IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVILLE FILED FEBRUARY 1998 SESSION November 3, 1998
Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate C ourt Clerk
STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) C.C.A. NO. 03C01-9708-CR-00353 ) Appellee, ) McMINN COUNTY ) V. ) ) HONORABLE R. STEVEN BEBB, ELISA COCHRAN, ) JUDGE ) Appe llant. ) (FELONY MURDER)
FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:
KENNETH F. IRVINE, JR. JOHN KNOX WALKUP Eldridge, Irvine & Hendricks Attorney General & Reporter 606 W. Main St., Suite 350 P. O. Box 84 ELIZABETH B. MARNEY Knoxville, TN 37901-0084 Assistant Attorney General (App eal) 425 Fifth Avenu e North Second Floor, Cordell Hull Building THOMAS E. KIMBALL Nashville, TN 37243-0493 Assistant Public Defender 110 ½ Washington Avenue, N.E. JERRY N. ESTES Athens, TN 37303 District Attorney General (Trial) SANDRA DONAGHY Assistant District Attorney 10th Judicial District Washington Avenue Athens, TN 37303
OPINION FILED ________________________
AFFIRMED
THOMAS T. WOODALL, JUDGE OPINION The defendant, Elisa Cochran, was convicted of felony murder and received
a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. This is an appeal as of right of that
conviction.
The defend ant pres ents three issues for review: (1) whether the evidence was
insufficient to convict her of first degree-felony murder; (2) whether she was denied
a fair trial by the introduction of her husband’s testimony, and his prior statements,
and by the circumstances surrounding his interrogation; and (3) whether the trial
court erred in failing to require the state to elect between first degree felony murder
and pre medita ted first deg ree mu rder at the close of its p roof.
The jud gmen t is affirmed .
The relevant facts are as follows: On April 26, 1995, a body was discovered
in a remote area of McMinn County. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation
assisted the McMinn Coun ty Sheriff’s Department in the investigation. Special Agent
T. J. Jordan o f the T.B.I., was the prim ary investigating officer.
Special Agent Jord an testified that the bod y was found on an old ro ad bed
some two hundred and ninety feet from county road 429. The old road bed was
acce ssible only by foot. The body was laying in a face down position and was fully
clothed. It was in an extreme state of decomposition and was totally unrecognizable.
The victim had been killed by a single gunshot wound to his head. The bullet had
entered the victim near the his left eye and exited from the back of his head. The
2 evidence sugge sted that the victim had bee n shot whe re he was fou nd. One live
round of ammo was found at the scene.
From dental records and finger prints, it was determined that the victim was
Benja min Smith. Mr. Smith graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1995 and
worked at Martin Marietta in Portsmouth, Ohio. His parents lived in Knoxville, and
he was visiting them on Easter weekend, 1995. Easter Day was April 16. When the
victim did not return, his parents reported him missing.
After learning the iden tity of the victim, the investigators deve loped several
leads. From the victim’s bank records , they kn ew tha t he we nt to an ATM in
Knox ville at 2:45 a.m., on April 16, 1995, and withdrew $200.00. From the video at
the ATM machine, they knew that someone was in the driver’s seat of his truck at
that time. They learned from his credit card records that he had made a purchase
that evening at Hooter’s Restaurant in Knoxville. Perhaps more importantly, the
investigation revealed that the victim frequented strip clubs in the Knoxville area.
Several clubs were contacted, and the investigators learned that the victim had been
at the Mouse’s Ear West on Kingsto n Pike in Knoxville on Easter weekend. The
investigators then inquired as to whether any of the dancers at the Mouse’s Ear lived
in McMinn County. They found that the defendant, Elisa Cochran, a dancer, lived
there.
The manager and three dancers from the Mouse’s Ear testified. The manager
testified that the defendant worked on the night of April 15th from 5:50 p.m. to 12:56
a.m.. The three dancers knew the victim, and they all saw him at the Mouse’s Ear
on April 15th. Two of the dancers saw the defendant talking with the victim.
