State v. Bryant

775 S.W.2d 1, 1988 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 809
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedDecember 30, 1988
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 775 S.W.2d 1 (State v. Bryant) 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. Bryant, 775 S.W.2d 1, 1988 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 809 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

WADE, Judge.

The defendant appeals as of right her convictions of forgery of a certificate of title and grand larceny. She received concurrent sentences of one and three years respectively as a Range I standard offender with a 30% release eligibility date.

The defendant presents the following issues on appeal:

1. Whether the trial court erred in overruling the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal.

2. Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the jury verdict finding the de[2]*2fendant guilty of forgery and grand larceny-

3. Whether the trial court erred in ordering that the stolen vehicle be returned to Dana Gregory.

4. Whether the trial court erred in its denial of the defendant’s request for probation and a suspended sentence.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed as to the conviction; reversed as to the order transferring possession of the property; and remanded as to sentencing.

Dana Gregory, a victim of the offenses, testified that the defendant contacted him in early April of 1986 about the purchase of a 1979 CJ-7 Jeep. On April 7 of that year, Gregory related that he gave an envelope to the defendant containing 35 one hundred dollar bills in exchange for a certificate of title signed by the defendant as “Cupid D. Bryant.”1 Louise Gilliam, a notary public, acknowledged the signature. The stated consideration on the certificate of title was $100.00.

Gregory maintained possession of the jeep until June 15, 1986, . when he discovered it missing from the driveway of his house. He immediately reported the jeep as stolen and offered a $500.00 reward for information leading to its recovery.

Several months later, Gregory received a telephone call providing information about the jeep’s location. Afterwards, he went to the defendant’s residence and saw the vehicle parked in her yard. On January 23, 1987, Gregory contacted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, provided them with the certificate of title signed by the defendant, and asked for assistance in the return of the vehicle.

The notary public, an employee of Ally Motor Company in Churchill, Tennessee, identified her signature and notary seal on the car title issued to “Cupid D. Bryant.” Although she was unable to identify the defendant, she recalled that a female accompanied Gregory to her place of business on April 7, 1986, and signed the title in her presence.

Avis Gregory, mother of the victim, testified that she borrowed $2,000.00 in April of 1986 for the purpose of purchasing the jeep. She saw the defendant deliver the vehicle to her son in exchange for the total amount of $3,500.00 she had provided to her son. She testified that she observed her son leave with the defendant. Upon his return, Dana Gregory gave the certificate of title to his mother.

A special agent with the FBI, qualified as an expert in handwriting comparison analysis, testified that the handwriting exemplars provided to authorities by the defendant were identical to the signature on the certificate of title.

The defendant was questioned by TBI Agent Robert Denny at the residence of her mother. Although Agent Denny recalled that the defendant and her mother, in their initial interview, told him that the certificate of title was kept in a safe located in the residence, they learned, after a search, that it was missing and suggested that someone must have broken into the safe and stolen it. During this portion of the investigation, the defendant inexplicably went outside and removed the tags from the jeep.

The defendant testified that she had left the jeep with Dana Gregory who had agreed to paint the vehicle and make other repairs for $200. She denied executing the certificate of title either in her name or that of her mother, Cupid D. Bryant. While the defendant admitted that she did go to the Gregory residence in the company of Lisa Cradic at about 11:00 P.M. on June 15, 1986, she did so only to reacquire possession of the jeep that Gregory had failed to paint or repair.

She admitted in a pre-trial statement that before taking the vehicle, she had heard that the victim intended to keep her jeep and related that the jeep remained at her mother’s residence until the time of trial. The defendant testified that she slept late on April 7, 1986, had a doctor’s appointment at 11:15 A.M., returned to her residence by noon to get ready for work, and from 2:00 P.M. until 9:45 P.M. assumed her [3]*3responsibilities as assistant manager of the County Mill Kingsport Mall. The defendant referred to the vehicle throughout the trial as “my jeep” although its title was in the name of her mother. She had no idea how Gregory acquired the document of ownership.

Cupid D. Bryant, mother of the defendant, testified that she had never signed the car title or authorized anyone else to execute it on her behalf. In fact, she could not recall whether she ever received it. She testified that the loan had been paid in full at the United American Bank and, perhaps because of the confusion surrounding its collapse, the bank most likely never provided her with the title. Mrs. Bryant confirmed that her daughter had permission to drive the jeep whenever she wanted to.

Although Gregory admitted to having known the defendant for sometime prior to the transaction, he denied that he had ever agreed to paint the jeep for her and related that the jeep had a value of $4,500.00 on the date it was stolen. The victim produced a receipt dated May 15, 1986, indicating an expenditure of $840.46 for repairs to the jeep. The victim admitted that he had not recorded the title or obtained a new title to the jeep in his own name. Gregory said that he had never known the defendant to go by the name, Cupid D. Bryant, at anytime prior to the transaction but denied knowing her first or middle name.

Upon the return of the jury verdict, the trial court, although it never asked the jury to determine the amount of the victim’s loss, ordered the jeep to be returned to the possession of Dana Gregory.

I

The trial court overruled the defendant’s motion for a judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the state’s evidence. The defendant submits that if there is a victim to the forgery, that it is Cupid D. Bryant rather than Dana Gregory and that that argument is supported by the fact that the court felt it necessary to award the vehicle to Gregory at the conclusion of the trial.

As to the offense of grand larceny, the defendant contends that in order for her to have been found guilty, it must have been established beyond a reasonable doubt that the vehicle did in fact belong to Gregory; that is, an essential element of the crime is that the defendant must intend to permanently deprive the true owner thereof. Because the victim Gregory knew the defendant was not “Cupid D. Bryant,” he could not be a bonafide purchaser for value.

In this instance, of course, the defendant elected to present evidence on her own behalf. Any error resulting from a failure to sustain the defendant’s motion for judgment of acquittal is waived when the defendant elects to submit further testimony. Mathis v. State, 590 S.W.2d 449, 453 (Tenn.1979).

This issue has no merit.

II

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
775 S.W.2d 1, 1988 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 809, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-bryant-tenncrimapp-1988.