State of Tennessee v. Willie Demorris Locust

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 4, 1997
Docket02C01-9611-CC-00392
StatusPublished

This text of State of Tennessee v. Willie Demorris Locust (State of Tennessee v. Willie Demorris Locust) 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. Willie Demorris Locust, (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

MARCH 1997 SESSION FILED December 4, 1997

WILLIE DEMORRIS LOCUST, ) Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate C ourt Clerk ) Appellant, ) C.C.A. No. 02C01-9611-CC-00392 ) vs. ) Dyer County ) STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) Hon. Joe G. Riley, Judge ) Appellee. ) (Post Conviction) )

FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:

LANCE WEBB JOHN KNOX WALKUP Attorney at Law Attorney General & Reporter P.O. Box 26 Union City, TN 38261 LISA A. NAYLOR Assistant Attorney General Criminal Justice Division 450 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37243-0493

C. PHILLIP BIVENS District Attorney General

KAREN WINCHESTER Asst. District Attorney General P.O. Drawer E Dyersburg, TN 38024

OPINION FILED: ____________________

AFFIRMED

CURWOOD WITT JUDGE OPINION

The petitioner, Willie Demorris Locust, appeals the Dyer County

Circuit Court's denial of his petition for post conviction relief. Locust is incarcerated

in the Department of Correction for his convictions of aggravated sexual battery and

aggravated burglary, for which he received an effective ten year sentence that he

is serving consecutively to a twenty year sentence for aggravated rape and

aggravated burglary and an assault sentence of undisclosed length. See State v.

Locust, 914 S.W.2d 554 (Tenn. Crim. App.) (aggravated sexual battery and

aggravated burglary), perm. app. denied (Tenn. 1995); State v. Willie Demorris

Locust, No. 02-C-01-9404-CC-00075 (Tenn. Crim. App., Jackson, Oct. 5, 1994)

(aggravated rape and aggravated burglary), perm. app. denied (Tenn. 1995). In this

appeal, he claims the lower court erred in denying him relief on three issues:

1. Whether the indictment is defective and his conviction of aggravated sexual battery is therefore void.

2. Whether the trial judge failed to instruct the jury on lesser included offenses, thereby depriving him of his constitutional right to a trial by jury.

3. Whether he was afforded the effective assistance of counsel at his trial and on direct appeal.

Following a review of the record, we affirm the lower court's dismissal of Locust's

petition.

Locust's petition was filed on February 1, 1996. As such, the Post

Conviction Act of 1995 controls. Accordingly, Locust has the burden of establishing

by clear and convincing evidence that he is entitled to post-conviction relief. Tenn.

Code Ann. § 40-30-210(f) (1997).

I

First, Locust questions whether count one of the indictment against him sufficiently alleges the crime of aggravated sexual battery.1 He relies on this

court's opinion in State v. Roger Dale Hill, No. 01C01-9508-CC-00267 (Tenn. Crim.

App., Nashville, June 20, 1996), perm. app granted (Tenn., Jan. 6, 1997). Since the

time of the defendant's submission of the Hill case as controlling authority, our

supreme court has reversed this court's decision in Hill. See State v. Hill, --- S.W.2d

---, No. 01-S-01-9701-CC-00005 (Tenn. Nov. 3, 1997). Nevertheless, we will

address the defendant's claim under the law as it has been announced by the

Tennessee Supreme Court.

The question raised in Hill is whether a charging instrument which

charges a defendant with a crime that by its statutory terms does not expressly

require a culpable mental state is legally sufficient under the Sentencing Reform Act

of 1989, where the instrument does not allege a culpable mens rea. Hill, --- S.W.2d

at ---, slip op. at 2. The Sentencing Reform Act of 1989 requires a culpable mental

state in order to establish an offense unless the statutory definition of the crime

"plainly dispenses with a mental element." Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-11-301(b) (1997).

The supreme court in Hill said that a charging instrument which does

not allege a culpable mental state, the statutory definition of the crime not plainly

1 Locust acknowledges in his brief this issue was not raised at the hearing; however, he seeks to avoid the waiver rule applicable to issues not raised in the lower court in a post conviction proceeding by arguing that this court's opinion in State v. Roger Dale Hill, No. 01C01-9508-CC-00267 (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville, June 20, 1996), rev'd, No. 01-S-01-9701-CC-00005, --- S.W.2d --- (Tenn. 1997), was released only a few days before the evidentiary hearing in this case and was not publicized in Tennessee Attorney's Memo until after the evidentiary hearing. The state points out that Locust could have raised the issue at trial or on direct appeal, but did not, and his failure to do so constitutes waiver. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-30-210(f) (1997) ("There is a rebuttable presumption that a ground for relief not raised before a court of competent jurisdiction in which the ground could have been presented is waived."). Both parties have given thoughtful consideration to the issue in their briefs. Our supreme court has recently reversed this court's opinion in Roger Dale Hill. As such, we elect to address the issue on the merits. See Tenn. R. App. P. 13(b).

3 dispensing with a mental element, is nevertheless sufficient to support prosecution

where

(1) the language of the indictment is sufficient to meet the constitutional requirements of notice to the accused of the charge against which the accused must defend, adequate basis for entry of a proper judgment, and protection from double jeopardy;

(2) the form of the indictment meets the requirements of Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-13-202; and

(3) the mental state can be logically inferred from the conduct alleged.

Hill, --- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 3. The supreme court scrutinized the Hill indictment

under the three-part inquiry above and determined the indictment was legally

sufficient to support prosecution of the accused, notwithstanding the absence of an

explicit allegation of a mens rea. Hill, --- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 4-10. Specifically,

the supreme court noted, "[T]he act for which the defendant is indicted, 'unlawfully

sexually penetrat[ing]' a person under the age of thirteen, is committable only if the

principal actor's mens rea is intentional, knowing or reckless. Thus, the required

mental state may be inferred from the nature of the criminal conduct alleged." Hill,

--- S.W.2d at ---, slip op. at 9.

We find the case at bar very similar under the Hill analysis. The

aggravated sexual battery count of the indictment in this case alleges the defendant

"unlawfully, with force or coercion, had unlawful sexual contact with . . . the victim,

while armed with a weapon, to wit, a knife and a tire tool, causing bodily injury, in

violation of T[ennessee] C[ode] A[nnotated section] 39-13-504 . . . ." In pertinent

part:

Aggravated sexual battery is unlawful sexual contact with a victim by the defendant or the defendant by a victim accompanied by any of the following circumstances:

(1) Force or coercion is used to accomplish the act and the defendant is armed with a weapon or any article used or fashioned in a manner to lead the victim reasonably to believe it to be a weapon;

4 (2) The defendant causes bodily injury to the victim; . . .

Tenn.

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