3 A waitress from Hooter’s Restaurant testified that she sold the victim a carry-
out order of crab legs on April 15th. Tw o of the dance rs observed the defendant
eating se afood th at night.
One of the dancers testified that she had known the victim for about two yea rs
and that she and another dancer had gone shopping with the victim in downtown
Knoxville. Anothe r dance r said that on Apr il 15th, the victim asked her to go
shopp ing with him .
Agent Jordan interviewed the defendant. She admitted that she had worked
at the Mouse’s Ear We st on A pril 15, 1 995. S he cla imed she le ft at 2:00 a.m. and
drove her boyfriend’s truck to his hou se whe re she sp ent the nig ht. Her b oyfrien d’s
name was Burch Russe ll. She also told the investigator that her ex-husband, Brian
Cochran, had be en to the Mou se’s Ea r about th ree wee ks prior to A pril 15th and had
become jealous over a customer watching her dance. She said that her ex-husband
owned a nine millimeter handgun. She told the investigator that she did not know
anything abo ut the murde r.
Mr. Jordan interviewed Brian Cochran on Ma y 12, 1995. He and the
defendant had divorced four days earlier. He was also given a polygraph
examination.
The polygraph examiner testified without objection that Cochran practiced
decep tion or was untruthful in his responses to three relevant questions. Those
4 questions were (1) were you present when the man was shot; (2) did you shoot that
man; and (3) do you know for s ure who sh ot that man. T he trial judge gave the jury
the following instructions after the polygraph examiner testified:
I think that I should instruct the jury at this time that the polygraph has not been recognized in Tennessee courts as reliable enough to be admitted into evidence as probative of a witness’ truthfulness or untruthfulness. The polyg raph is used by law enforcement as an investigative tool. This evidence is not admitted and should not reflect on the credibility of any witness.
After Cochran was told that he failed the test, he told Special Agent Jordan
and the polygraph examiner that his w ife, Elisa , had to ld him abou t killing this
individu al. He also told them that his wife had described how she shot the individual
and where she got the gun. No objection was made by the defense to that testimony
nor to similar testimony from Special Agent Jordan.
With the information he received from Brian Cochran as to the location of the
gun, Special Agent Jordan went to the residence of Eby Garwood. Mr. Garwood
produced a nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun which was manufactured by
Glock. Agent Jordan unloaded the weapon and found a round o f amm o similar to
the round found at the murder scene.
The defendant was brought to the McMinn County Justice Center at 3:30 a.m .,
on Ma y 12, 199 5. She g ave the fo llowing sta temen t:
On Saturday the 15th of April, 1995, I met th e guy in the Mo use’s Ear while I was working. I don’t remember his name. He told me he had taken som e of the girls shopp ing and stuff. He left after I talked to him. We didn’t set up anything for when I got off. I think I got off e arly that night. It was a slow night. When I walked outside I went to my truck and he was hiding in my truck and he had a gun. He made me drive to his truck. We got in his truck and we drove around for awhile. I was driving his truck. He talked to m e abou t having se x with him. He
5 wanted to go to a teller machine. I don’t know why he got the m oney. I don’t remember which one we went to. I drove up to it and he got out to get the money. He still had the gun on him. I think. I don’t know why I didn’t drive off. I was scared. We went back to my truck and we got in my truck and drove. He told me to drive to my house. He had asked me if I had a boyfriend and I told h im no. I told h im I lived alon e. W e headed straight to McMinn County. I didn’t talk much, but he did. He told me I looked good and he touched me and stuff. He rubbed my legs, betwee n my leg s, and m y breasts . I let him , because I was scared. He played with himself too.
