State v. Bernard K. Johnson

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 27, 2000
DocketE2000-00009-CCA-R3-CD
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Bernard K. Johnson (State v. Bernard K. Johnson) 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. Bernard K. Johnson, (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE Assigned on Briefs September 27, 2000

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. BERNARD K. JOHNSON

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Knox County No. 65071 Ray L. Jenkins, Judge

No. E2000-00009-CCA-R3-CD January 31, 2001

The defendant appeals to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions of sexual battery and aggravated kidnapping and the propriety of the felony sentences imposed by the trial court. We affirm the convictions, but upon notice of plain error, we reverse a misdemeanor conviction of aggravated criminal trespass. Finding the misapplication of some enhancement factors, we modify some of the sentences.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed in Part and Modified in Part; Reversed and Vacated in Part.

JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOSEPH M. TIPTON and JERRY L. SMITH, JJ., joined.

Leslie M. Jeffress, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Bernard K. Johnson.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Clinton J. Morgan, Counsel for the State; Randall E. Nichols, District Attorney General; and Paula Ham, Assistant Attorney General, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

The defendant, Bernard K. Johnson, was convicted and sentenced in the Knox County Criminal Court as follows:

Conviction Offense Class Range Sentence

Sexual battery Class E felony II four years Aggravated kidnapping Class B felony I eleven years Aggravated assault Class C felony II nine years Aggravated criminal Class A N/A eleven months, trespass misdemeanor 29 days. See Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 39-13-505 (sexual battery), -304 (aggravated kidnapping), -102 (aggravated assault); § 39-14-406 (aggravated criminal trespass). The trial court imposed the three felony sentences to run consecutively to one another and the misdemeanor to run concurrently with the felonies, for an effective sentence of 24 years.1 On appeal, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence of aggravated kidnapping and sexual battery and the propriety of the felony sentences. After a review of the record, the parties’ briefs, and the applicable law, we affirm the felony convictions but modify the sexual battery and aggravated assault sentences. Upon notice of plain error, we reverse and vacate the misdemeanor conviction imposed in count (12) and enter a judgment of acquittal on count (12) of the indictment.

The victim, Mildred McMillan, testified at trial that she had been friends with the defendant since 1995 and had a “relationship” with him. She tried to end the relationship in 1996 but testified, “He wouldn’t leave me alone.” She obtained a protective order against the defendant, and in the spring of 1997 she obtained an assault warrant against him. By November 1997, she had moved her belongings into a house located at 1637 Boyd Street in Knoxville; however, she claimed that she had not set up the house as a residence and did not reside there because, if she stayed there, the defendant would “appear.” She opted instead to reside serially with different relatives.

On November 26, 1997, Thanksgiving Eve, she went to the home of Tammy Styles, the victim’s granddaughter’s mother. The defendant, who wanted to share a Thanksgiving meal with the victim, came to Styles’s house on Thanksgiving Day, but the victim refused to come out to talk to him. The victim participated in Thanksgiving festivities with the Styles family; however, the victim was alone in the Styles house on Thanksgiving evening when the family went to visit Tammy Styles’s father. The defendant then arrived at the Styles house and knocked on the door. The victim declined to open the door and called 911. Although the victim hung up when the 911 operator answered, the 911 operator returned the call. The victim testified that she was reluctant to speak freely to the operator because the defendant was watching her through a window and could overhear her phone conversation. She said she was afraid.

The defendant removed a piece of cardboard that framed a window air conditioner and pushed the air conditioner from the window onto the interior floor. When the defendant came through the window, the victim hit him on the head with a chair. The defendant then came into the house and hit her in the face with his hand. He picked up two knives, grabbed her by her hair, and

1 The defendant’s four convictions resulted from a jury trial on a twe lve-count ind ictment. Counts (1) through (5) alleged aggravated rape via bo dily injury to the victim and resulted in the sexual battery conviction on count (1) and acquittals on counts (2) through (5) . See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-505 (1997) (proscribing sexual battery). Count (6) alleged especially aggravated kidnapping, and coun ts (7) through (10) allege d aggrava ted kidnap ping. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-304(a)(1), (3), (4), (5) (1997) (proscribing the modes of committing aggravated kidnapping that were specified in indictment counts (7) through (10)). The jury convicted the defendant on count (8), aggravated kidnapping “with the intent to inflict serious bodily injury or to terrorize” the victim. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-304 (a)(3) (1997). The jury acquitted the defenda nt on coun ts (6), (7), (9), and (10). Count (11) charged the defendant with, and the jury convicted him of, aggravated assault committed in violation of a restraining order. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-102(c) (1997). Count (12) charged the defendant with aggravated burglary, and on this count the jury convicted him of aggravated criminal trespa ss. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-406 (1997) (aggravated criminal trespass).

-2- pulled her through the house while he looked to see if anyone else was present. He kicked or knocked down a bedroom door.

The defendant put down the knives but hit the victim again in the face. “I had a little cut up under one of my eyes,” she testified. “The scar is still there. And my nose was messed up.” She bled from the nose and the mouth. The victim testified that she “feared for [her] life.” The defendant said, “Let’s go.” The victim testified, “I said no, but he took me anyway.” He took her by the hair and pushed her out the door. He continued to hold her by her hair and hit her in the face with his hand.

The defendant took the barefoot victim, her purse, and her shoes to an empty house on Boyd Street adjacent to the victim’s house. He “put” her through a window and followed her inside. Going through the window, the victim scraped her stomach and knee and bruised her leg.

Inside the house, the defendant removed the victim’s pants and penetrated her vaginally with his penis. She testified that she did not consent to entering the house and did not consent to the sexual penetration. She testified, “He kept hitting me in my face and saying he was going to kill me and saying that he loved me and that he wanted to be in my life the rest of my life and wanted me to be in his life the rest of his.” The defendant penetrated her vaginally a second time and then “forcefully” made her fellate him, both acts being accomplished without her consent.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
State v. Langford
994 S.W.2d 126 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Vance
888 S.W.2d 776 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1994)
State v. Hayes
899 S.W.2d 175 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1995)
State v. Tuggle
639 S.W.2d 913 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1982)
Liakas v. State
286 S.W.2d 856 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1956)
State v. Ashby
823 S.W.2d 166 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1991)
State v. Oody
823 S.W.2d 554 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1991)
State v. Brown
551 S.W.2d 329 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Burns
6 S.W.3d 453 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1999)
State v. Matthews
805 S.W.2d 776 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1990)
State v. Fletcher
805 S.W.2d 785 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1991)
State v. Cabbage
571 S.W.2d 832 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1978)
State v. Grace
493 S.W.2d 474 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1973)
State v. Kissinger
922 S.W.2d 482 (Tennessee Supreme Court, 1996)
State v. Boyce
920 S.W.2d 224 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1995)
State v. Brewer
945 S.W.2d 803 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1997)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
State v. Bernard K. Johnson, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bernard-k-johnson-tenncrimapp-2000.