State v. Clinton

754 S.W.2d 100, 1988 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 327
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 24, 1988
StatusPublished
Cited by30 cases

This text of 754 S.W.2d 100 (State v. Clinton) 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. Clinton, 754 S.W.2d 100, 1988 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 327 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

WADE, Judge.

The defendant, James Clinton, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to take a human life under T.C.A. § 39-1-604 and sentenced to five years imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently. On this appeal, the defendant has in effect alleged four separate errors:

(1) the evidence is insufficient to support convictions of two counts of conspiracy;

(2) the plea of his co-conspirator barred the prosecution for the conspiracy crimes he was charged with;

(3) testimony by a state’s witness was improperly admitted; and

(4) jury misconduct.

The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

The indictment alleges a conspiracy between the defendant and Richard Gurley to kill their ex-wives, Connie Clinton and Dianna Gurley.

The police began its investigation when Larry O’Rear, a TBI agent, was approached by Pat Zuller, a friend of Richard Gurley. As a result of their conversation, TBI Agent Morris, posing as a hit man, made contact with Gurley.

In the first of two calls, Gurley informed Morris that the defendant also wanted his wife killed.1 Morris told Gurley that he would need photographs and license plate numbers of the two women. They agreed to meet at the Silverpoint exit on 1-40 where Gurley would pay Morris $1,500, half the amount for the two killings.

Morris recorded the May 10, 1985, meeting. Gurley provided him with $1,500 in cash and the requested photographs.

Richard Gurley entered into a plea bargain and testified for the state.2 He said that Clinton lived in the same subdivision and worked at the same company as Gur-ley. After learning that Zuller knew someone who could “take care” of his wife, Gurley spoke with the defendant. Clinton told Gurley that he, too, wanted his wife killed but did not want his name mentioned.

In exchange for Gurley’s agreement to take the blame if he got caught, the defendant agreed that he would provide pills to him in jail to commit suicide. Additionally, he agreed to help Gurley out financially. The defendant provided $750 to Gurley along with the requested photographs just prior to the arrest.

Timothy Waldrep, a friend of Gurley, had previously been asked by the defendant if he knew anyone who could perform a “service” for him. Waldrep, who knew defendant was going through a divorce and that his wife was seeing another man, did not take the defendant seriously. Later, he informed the defendant that he could not find anyone. Clinton replied that Gurley had already found someone. Waldrep was also present when Clinton gave Gurley the money and photographs and agreed to help him if he were caught.

Neither Waldrep nor Gurley informed anyone of Clinton’s participation until approximately one year after the incident. Waldrep said he came forward at Gurley’s request because the defendant had not kept his bargain to help Gurley after his arrest.

Connie Clinton testified on behalf of the defendant. She said they were amicably divorced in 1985. Each was satisfied with the custody arrangement and property division. She stated they lived without incident in the same house during alleged conspiracy.

[102]*102Both the defendant and his ex-wife testified that their marital problems came about as a result of working different shifts on the same job. The defendant was aware of his ex-wife’s relationship with another man.

The defendant testified that he had provided photographs of his ex-wife to Gurley on the day of the latter’s arrest. According to the defendant, Gurley had borrowed the the photographs and promised to repay the $750. The defendant denied the allegations of Gurley and Waldrep and stated that he did not want his wife hurt.

Three character witnesses also testified on behalf of the defendant by attesting to his reputation for truthfulness.

I

The defendant first contends that the evidence is insufficient to support the conviction of the defendant upon two separate counts of conspiracy.3

The charge of conspiracy to take the lives of Connie Clinton and Dianna Gurley is based upon T.C.A. § 39-1-604:

Conspiracy to take life or commit felony on a person — Conspiracy to prosecute innocent person. — (a) If the conspiracy be:
(1) to take a human life; or
(2) to commit a felony on the person of another, the persons so conspiring ... shall be imprisoned in the state penitentiary for not less than five (5) nor more than fifteen (15) years.

The purpose of this statute is to criminalize the act of conspiring to take a human life or to commit what would otherwise be a felony. Consequently, because the defendant could be charged with each separate felony he commits, he may also be charged with each offense he conspires to commit or each human life he conspires to take. The statutory definition of conspiracy supports this interpretation:

“Conspiracy” defined. — The crime of conspiracy may be committed by any two (2) or more persons conspiring:
(1) To commit any indictable offense. (emphasis added.)

T.C.A. § 39-1-601.

There is evidence that Gurley and defendant worked together to find a hired killer for two separate and distinct acts; first, to have Dianna Gurley killed, and secondly, to have Connie Clinton killed. The defendant’s degree of participation in the plan provided sufficient evidence by which a rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, of conspiring to kill both women. Rule 13(e), T.R.A.P. Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

This issue is without merit.

II

The defendant also contends that he could not be convicted of T.C.A. § 39-1-604 because his co-conspirator pleaded guilty to a lesser included offense. He argues that the Gurley plea constituted an acquittal of T.C.A. § 39-1-604 thereby barring the defendant’s conviction under the rationale of Delaney v. State, 164 Tenn. 432, 51 S.W.2d 485 (1932):

It seems to have been an unbroken rule at common law, ... that, when only two are charged with a conspiracy, and one of them is acquitted, the conviction of the other is void. We have found no dissent from this proposition.

Id. at 487.

The record, however, does not reveal any adjudication of Gurley’s case, or whether or not he, in fact, entered a plea of guilt to § 39-1-606. Without this evidence in the record, this court cannot properly consider the matter.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
754 S.W.2d 100, 1988 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 327, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-clinton-tenncrimapp-1988.