Once we got into Mc Minn Cou nty I told him I had a live-in boyfriend and he got mad. He told me to pull over. I pulled over off the side of the road. He told me to get out of the truck. I just started walking towards the woods up a hill. We had to go under a wire and then there wa s a rock. He had the gun and he was mad at me. I knew he was going to kill me. We just walked up the hill and I was in front of him. I heard something behind me and turned around. He stumbled or something. He was looking around and I picked the gun up off the ground. I don’t know if he came toward me. I told him to leave me alone, and I just sh ot him. I sh ot him in th e head . The gun got hung up after I shot him. I only shot him once. After he wa s sho t, he fell o n his face. I left and went to my mother’s house in Englewood. I got my brothe r’s car and went back. It was daylight then. I was by m yself. When I got back to him, I took his wallet and check book. The money he had gotten was in my truck. I took the stuff, because I didn’t know what to do. I th rew the wallet and check book out the window of my truck after I picked it up from my mom’s. I drove around on back roads for awhile. I don’t re mem ber wh ere I thr ew his stuff ou t. His keys were in my truck and they have a knife on them. I don’t know where his truck is at. The k eys are o n top of a lo cker at the Mouse ’s Ear. I haven ’t seen the truck since that night. After I drove around I went to Burch’s. I don’t rememb er how much money it was. I gave it to Burch. He does n’t know w here I go t it. I told Burch a bout it last nig ht after De puty Joey Guy ca me to see him . I told him I had to do it, bu t didn’t g ive him any details.
I had taken the gun from Burch’s. I got it, because someone tried to get in my truck after w ork one night. I was leaving work and someone flashed their lights at m e and I pu lled over. They c ame u p to me, forced a kiss o n me , and trie d to ge t me to go with them . That ’s why I had the gun.
The guy I sh ot was wearin g a su it and had a hat on. He wore glasses. He had boots on. He said he was from Ohio.
I didn’t report it because of my job. I knew peop le wou ldn’t unde rstand . I knew I would have to go to ja il.
The d efenda nt was a rrested a fter giving this s tateme nt.
6 There was evid ence w hich corro borated part of the d efenda nt’s statem ent.
The keys to the victim ’s truck were found on top of the locker at the Mouse’s Ear
where the defen dant sa id they wo uld be. Eby Garwood and Burch Russell testified
that Garwood took the Glock handgun to Russell’s house and that it rema ined there
for about a week. Garwood also testified that when he left the gun, there we re fifteen
rounds with aluminum ca sings in the clip. W hen he retrieved the gun, there w ere
two to four brass casings in the clip in addition to the aluminum casings . This
corroborated the defendant’s testimony that she took th e gun from R usse ll’s house.
There was evidence which refuted part of the defendant’s statemen t.
Employees of the Mouse’s Ear testified that the club’s policy was for a ma le
employee to esco rt the da ncers to their ve hicles after wo rk. Th is cast some doubt
upon the defendant’s testimony that the victim was waiting for her in her truck.
Burch Russell testified that he was not the defendant’s boyfriend. Rather, he
allowed her to live at his house because she was pregnant and because she had
told him that the child may be his child. He also refuted her testimony that she gave
the $20 0.00 take n from th e victim to h im.
Brian Cochran, the defendant’s ex-husband, was called as a witness by the
State. Cochran testified the defendant told him she had a set of keys from a truck
and that she needed to talk to him. She told him someone had been shot. Upon
objection by the defendant, the trial court disallowed Brian Cochran’s testimony and
instructed the jury not to conside r it.
The defense offered no evidence.
7 The indictment was a three count indictment. In the first count, the defendant
was indicted for premeditated first degree murder. The jury found her guilty of
second degree murder. In the second count, the defendant was indicted for felony
murder while in the perpetration of especially aggravated robbery. She was found
guilty as charged. In the third count, the de fenda nt was indicte d for es pecia lly
aggravated robbery. The trial court had instructed the jury that if it found the
defendant guilty of Count Two or of a lesser included offense, then it should not
return a verdict upon Count Three. However, the jury apparently misunderstood the
trial court’s instructions and found the defendant guilty of the lesser included offense
of theft unde r five hund red dollars ($500.0 0), a misdemeanor. The trial court merged
the second degree murder conviction into the felony murder conviction and
dismissed the theft conviction.
