State v. Addison

973 S.W.2d 260, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1164
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedNovember 20, 1997
StatusPublished
Cited by138 cases

This text of 973 S.W.2d 260 (State v. Addison) 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 v. Addison, 973 S.W.2d 260, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1164 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

OPINION

TIPTON, Judge.

The defendant, Michael Addison, appeals as of right from a jury conviction in the Criminal Court of Shelby County for first degree murder. The defendant received a sentence of life imprisonment in the custody of the Department of Correction. In this appeal, he contends that:

(1) the evidence is insufficient to support his conviction;
(2) the jury’s dual findings of guilt for first degree premeditated murder and felony murder violate double jeopardy principles; and
(3) the trial court erroneously allowed evidence of the defendant’s prior theft convictions to impeach the defendant’s credibility-

We disagree and affirm the judgment of conviction.

On April 2, 1993, Donald Ray Irby was found in the front seat of his ear. He had been shot one time in the head, resulting in his death. The car he was driving had crashed into the Three Star Liquor Store. The car was still in gear with the tires spinning, causing the car to overheat and make ruts in the ground.

Sergeant Michael Houston of the Memphis Police Department investigated the crime. He testified that he examined the victim’s body at the morgue on April 3, 1993, and noticed a head injury from a gunshot. He also examined the victim’s ear. The front of the car had been wrecked, two tires were flat, and the front passenger’s side window was broken. Sergeant Houston also found mud on the inside of the right front passenger’s side and inferred that the door was open while the vehicle was stuck in the mud. Blood was also on the armrest between the front seat and on items lying in the floorboard in the backseat. Sergeant Houston testified that when he went to the back of the liquor store, he noticed a small fence that had been knocked down and ruts in the ground where the wheels of the car had been stuck. He also stated that a few people who operated local businesses told him that although they did not witness the shooting, *262 they heard the noise of the ear accelerating at a high rate of speed.

Sergeant Houston also testified that he received a call on April 4,1993, from a couple of people who identified Michael Dean as the person responsible for shooting the victim and that Annie Lee Fason was with the defendant when the shooting occurred. Dean was the name that the defendant used on occasion. Sergeant Houston questioned the defendant at his office. Sergeant Houston said that the defendant initially denied any involvement in the crime but admitted that he shot the victim with his .357 Magnum after being told that the officers were aware that Fason witnessed the shooting. The defendant then gave a statement regarding his actions.

The defendant’s statement reflects that the defendant admitted shooting the victim on April 2, 1993, around 10:05 p.m. The defendant told the officers that he and Fason had visited her daughter, and that his gun went off as he raised it when arguing with Fason’s daughter. He said that he and Fason left and went to Chism Trails Store. While there, he saw the victim and paid him five dollars to take-them to South Memphis. The defendant rode in the front passenger seat and Fason sat in the backseat behind the victim. The defendant said that along the way the victim turned off the street and started to drive behind the Three Star Liquor Store. The statement shows that the defendant asked the victim why he was turning off. According to the defendant, the victim started reaching down toward the seat with his hand. The defendant told the officers that he then pulled his .357 Magnum out, pointed it towards the victim, and told him to give him his money back if he was not going to drive them to South Memphis. He said that he then shot the victim one time in the upper body when he started to reach underneath the seat. The statement reflects that the ear continued to accelerate, crashing into the back wall of the Three Star Liquor Store. The defendant and Fason exited the car and walked to South Memphis to their homes. The defendant denied that either he or Fason took anything from the victim. He also claimed that Ernest Sanders stole his gun the next day.

Sergeant Houston stated that he questioned Sanders about the gun and that Sanders denied having the gun. Houston said that he never found the defendant’s gun. He also testified that he did not find a weapon under the seat of the victim’s car.

Arthur Townes testified that he was shooting pool at Earl’s Barbecue located next door to. the liquor store on April 2, 1993, around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. He stated that while shooting pool he noticed several people leaving and going around the building. He said that he left and walked around the building and that he saw several people standing around a car. Townes recalled seeing flames coming from underneath the car. He testified that he believed that the car had been in gear and running for a long time because the exhaust system was red. Townes stated that he then walked up to the-car, opened the door, and saw the victim inside. Townes said that the car was filled with smoke. Believing the victim was drunk, Townes, with the help of his brother, pulled the victim from the car and then turned the engine off. Townes testified that he did not notice a weapon on the victim or in the ear. He also testified that he thought the vehicle would explode if the engine had not been turned off.

Jeffery Smith, an acquaintance of the victim’s family, testified that he was with his grandfather at the Three Star Liquor .Store on April 2, 1993, around 10:00 p.m. He stated that his grandfather told him that he heard a loud rumbling sound as he left the car. Smith said that he also heard the noise when he got out of the car and that it was coming from the back of the building. Smith testified that he saw a ear behind the building idling real loudly as he looked over a wooden fence. He and his grandfather then went around the building, and he saw fire shooting up from the bottom of the car. When Townes pulled the victim from the car, Smith walked over and removed the victim’s black leather coat. Smith said that he took the jacket to .the victim’s mother and told her that the victim had been shot. Smith and the victim’s mother then returned to the scene. Although Smith testified that he did *263 not see a gun on the victim or around the car, he acknowledged telling the officers that he noticed the jacket was heavy when he picked it up.

Annie Lee Fason testified that she had known the defendant, whom she also knew as Michael Dean, for approximately four or five years. She said that on April 2, 1993, the defendant asked her to come with him to visit his son, the grandson of Fason, at her niece’s house. While at her niece’s house, an argument ensued between the defendant and Fason’s daughter and niece because the defendant permitted the child to handle his gun. According to Fason, the defendant took the gun from the table and fired it. Fason said that she and the defendant then left and walked to Chism Trail to use a public telephone to call a cab. While the defendant was on the phone, the victim drove up. The defendant asked him for a ride home. Fason stated that the victim agreed but that he told them that he could not take them all the way home.

Fason testified that the defendant had the gun under his pants when he got into the victim’s car.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
973 S.W.2d 260, 1997 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 1164, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-addison-tenncrimapp-1997.