State v. Ensley

956 S.W.2d 502, 1996 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 623
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedOctober 4, 1996
StatusPublished
Cited by54 cases

This text of 956 S.W.2d 502 (State v. Ensley) 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. Ensley, 956 S.W.2d 502, 1996 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 623 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

SUMMERS, Judge.

At a joint trial, the appellants, Ella Ensley and James Scott McCulley, were each convicted of two counts of first degree murder. Appellant McCulley was also convicted of two counts of attempted second degree murder. Ensley received two consecutive life sentences. McCulley was sentenced to life without parole in the first degree murder convictions and to consecutive thirty-year sentences in the attempted second degree murder convictions.1 From these convictions and sentences both appeal.

Appellant Ensley argues that:

[505]*5051. Her ease should not have been consolidated with the case of appellant McCulley;
2. The trial court erred when it allowed into evidence her statement made to Deputy Davis;
3. The trial court should have dismissed the case against her because the state failed to prove the allegations contained in the bill of particulars;
4. The evidence was insufficient to support the verdict;
5. The trial court erred in ordering two consecutive life sentences.

Appellant McCulley claims that the trial court erred in: (1) overruling his motion to suppress the evidence found in a Crown Royal whiskey bag; and (2) ordering consecutive sentences. Following our review, we affirm the conviction and sentences of both appellants.

FACTS

The testimony at tidal revealed that on the evening of December 28, 1993, a woman phoned the Cleveland, Tennessee 911 department.2 She told the operator that there was a dead man in Park Terrace Apartment number 94. Officers Barry Tharpe and Craig Hamilton responded to the call. As they started up the flight of stairs leading to the apartment, they smelled a strong odor. When Officer Tharpe received no response from his knocking, he opened the door which was slightly ajar. He saw two bodies which appeared to have been dead for several days. The officers closed the door and secured the premises.

Detective Tony Alvarez of the major crimes unit arrived on the scene. Alvarez found two bodies in the living room. A female was sitting on the couch while a male was slumped over in the floor in front of the couch. Investigators determined that the bodies had been there from two to seven days. The male victim had been shot twice in the head. The female had a gunshot wound to her chest and three to her head. Shell casings from a .25 caliber automatic were found on the floor near the bodies. The investigators determined that all the shots had been fired at close range. The television had not been turned off, and the entertainment center had been ransacked. A partially eaten turkey was still in the oven and a pie was on the counter. Further investigation revealed that the bedroom drawers had been ransacked.

The victims were identified as Randall Ensley and Diane McKheen. Victim Ensley was the ex-husband of the appellant Ensley and Ms. McKheen was Randall Ensley’s fian-cé. Appellant Ensley and her boyfriend, appellant McCulley became suspects early into the hours of the following morning. After talking with state witnesses, Deputy Chief Anthony Benefield drove past a house belonging to the Jefferys where he had been told he might find the appellants. Benefield assumed they were awake when he saw lights on and movement throughout the home. He called for Captain Bryant to meet him at the Jeffery residence for the purpose of questioning McCulley. Shortly thereafter, Bryant and Officers Ken Poteet, Phil Matthews and Mike Boggess arrived at the house.

The five officers approached the front porch of the Jefferys’ residence where they were met by Mr. Jeffery. Benefield asked Jeffery if either appellant was inside the house. Mr. Jeffery said they were not and asked Benefield if he had a warrant. Bene-field responded that they did not. When Ms. Jeffery came to the door, Benefield asked her if the appellants were inside to which she replied, “No, come on and look.” When Officer Bryant pushed open a bedroom door, McCulley jumped out the back window. The officers pursued McCulley who began firing upon them. The officers returned fire, wounding McCulley. McCulley threw or dropped a Crown Royal whiskey bag which was retrieved by Benefield and secured in [506]*506the trunk of his car. The bag contained a knife, money, and a ring later determined to belong to one of the victims.

McCulley was taken to the hospital. T. J. Jordan, a TBI special agent, interviewed McCulley at the hospital. When asked what happened, McCulley said that the police had shot him because he had shot at them. Agent Brooks Wilkins, also an investigator with the TBI, spoke with McCulley at the hospital on January 4. Before the discussion began, Agent Brooks read McCulley his rights. In a sworn statement, McCulley gave his version of the police shootout and described his activities on the days surrounding the murders. McCulley said he could not remember what he did on Christmas day. On Christmas evening, he and Ensley got a room at the Diplomat Motel. He said he and Ensley were together the entire night. McCulley added that initially he did not get along with the victim, Randall Ensley; but that soon thereafter Ensley accepted McCul-ley’s relationship with appellant Ensley. McCulley said he had never been to Randall Ensley’s home.

Following his meeting with McCulley, Agent Jordan interviewed Ensley, who had been taken into custody for questioning, at the Bradley County Sheriff’s Office. Prior to Jordan’s arrival, Ensley was placed in the interview room where she was accompanied by Deputy Darlene Davis. Though Davis was merely a custodian of Ensley, Ensley began to talk to her. Ensley told Davis that she would always love Randall Ensley. She also said, “we went ... by the apartment ... and his van ... was there.” The appellants were not charged with the murders until January 11, 1994. Appellant McCulley was also charged with attempted first degree murder for his conduct surrounding the police shootout.

A number of other witnesses testified as to various statements the appellants had made prior to and following the murders. Lisa Brown, appellant Ensley’s daughter and stepdaughter of the victim, Randall Ensley, said that McCulley was jealous of her stepfather. She said that her grandfather had asked her to call the company where her stepfather worked and ask for the identity of the beneficiary on his life insurance policy. Randall Ensley had spoken of the policy and whether his father or his child should be listed as the beneficiary. However, Randall Ensley’s employer indicated that Randall Ensley’s father was the named beneficiary. Brown explained that on Christmas day, she, her two small children, Randall Ensley’s father and Ms. McKheen’s father had gone to the victims’ apartment for Christmas dinner. After dinner, Ensley and MeKheen had driven the family members back home in their van. As soon as they arrived home, appellant Ensley simultaneously arrived.

Brown further testified that after the shootout at the Jeffery residence, Ms. Jeffery brought her a jacket belonging to appellant Ensley. Inside the jacket she found three rings: a black onyx ring, an engagement ring, and a pinkie ring. Linda Carol Price, McKheen’s sister, later testified that MeKheen owned a black onyx ring and a diamond cluster ring. Brown gave these rings to her uncle, George Eady. She said that one of the rings looked like Diane McKheen’s ring.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
956 S.W.2d 502, 1996 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 623, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-ensley-tenncrimapp-1996.