The first issue presented for review is w hether th e eviden ce was sufficient to
convict the defen dant of first degree felon y murder.
In determining the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, this Court does not
reweigh or re-evaluate the evidence. State v. Matthews, 805 S.W.2d 776, 779
(Tenn. Crim. A pp. 199 0), State v. Butler, 900 S.W.2d 305, 309 (Tenn. Crim. App.
1994). Questions concerning the credibility of the witnesses, the weight and value
to be given the evidence, as well as all the factual issues raised b y the evidence a re
resolved by the trier of fact, n ot this Co urt. State v. Cabbage, 571 S.W.2d 832, 835
(Tenn. 1978). A guilty verdict, approved by the trial judge, credits the testimony of
the State’s witnesses and resolves all conflicts of testimony in favor of the theory of
the State. State v. H atchett, 560 S.W .2d 627 , 630. (Tenn. 1978). Since a verdict
of guilty removes the presumption of innocence and replaces it with a presumption
8 of guilty, the accused has the burden in this Court of illustrating why the eviden ce is
insufficient to support the verdict returned by the jury. State v. Tug gle, 639 S.W.2d
913, 914 (Ten n. 1982). Th is Court will not disturb a ve rdict of guilty due to the
sufficiency of the e videnc e unle ss the facts co ntaine d in the record and any
inferences which m ay be dra wn from the facts a re insufficien t, as a matter of law, for
a rational trier of fact to find the accused g uilty beyon d a reas onable doubt. Id.
Because the sufficiency of the evidence is the key inquiry in this case, the guiding
princip le is whether, after viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the State,
any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond
a reason able do ubt. Jack son v. V irginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789,
99 L.Ed . 2d 278 1 (1979 ); State v. Duncan, 698 S.W .2d 63, 67 (T enn.1985 ).
The State established that Benjam in Smith had be en sho t to death in a remo te
area in McMinn County. The State placed the defendant with the victim on the
evening of his death. The State located the murder weapon and placed it in the
hands of the defendant during the time period the victim was killed. Most
significantly, the State obtained a confession from the defendant in which she
admitted that she shot and killed the victim. Finally, the State proved that the
defendant did not report the death of the victim and attempted to avoid prosecution.
In order to obtain a conviction for felony murder in this case, the State was
required to prove (1) a reckless killing of another, (2) committed in the perpetration
of a robbe ry. T.C.A . §39-13 -202 (a)(2 ). In order to obtain a conviction for espe cially
aggravated robbery, the State had to prove (1) the intentional or knowing theft of
property from the person of another by viole nce or putting the person in fear, (2)
9 accomplished with a deadly weapon, and (3) when the victim suffers serious bodily
injury. T.C.A. §39-1 3-401 (199 1), §39-13-40 3 (a).
It is a long-standing tene t of Tennessee law that to sustain a conviction for
felony murder, the killing must have been done in pursuance of the felony and must
not merely be collateral to the unlawful act. State v. Severs, 759 S.W.2d 935, 938
(Tenn. Crim. A pp. 19 88). In o ther wo rds, for a murd er to be done in “perp etratio n
of” the felony, “the killing mus t have had an intimate relation and close connection
with the felony a nd not b e sepa rate, distinct, and indepen dent from it.” Farmer v.
State, 201 Ten n. 107, 296 S .W.2d 879, 883 (1 956) (citing Wharton on Homicide,
§126).
The State contends the defendant robbed the victim of $200.00 which the
victim took from the ATM machine. Evidence that a person took the property of
anoth er after killing him and a pprop riated it to his ow n use is sufficie nt to su stain a
conviction of murd er in an atte mpt to com mit a robbery, though no previous purpose
to rob ap pears , since his act raises a strong presumption that he intended to do what
he afterw ards vo luntarily did. Mellend ore v. State , 191 S.W.2d 149, 142 (Tenn.
