State v. Dion Andres Russell

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee·Decided December 1, 2010·No. 03C01-9803-CR-00092·Published

Opinion

FILED

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT KNOXVILLE

April 7, 1999

DECEMBER 1998 SESSION

Cecil Crowson, Jr.

Appellate C ourt Clerk

STATE OF TENNESSEE, )

)

Appellee, ) C.C.A. No. 03C01-9803-CR-00092 )

vs. ) Sullivan County )

DION ANDRES RUSSELL, ) Hon. R. Jerry Beck, Judge )

Appellant. ) (Resisting Arrest, Evading Arrest, ) Inciting to Riot)

FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:

BURKETT C. McINTURFF (at trial) JOHN KNOX WALKUP Attorney at Law Attorney General & Reporter 132 Broad St. Kingsport, TN TODD R. KELLEY Assistant Attorney General ROBERT C. EDWARDS (on appeal) 425 Fifth Ave. N., 2d Floor Attorney at Law Nashville, TN 37243-0493 382 Emory Rd. Blaine, TN 37709 H. GREELEY WELLS, JR.

District Attorney General

GREGORY NEWMAN

Asst. District Attorney General P.O. Box 526

Blountville, TN 37617-0526

OPINION FILED:________________ CONVICTION AFFIRMED; SENTENCE MODIFIED JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., JUDGE

OPINION

The defendant, Dion Andres Russell, appeals from his convictions of resisting arrest,1 evading arrest2 and inciting to riot.3 He received his convictions at the conclusion of a jury trial in the Sullivan County Criminal Court. The trial court imposed consecutive sentences of eleven months, 29 days confinement in the county jail for inciting to riot, six months probation conditioned upon Community Corrections supervision for resisting arrest, and eleven months, 29 days probation conditioned upon Community Corrections supervision for evading arrest. In this direct appeal, the defendant challenges the trial court's denial of his attorney's motion to withdraw or for a continuance, the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, and the sentences imposed. After a review of the record, the briefs and the oral arguments of the parties, we affirm the judgment of the trial court, although we modify the terms of the sentence for inciting to riot.

The defendant's convictions stem from a disturbance in the Riverview housing project in Kingsport. At trial, the state's evidence showed that at 12:20 a.m. on May 5, 1996, Officer James Clark of the Kingsport Police Department was sitting in his patrol car when two women ran up and notified him of a fight at the Riverview complex in which one of the participants was armed with a gun. When Officer Clark arrived at the scene, he found two men shoving, cursing and yelling at each other. He later discovered these individuals to be Courtney Webster and Jeffery Gaines. Neither Webster nor Gaines had a firearm in plain view. A group of eight to twelve people were gathered around Webster and Gaines.

1 Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-602 (1997).

2 Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-16-603 (1997).

3 Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-304 (1997).

As Officer Clark approached the men, he saw the defendant, whom he knew, approaching. The defendant placed himself between Officer Clark and the men who were fighting. Officer Clark told the defendant to stay out of the way and put his hands on the defendant to move him away. The defendant responded, "Don't touch me, that's my brother." According to Officer Clark, the defendant did not identify which of the two fighting men was his brother. Officer Clark told the defendant to move three times and pushed him back, and each time the defendant came forward again.

Gaines and Webster were still arguing, so Officer Clark attempted to arrest the defendant so that he would be able to deal with the fight without interference. As Officer Clark was about to handcuff the defendant, one of the women who had approached the officer about the fight indicated that Gaines was the man with the gun. Officer Clark let the defendant go and turned his attention to subduing Gaines.

Officer Clark arrested Gaines and found a semi-automatic weapon and lock-blade knife in his possession. By the time this arrest was completed, there were as many as 75 people outside their homes. After Gaines was arrested, Webster went inside a residence then came back outside. Webster began cursing and lunging at Officer Clark even though Clark instructed him to go home. Assisted by other officers, Officer Clark placed W ebster, who weighed 300 to 350 pounds, under arrest for disorderly conduct. The arrest was preceded by a struggle during which chemical spray was used to subdue Webster. While the officers were struggling to control Webster, the defendant repeatedly implored the crowd, "Don't let them take my brother," and "Kick the cops' a--." He insisted his brother had done nothing to warrant his arrest. He shoved Officer Clark, who had to push him away. Officer Burke Murray had to stand between the defendant and Officer Clark and

admonish the defendant to stay back. The defendant grabbed a member of the crowd and tried to get him to come forward to help him. The crowd became agitated and began lunging at the officers and yelling that the officers' actions were motivated by racism and constituted police brutality.

Officer Clark told another officer to arrest the defendant for interfering with his duties and agitating the crowd, and the defendant immediately ran away.

The defendant testified in his own defense and challenged the state's version of events. He claimed that he had been roughly handled by Officer Clark, that he did not incite the crowd as alleged by the state but was just trying to explain the situation to Officer Clark, and that he and his brother complied with the officers' directions but were nevertheless arrested. He denied that Officer Clark repeatedly told him to back off and claimed that Officer Clark and another officer approached his brother and him and harassed them after they had retreated to the porch of a relative's home.

On this evidence, the jury found the defendant guilty of resisting arrest, evading arrest and inciting to riot.

I

In his first issue, the defendant claims that the trial court erred in denying his attorney's motion to withdraw, or in the alternative, motion for continuance. Apparently, the defendant and trial counsel, who are well-known to each other, had a disagreement culminating in the defendant firing counsel three to four months prior to the day of trial. The defendant had not paid his attorney's fee. Counsel wrote two letters to the defendant and mailed them to him at relatives' homes advising that he did not represent the defendant and the defendant should

either rehire and pay counsel or make other arrangements. The defendant never contacted counsel or retained other counsel, and counsel made no preparation for trial. Counsel filed a motion to withdraw twelve days before trial, although no hearing was held until the day of trial.

On the morning of trial, the defendant himself essentially made a motion for continuance, representing that he could be ready to proceed pro se if he could have two weeks to prepare for trial.

The trial court took a dim view of further delay in the case and noted that the case had been reset numerous times since the defendant's appeal to criminal court from the convictions received in general sessions court. The court noted that counsel had done what he could to communicate with the defendant, and counsel's unpreparedness for trial was of the defendant's own making in failing to communicate with counsel.

Withdrawal of Counsel

The decision whether to allow counsel to withdraw in a pending criminal matter is vested in the sound discretion of the trial court, and the decision will not be reversed on appeal unless an abuse of discretion is shown. State v. Branam, 855 S.W.2d 563, 566 (Tenn. 1993); State v. Melvin, 913 S.W.2d 195, 201 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1995); cf. Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-14-205 (1997) (court "may" allow appointed counsel to withdraw upon showing of good cause).

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