State of Tennessee v. Victor Eugene Tyson

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee·Decided January 21, 2003·No. M1999-00631-CCA-R3-CD·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE Assigned on Briefs January 15, 2002

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. VICTOR EUGENE TYSON

Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Davidson County No. 97-A-64 Seth Norman, Judge

No. M1999-00631-CCA-R3-CD - Filed January 21, 2003

The Davidson County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant for first degree premeditated murder, felony murder, attempted first degree murder and five counts of reckless endangerment. A Davidson County jury found the Defendant guilty of second degree murder, felony murder, attempted first degree murder and five counts of reckless endangerment. After merging the Defendant’s convictions for second degree murder and felony murder, the trial court sentenced the Defendant to life imprisonment. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to thirty-five years for the attempted first degree murder conviction to be served consecutively to the life sentence. The trial court merged the five reckless endangerment convictions and sentenced the Defendant to three years to be served concurrently with the other sentences. The Defendant now appeals, arguing the following: (1) that the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury on all lesser-included offenses; (2) that the trial court erred by denying the Defendant’s motion to suppress a photographic lineup; (3) that insufficient evidence was presented at trial to support the Defendant’s convictions; (4) that trial counsel was ineffective; and (5) that the trial court improperly assumed that as a matter of law, the sentences in this case must be served consecutively to a prior federal sentence. Concluding that the trial court committed reversible error (the State concedes), by failing to instruct the jury on certain lesser-included offenses of premeditated murder, felony murder and attempted first degree murder, we reverse those three convictions and remand Counts 1, 2, and 3 to the trial court for a new trial. We affirm the conviction for reckless endangerment in Count 4 and the three year sentence imposed in that count. We also remand Count 4 for the trial court to determine whether the sentence imposed in Count 4 should be served concurrently with or consecutively to the Defendant’s federal sentence.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Criminal Court Reversed in Part, Affirmed in Part and Remanded

ROBERT W. WEDEMEYER , J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which DAVID H. WELLES and THOMAS T. WOODA LL, JJ., joined.

Paul J. Bruno (on appeal); and Thomas T. Overton, Nashville, Tennessee (at trial), for the appellant, Victor Eugene Tyson. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Patricia C. Kussmann, Assistant Attorney General; Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General; Pamela S. Anderson and Lisa Naylor, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

On August 3, 1996, the Defendant participated in a “drive-by” shooting in Nashville. While attempting to shoot Jay King, with whom he had been involved in an altercation just prior to the “drive-by,” the Defendant shot and killed Derrick King. Numerous shots were fired by the Defendant, endangering Ernest Christian, Corey King, Ernest King, Ronald Scruggs, and Alonzo Stevenson, all of whom were present at the scene.

In an eight-count indictment, the Davidson County Grand Jury indicted the Defendant for the following crimes: (1) premeditated murder of Derrick King; (2) felony murder of Derrick King during the attempted perpetration of the premeditated murder of Jay King; (3) attempted premeditated murder of Jay King; (4) reckless endangerment of Ernest Christian; (5) reckless endangerment of Corey King; (6) reckless endangerment of Ernest King; (7) reckless endangerment of Ronald Scruggs; and (8) reckless endangerment of Alonzo Stevenson. A Davidson County jury found the Defendant guilty of the lesser-included offense of second degree murder of Derrick King; felony murder of Derrick King; attempted premeditated murder of Jay King; and all five counts of reckless endangerment. The trial court merged the Defendant’s convictions for second degree murder and felony murder and sentenced the Defendant to life imprisonment. The trial court sentenced the Defendant to thirty-five years for the attempted first degree murder conviction, to be served consecutively to the felony murder sentence. Finally, the trial court merged the five reckless endangerment convictions, sentenced the Defendant to three years incarceration for the merged convictions, and ordered that the sentence run concurrently with the other sentences.

I. FACTS

Philander Jones testified that in August 1996, he had known the Defendant for “about a year.” Jones recalled that on August 2, 1998, he and Shawn McQuiddy were “[a]t the house on 16th [Avenue North]” eating and watching television. He stated that he knew McQuiddy because he “sold dope for him.” According to Jones, the Defendant arrived at the house and stated that he and Jay King “had got into it at Amoco.” Jones recalled that the Defendant then showed him a bullet hole in the sole of his white Reebok shoes. Jones testified that he had heard of Jay King, but he had never met him.

Jones testified that Shawn McQuiddy called his brother, Darrell McQuiddy, and within ten or fifteen minutes, Darrell McQuiddy “and another car” carrying three men arrived at the house. Jones stated that when Darrell McQuiddy arrived, Shawn McQuiddy told Jones to go inside the house and turn off the lights. Jones testified, “When I came back out . . . we saw a black Yukon go down the alley. And, by that time, we all paired up and got in cars.” Jones reported that he was in a red Corvette that Shawn McQuiddy was driving, Darrell McQuiddy and the Defendant were in a

-2- black Cadillac which Darrell McQuiddy was driving, and the other three men were in a brown car. Jones stated that one of the three men in the brown car was carrying “an oozie or AK” weapon strapped onto his shoulder. Jones testified that Shawn McQuiddy had a gun in the car, and he stated that Darrell McQuiddy also had a gun. Jones claimed that he did not see the Defendant with a gun that night.

Jones testified that he and Shawn McQuiddy drove “towards Buchanan” while the other two cars drove down 16th Avenue. Jones recalled that at some point, Shawn McQuiddy spoke to someone on the telephone, and then he and Jones met Darrell McQuiddy near the corner of Tennessee State University (TSU). Jones stated that the two cars then “went around towards Preston-Taylor . . . to . . . a stop sign.” Jones reported that “it was the brown car, Darrell’s [McQuiddy’s] car, then [the car he and Shawn McQuiddy were in].” Jones testified, “[T]hey pulled off, turned off the lights and drove fast and started shooting.” Jones stated that Shawn McQuiddy then drove back by TSU and dropped Jones off at his house. Jones maintained that the car in which he was riding did not pass 2909 Clifton Avenue; however, he stated that the other two cars did drive by that address. Jones testified that as the other two cars drove past the Clifton Avenue residence, “the lights go off and just, you see flares coming from the [car] window.” Jones explained that the flares were “from the gunshots.” Jones stated that after he saw and heard the gunshots, Shawn McQuiddy drove him home.

On cross-examination, Jones testified that on a prior occasion, he had seen a Yukon at a carwash, and Shawn McQuiddy had told him that it belonged to Jay King. Jones stated that he guessed that it was Jay King’s Yukon that he saw driving down the alley just before the shootings. Jones maintained that he was not involved in killing Derrick King, one of the victims in this case. Jones testified that he did not know that anyone had been shot until he heard that the Defendant had been arrested.

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