1945) (quoting Wharton on Homicide, 3d.Ed. 188). The evidence relied upon by the
State to establish the underlying felony is the admission of the defendant that she
took this mon ey. How ever, the d efenda nt’s statem ent was that the money w as in
her truck and not on the person of the victim when he was killed.
The defendant relies upon the unre ported c ase of State v. Dunn, (No. 03S01-
9211-CR-00104, S.Ct. 1993). In that case, the Supreme Court found that the
10 evidence was in adeq uate to supp ort the c onviction of the defendant for felony
murder.
In Dunn, the evidence established that the ba dly decomposed body of 16 year
old Kathy Able was found in a creek bed in Washington County. She had
last been seen alive on March 18, 1989, which was almost two months before her
body was discovered. The record also established that on the day beforehand, the
victim was seen kissing the defendant. For the remainder of the eve ning an d into
the next morning, the victim, the defendant, and Mary Icenhour drove around
drinking beer an d ingestin g presc ription drug s. Icenho ur was e ventually d ropped off
at her home, and the victim remained with the defendant. When the victim was
found, she was n aked below the waist. Bruises w ere found aro und the ne ck. There
were no signs of trauma to the genital region of the body nor was it possible to test
for the presence of sperm. Based upon that evidence and other circumstantial
evidence, the jury convicted the defendant of felony murder after concluding that the
murde r occurre d during the com mission or attem pt to com mit a rap e.
The Supreme Court concluded that the evidence was insufficient to support
the conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder occurred during the
commission of or in an a ttempt to commit a rape. Although there was circumstantial
evidence of sexua l activity, this evidence was not sufficient to establish that the
defendant raped or attempted to rape the victim. The Court then held that
circumstantial evidence was sufficient to establish beyond a reaso nable doubt that
the defendant killed Kathy Able. The Court reversed the conviction for felony murder
and modified the judgment to reflect a conviction of second degree murder relying
11 upon the rule of law that a homicide, once established, is presumed to be murd er in
the second degree.
Howeve r, absent the portion s of De fenda nt’s statement to police which allude
to a kidnapping by the victim and a shooting in self-defense, a review of the evidence
in this case, and all inferences which may be drawn therefrom, reveals the following.
The victim was in the co mpany o f the Defenda nt after she got off wo rk
from the Mouse ’s Ear W est in the early mo rning hours o f April 16, 1995. At
appro ximate ly 2:44 a.m . on April 16, the victim withdrew $200.00 from an ATM
machine, and a person (the strong inference being the Defendant) was driving the
victim’s vehicle at the time the mon ey was withdra wn. T he De fenda nt sho t the victim
once in the head with a nine millimeter pistol which had been in her possession prior
to the homicide. The victim was shot at a remote location approximately 100 yards
from a county highway in McMinn County. The Defendant resided in McM inn Cou nty
and the victim had no ties to McMinn County. All of the cash which had been
recen tly withdrawn by the victim from the ATM was missing. The pants pockets of
the victim were turned out as if som eone h ad reac hed in to e mpty the conten ts. A
few coins were found near the victim’s body. His wallet and checkbook were also
missing. The victim’s pickup tru ck wa s later fo und a t a mo tel park ing lot a fter his
body had been discov ered. T he ke ys to the vehicle were located on top of a locker
at the Mouse’s Ear West where the Defendant stated she had placed them. When
initially interviewed by a T.B.I. agent, the Defendant denied having any knowledge
of the victim ’s death.
12 The controlling principle of law on this issue is succinctly stated by the
majority of a panel of our court in State v. Jame s Clayton You ng, Jr., C.C.A. No.
