State v. Baxter

938 S.W.2d 697, 1996 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 454
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 26, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by34 cases

This text of 938 S.W.2d 697 (State v. Baxter) 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. Baxter, 938 S.W.2d 697, 1996 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 454 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

BARKER, Judge.

The appellant, James Cecil Baxter, was convicted of the second degree murder of Clyde R. Nichols. As a Range I standard offender, the appellant was sentenced to twenty-five years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, he raises six issues: (a) that the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict; (b) that the trial court erred in failing to grant a judgment of acquittal; (c) that the trial court erred in ruling that the State could impeach the appellant with a prior conviction for incest; (d) that the trial court erred in giving a “coercive” instruction to the jury during its deliberation; (e) that the trial court erred in allowing a State witness to testify that his autopsy report was separate from a toxicology report; and (f) that the trial court erred in imposing an excessive sentence.

We conclude that there is no reversible error in the record. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Just after twelve o’clock noon on December 28, 1994, Deputy Sheriff Jerry Vastbin-der responded to a call at the J.W. Cole residence in Obion County, Tennessee. When he arrived, paramedics were attending to the victim, Clyde R. Nichols, who was lying in a “pool of blood.” Vastbinder found “traces of blood” on a concrete patio approximately thirty yards from the victim. Vast-binder also found a four inch, lock blade knife on the opposite side of the house. The appellant, who was still at the scene, acknowledged that he used the knife to stab the victim. The appellant said that the victim “came at him with a ten inch sheetrock knife and that he [the appellant] pulled his knife and stabbed [the victim].” The appellant said that “at that point ... he didn’t remember anything..., [and] that he just lost his cool.” Vastbinder testified that he did not find a knife or weapon on or near the victim.1

The appellant was arrested and interviewed later in the day. He told officers that he and the victim had been partners in a contracting business for about ten years. They recently had been feuding. The appellant told officers that on the previous day, December 27, he swung a hammer at the victim during an argument. On December 28, the victim and Sammy Driver arrived at the Cole residence to retrieve the victim’s tools. An argument ensued between the appellant and the victim. The appellant reiterated that the victim threatened him with a ten inch sheetrock knife. The appellant stabbed the victim, washed the blood from the knife, and gave the knife to Johnny Whit-low, a co-worker.

Sammy Driver testified that he accompanied the victim, his brother-in-law, to the Cole residence to help the victim retrieve his tools from the appellant. When they arrived, the appellant and Johnny Whitlow were working inside the home. According to Driver, the appellant and the victim argued about the tools and engaged in “a bunch of shouting and cussing.” At one point, the victim and Driver gathered some tools and took them to Driver’s truck. Thereafter, the victim went back inside the house and argued with the appellant over a shop vacuum. The victim said: ‘Well[,] if you feel that way about it, just come on out here in the road and fight like a man.”

The appellant followed the victim out of the house, pulled a knife from his left pocket, and stabbed the victim in the stomach. Driver tried to grab the appellant’s arm, and he and Whitlow restrained the appellant long enough for the victim to break away. The victim ran about thirty yards before falling face forward. The appellant chased the victim, rolled him over, and “with both hands ... rammed the knife into [the victim’s] chest.” Driver testified that the victim never tried to hit the appellant. At one point, the victim had picked up a hammer inside the house but set it down. Driver had carried several tools to his truck, including a mud pan, a six inch taping knife, and a ten inch taping or sheetrock knife. He testified that [700]*700he did not see the victim in possession of a knife or any other weapon.

Dr. O’Brien Cleary Smith, Assistant Medical Examiner for Shelby County and Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for West Tennessee, performed an autopsy on the victim on December 29,1994. Smith determined that the victim died from “multiple stab wounds.” He testified:

The most significant stab wounds were in the left upper chest and the right upper quadrant of the abdomen.... The wounds to the ... left upper chest went through his left lung and into the heart. Although there was a single large defect in his skin, or wound in his skin, there were separate wound paths through the heart and three separate injuries to the lung in this upper chest wound.
The wound in his right upper quadrant of his abdomen went into the liver, and there were a total of two wounds there.

Smith also testified that the victim had incise wounds, cuts, and abrasions to his fingers, hands, and forearms; he called these injuries “defensive wounds.”

Smith testified that the victim’s blood and urine samples were sent to the University of Tennessee Toxicology Laboratory. An analysis revealed 1.6 micrograms per milliliters of methamphetamine in the victim’s blood. Smith testified that the quantity of methamphetamine, a controlled substance, was “above therapeutic level” but unrelated to the cause of death. Smith acknowledged that methamphetamine is a potential drug of abuse that can cause restlessness, confusion, anxiety, hostility, and similar side effects. However, Smith had concerns with the lab’s findings. First, the lab did not distinguish “D” methamphetamine, which is a tightly controlled, potent form of the drug, from “L” methamphetamine, which is commonly found in nasal spray. Second, the lab did not follow procedures to safeguard against false positive readings. As a result, Smith concluded that the effect of the methamphetamine on the victim’s behavior, if any, could not be determined.

Johnny Whitlow testified on behalf of the appellant. He was working inside the house with the appellant when the victim and Driver arrived. The victim called the appellant “vulgar names” and also said “I ought to show you what a damn hammer can do to a man.” The victim picked up a hammer but set it down. He and the appellant continued to “cuss at one another.” The victim told the appellant “to come out and fight” but the appellant refused. The victim took some tools to Driver’s truck and then returned to the house acting “like he was fixing to hit [the appellant].” Whitlow then heard Driver yell something about a knife. After the appellant stabbed the victim in the stomach, Whitlow tried to pull the appellant off the victim. The victim ran across the yard. The appellant broke loose, chased the victim, and “buried a knife into [the victim’s] chest....”

Whitlow testified that he never saw the victim strike the appellant, though he appeared poised to do so. Whitlow did not see a knife or a weapon in the victim’s possession. After the stabbing, the appellant said he “couldn’t believe what he did,” and he handed the knife to Whitlow. Whitlow conceded that he testified at the preliminary hearing he saw the victim throw a punch at the appellant. Whitlow also acknowledged that he had previously testified he “wasn’t capable of seeing” the incident and that the victim “could have had something in his left hand.” On redirect examination, Whitlow reiterated that he never saw the victim with a knife.

Dr. Kris Sperry, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner for Fulton County, Georgia, also testified on behalf of the appellant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
938 S.W.2d 697, 1996 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 454, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-baxter-tenncrimapp-1996.