State v. Culp

891 S.W.2d 232, 1994 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 391
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJune 29, 1994
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 891 S.W.2d 232 (State v. Culp) 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. Culp, 891 S.W.2d 232, 1994 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 391 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

[234]*234OPINION

SUMMERS, Judge.

This record presents an appeal by Kenneth Culp from a judgment entered by the Laud-erdale County Circuit Court approving a jury verdict finding him guilty of felony escape pursuant to T.C.A. § 39-16-605. Appellant presents two issues for our review:

I. Whether the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion for judgment of acquittal because the state allegedly failed to prove that he departed from “custody” as defined by T.C.A. § 39-16-601.
II. Whether the trial court erred in denying appellant’s post-trial motion for judgment of acquittal because he was apparently on bond at the time of his alleged escape.

We affirm the judgment of the court below.

FACTS

Appellant was indicted in October 1992 pursuant to the felony escape statute, T.C.A. § 39 — 16—605(b)(2). The indictment specifically charged that appellant had escaped while in custody at the Lauderdale County Jail for the felony charge of sale of cocaine.

Appellant’s trial was held on May 20, 1993. The state proved that John Sneed, Executive Director of Delta Human Resource Agency, picked up four inmates to assist him in delivering commodities to towns in Lauderdale County for distribution to needy people. Appellant was one of the inmates. Mr. Sneed ran a public program that provided services such as child care, commodity distribution, and house rehabilitation to people in a three-county area which included Lauderdale County. Mi\ Sneed had permission of the officials at the jail to use the inmates for this purpose.

Mr. Sneed testified that he took his crew to Henning, Tennessee, in Lauderdale County to unload some of the commodities. At lunch, the inmates were left at the Senior Citizen’s Center with a staff person for supervision. When Mr. Sneed returned from lunch, the appellant was missing. He had left the work crew.

Ted Sutton, Sheriff of Lauderdale County, testified that on August 18, 1992, appellant was in custody at the Lauderdale County Jail for selling cocaine, a felony offense. Through the testimony of Sheriff Sutton, the state introduced an indictment dated June 1, 1992, by the Lauderdale County Grand Jury charging appellant with the felonious sale of cocaine in January of 1992. This apparently was the felony charge about which Sheriff Sutton testified. Sutton further testified that the appellant did not return to the jail from his commodities distribution detail on August 18, 1992.

Sheriff Sutton was a deputy in 1992 when these events occurred. On cross-examination, he verified that he was the official to whom authority was delegated to handle such matters as allowing prisoners to go on details, furloughs, and releases. Sutton further testified that the appellant was allowed to participate in this detail on the date in question.

Testimony revealed that appellant was arrested on September 4, 1992, in Union City, Tennessee. He was then brought back to the Lauderdale County Jail.

After the state’s proof, appellant moved for a judgment of acquittal because the state allegedly had not proven every element of the offense charged. Specifically, the appellant argued that there was no evidence showing that he had escaped from lawful custody while being under restraint by a public servant pursuant to a court order. The trial judge overruled the motion. The defense then rested.

The judge instructed the jury as follows: Any person who commits the offense of Escape is guilty of a crime.
For you to find the defendant guilty of this offense, the State must have proven beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of the following essential elements: Number 1; that the defendant escaped; and
Number 2; that at the time of the escape, the defendant was in lawful custody under a warrant charging the defendant with the sale of a controlled substance, a felony; and
[235]*235Number 3; that the escape was from a penal institution.

After the jury returned a verdict of guilt on the felony escape charge, defense counsel made a second motion for a judgment of acquittal based on the same reasoning as before. This motion was overruled as well.

On May 21, 1993, counsel for appellant filed a written motion for judgment of acquittal. His argument was quite interesting. Appellant’s indictment for felony escape alleged that he had escaped from custody after his arrest on the charge of sale of cocaine. Similarly, testimony elicited at trial was confined to the allegation that appellant was being held in custody on August 18, 1992, on the charge of sale of cocaine. Appellant maintained, however, that court records showed that he was on bond for the cocaine sale on August 18, 1992, and was being held in custody on that date “on other matters.”

In addition, appellant attached affidavits signed by the Circuit Court Clerk and the County Sheriff, respectively. Richard Jennings, Clerk, swore in an affidavit that on June 2, 1992, the appellant posted bond for the indictment charging him with the sale of cocaine. The clerk further swore that on August 18,1992, the appellant was in jail “on other matters,” and escaped.

Sheriff Ted Sutton stated in his affidavit as follows:

1. I am the same person who gave testimony ... on May 20, 1993, and who did at that time testify in good faith and upon the best of my information and memory that on August 18, 1992, the Defendant, Kenneth Culp was being held in jail on the felony charge of sale of cocaine under Indictment Number 5688.
2. I have reviewed the Court records and the records of the Sheriffs Department and respectfully inform this Court that contrary to my prior testimony, Kenneth Culp had posted a bond in the amount of $15,000.00 with regard to Indictment Number 5688 on June 2, 1992 and that as of August 18, 1992, Kenneth Culp was not being held in jail on that particular charge.

On June 4, 1993, the appellant made a motion for new trial. He argued that although he was in custody, it was for a different reason from that which the state alleged and proved at trial. That is to say, he was not in custody for the cocaine arrest warrant, but rather, for another charge, which we later learn was a parole violation.1

After hearing arguments from both sides, the trial judge overruled appellant’s motions for judgment of acquittal and for new trial. From this denial, the appellant now appeals to this Court for relief.

I.

Appellant first contends that the court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal made at the conclusion of the state’s proof because the prosecution failed to prove that he departed from “custody” as defined by T.C.A. § 39-16-601.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
891 S.W.2d 232, 1994 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 391, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-culp-tenncrimapp-1994.