01C01-9605-CC-00208, Rutherford County (Tenn. Crim. App., Nashville, May 22,
1998). It rea ds as follow s:
In our view, a jury is entitled to accept tha t portion of the d efend ant’s pre-trial statement or testimony that it deemed credible and reject that which it deeme d to be fals e. State v. Gilbert, 612 S.W .2d 188, 190 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1980)(citing Batey v. S tate, 527 S.W.2d 148 (Tenn. Crim. App. 19 75)). ‘In confessions or statements of the kind volunta rily made by the accuse d the jury must take the whole of this statement or confession and weigh it as they weigh the other evidence, rejecting some part if they desire to do so and giving credit to other parts of the statement if they have a sufficient reas on to do so u nder all the evidence as it is intro duce d.’ Espitia v. State, 288 S.W.2d 731, 733 (Tenn. 1956). This quote from the Espitia opinio n is consistent with the general rule:
It is for the jury to s ay what w eight s hall be given to the several parts of the statemen t, for they may well believe that part which charges the prisoner, and reject that which tends to exculpate him.
20 Am . Jur., Evidence, § 488 (1 939 & S upp. 19 66); see 29A Am. Jur. 2d, Evidence, § 1431 (199 4).
Young, C.C.A. No. 01C01-9605-CC-00208, slip op. at 17.
In light of the majority opinion in Clayton, the evid ence was s uficien t to sus tain
the conviction of felony m urder.
This issu e is withou t merit.
The second issue presented for review is that the defendant was d enied a fair
trial by the introduction of her husband’s testimony and his prior statements and by
the circumstances surrounding his interrogation.
13 Statements attributed to Brian Cochran or made by him came into evidence
three times . Spec ial Age nt T. J. J ordan testified that he took a statement from
Cochran in which Cochran implicated the defendant. Although the defendant did not
object to that testimony, the trial court instructed the jury that that statement was not
to be con sidered as eviden ce of guilt.
Polygraph exam iner M alcom b Elrod testified that Cochran failed the polygraph
examination. Cochran then stated that his wife told him about killing this ind ividual.
She also told him that she had described how she had shot him and where she had
obtained the g un. The de fendant did no t object to this testimony.
Finally, Brian Cochran testified that his ex-wife, the defendant, told him she
had a set of keys from a truck and that she needed to talk to him. She also to ld him
someone had been shot. The defendant objected to Cochran’s testimony, and he
was not allowe d to testify further. The trial court instructed the jury to disregard the
testimony.
The testimony of Special Agent Jordan and polygraph examiner, Elrod, was
clearly inadmissible. However, error may not be predicated upon a ruling admitting
evidence unless a substan tial right of a party wa s affec ted an d unle ss a tim ely
objection was made. Rule 103(a), Tenn. R. Evid. No objection was made by the
defendant to this testimony. Furthermore, the evidence was cumulative and even
had it been admitted over the objection of the defen dant, th en the error w ould have
been harmless.
14 The testimony of Brian Cochran at the trial was not incriminating to the
defend ant, and, therefore, it did not affect a substantial right of the defendant.
Furthermore, the trial court instructed the jury to disregard the evidence.
The final issue presented for review is whether the trial court erred in failing
to require the State to elect between first degree felony murder and premeditated
first degree murde r at the clos e of its proo f.
The defendant argues that because only one person had been killed, the Sta te
was required to elect whether it was seeking a conviction for first degree felony
murder or for first degree premeditated murder. Although the defendant may
demand that the State elect between factual occurre nces in a n indictm ent, the S tate
is not requ ired to elec t betwee n sepa rate cha rges in the same indictme nt. State v.
Henley, 774 S.W .2d 908, 916 (Tenn. 198 9).
For the reasons hereinabove set forth, the judgment of the trial cou rt is
affirmed.
___________________________________ THOMAS T. W OODALL, Judge
CONCUR:
15 ____________________________________ JERRY L. SMITH, Judge
____________________________________ WILLIAM B. ACREE, JR., Special Judge