count of aggravated robbery, and one count of aggravated burglary. The trial court sentenced him as a Range I offender to twenty-three years for the first count of aggravated rape, twenty-five years for the second count of aggravated rape, ten years for aggravated robbery, and as a Range II offender to ten years for aggravated burglary. The trial court further ordered the two sentences for aggravated rape and the sentence for aggravated burglary be served consecutively and the sentence for aggravated robbery be served concurrently, for an effective sentence of fifty-eight years. In this appeal of right, the defendant raises the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress testimony regarding the “showup” identification of the defendant; (2) whether the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress the defendant’s statements to the police; (3) whether the trial court erred in admitting the tape recording of the victim’s telephone call to the police; (4) whether the state failed to establish a proper chain of custody for evidence found during a search of the defendant’s vehicle; (5) whether the two convictions for aggravated rape should be merged; (6) whether the conviction for aggravated burglary violates due process because it was incidental to the offenses of aggravated rape and aggravated robbery; and (7) whether the sentences are excessive. Upon review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed

JOE G. RILEY, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which DAVID H. WELLES and ALAN E. GLENN, JJ., joined.

Ross E. Alderman, Public Defender; Jeffrey A. DeVasher, Assistant Public Defender (on appeal); and J. Michael Engle, Assistant Public Defender (at trial), for the appellant, Reginol L. Waters.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Christine M. Lapps, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; and Brian Keith Holmgren, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION

The victim, Leslie Beam, a college student, testified that on April 24, 2000, at approximately midnight, she heard someone outside her apartment. She thought it was her neighbor and walked outside. Instead, she saw the defendant standing outside of a storage closet; she re-entered her apartment. Later, she looked outside and saw the defendant sitting inside a green pickup truck parked in the parking lot of her apartment complex. Beam stated she and the defendant made eye contact, and she saw his face.

Beam testified that approximately two hours later, she heard a noise while she was in her living room watching a movie. She looked up and saw the defendant running down the hallway of her apartment toward her. Beam described him as a large black man with light freckles, wearing white clothing and a cloth across the bottom half of his face. The defendant was holding a knife with a serrated edge and flecks of white drywall or paint on it.

Beam stated the defendant threatened to hurt her if she screamed, stuffed a sock into her mouth, and wrapped masking tape around her head while pointing the knife at her throat. Beam pulled the sock out of her mouth and begged the defendant not to hurt her. Beam stated the defendant’s cloth fell below his nose, and she saw his entire face above his mouth. The defendant demanded Beam give him all of her money, and when Beam went to get her purse, she ran for the door. The defendant re-captured her and again demanded money.

When Beam did not find any money in her wallet, she gave the defendant her debit card. Beam also wrote down her PIN number on a notice from her pet’s veterinarian and gave it to the defendant. She pled with the defendant not to kill her. The defendant pulled the cloth down from his face, and she again saw his face before he pulled the cloth back over his nose.

Beam pulled away from the defendant, ran into the bathroom, and leaned over the toilet. Beam testified that she pretended to vomit because she thought the defendant would leave her alone. Instead, the defendant came into the bathroom and forced Beam down on her knees. He held a knife to her face and threatened to kill her if she did not perform oral sex on him. As Beam was performing oral sex on the defendant, she bit him and ran toward the door. Beam managed to unlock one of the locks on the door before the defendant seized her. Beam testified the defendant then grabbed the masking tape that was still around her neck, twisted it, and pulled it up until she could not breathe. The defendant repeatedly asked her why she had bitten him and struck her across her temple. Beam stated she again attempted to escape, but the defendant twisted the masking tape tighter until she was choking.

The defendant then pushed Beam on her back and straddled her. He placed his legs on Beam’s shoulders and again forced her to perform oral sex on him. As he held a knife to her neck, the defendant threatened to kill her if she did not swallow, and he ejaculated into her mouth. She estimated that “maybe . . . five minutes” passed between the two fellatio incidents, but that “it felt like it was forever.”

-2- The defendant then demanded Beam tell him how to use the debit card. Beam testified the defendant pulled the cloth beneath his mouth, and she again saw his face before he pulled it over his nose. Beam attempted to escape, but the defendant pulled both of her arms behind her and again stuffed a sock into her mouth. The defendant tied Beam’s hands behind her back with a scarf, tied the sock into her mouth with a pair of hose, and tied her ankles with her purse strap.

As Beam was tied up on the floor, the defendant looked around her apartment and grabbed her walkman. The defendant threatened to kill Beam, her family, and her friends if she called the police. He also threatened to come back and kill her if there was no money in her bank account; he then left. Beam testified the defendant was in her apartment for approximately twenty to twenty-five minutes. Beam called the police within a few minutes after the defendant left.

Sergeant Edwin Allen Groves testified that based upon Beam’s description of her attacker, he apprehended the defendant, who was sitting in a green pickup truck parked in front of a SunTrust Bank. Officer James Pearce testified a “showup” was conducted at the scene where the defendant was apprehended, and Beam identified the defendant as her attacker. Officer Scott Cothran stated he searched the defendant’s vehicle at the scene and found Beam’s debit card, the knife, and the cloth the defendant wore on his face. Detective Keith Sutherland stated he later searched the vehicle and found the piece of paper on which Beam wrote her PIN number. Detective Sutherland and Officer Gene Martin testified they interviewed the defendant, who eventually confessed to committing the offenses.

The defendant testified at trial and denied confessing to the police officers. The defendant stated he had been on a crack cocaine binge for five days prior to April 24th. He said that on the evening of April 23rd, “Big Fred,” a drug dealer, offered to sell the defendant drugs if the defendant would loan him his truck. Sometime after 10:00 p.m., Big Fred took the defendant’s vehicle while the defendant went to an empty duplex to take the drugs.

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State of Tennessee v. Reginol L. Waters, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-tennessee-v-reginol-l-waters-tenncrimapp-2003.