State v. Hopper

695 S.W.2d 530, 1985 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 3053
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMarch 13, 1985
StatusPublished
Cited by78 cases

This text of 695 S.W.2d 530 (State v. Hopper) 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. Hopper, 695 S.W.2d 530, 1985 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 3053 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

OPINION

DUNCAN, Judge.

The defendant, Donald Wayne Hopper, and his 'codefendant, Randall Cole, were each convicted of first degree murder in the perpetration of a robbery, and both received a sentence of life in the penitentiary. Cole did not appeal.

In this appeal, the defendant raises some twenty-four (24) enumerated issues. Specifically, his issues are as follows:

In Issues 1, 2, and 3, he questions the sufficiency of the evidence;

In Issue 4, he says the trial court erred in denying his motion for a severance;

In Issues 5, 6, and 7, he complains about an alleged illegal arrest;

In Issue 8, he alleges prosecutional misconduct;

In Issues 9 through 16, he complains about alleged errors in the voir dire process;

In Issues 17 and 18, he contends it was error to allow certain firearm shells to be admitted in evidence;

In Issue 19, he says the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss the indictment;

In Issue 20, he complains about the denial of his right to a preliminary hearing;

In Issue 21, he contends the State improperly failed to disclose the identity of a “Crime Stoppers” informant;

In Issue 22, he raises another voir dire complaint;

In Issue 23, he alleges that the trial court failed to properly charge the definition of murder;

And finally, in Issue 24, he brings another complaint about prosecutorial misconduct.

In Issues 1, 2, and 3, the defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, specifically arguing several complaints which we will consider after we summarize some of the evidence.

The evidence clearly established that on December 31,1982, shortly after 7:00 p.m., Randall Cole robbed Ernestine Mayham of her purse, containing money and other items, and that the defendant was the driv *534 er of the get-away Pontiac vehicle, which vehicle was owned by Randall Cole. As they left the scene of the robbery, a police car, occupied by Memphis Police Officers John Wesley Sykes and Charlotte Creasy gave chase. Subsequently, during the high-speed chase, Randall Cole fired three (3) shots from a .357 Magnum pistol at the officers, one shot hitting Officer Sykes in the neck, from which gunshot wound the officer died.

Cole and the defendant successfully got away from the police on the night in question. However, on January 2, 1983, a Pontiac vehicle was found at 4079 Burrow Street, and the proof definitely established that this vehicle belonged to Cole, and that it was the same vehicle that was involved in the robbery and the vehicle that Officers Sykes and Creasy had been chasing at the time Officer Sykes was shot. After further investigation, the defendant and Cole were arrested.

One witness, Carl Harland, saw Cole’s Pontiac automobile, at approximately 7:00 p.m. on December 31, as it pulled up beside him at a traffic light. Harland identified the defendant as being the driver of the car at that time.

Evidence given by Danny Grubbs showed that Cole was renting a room from him at 4079 Burrow Avenue on December 81,1982. Grubbs saw Cole and the defendant at his house on the Wednesday before December 31, 1982. Grubbs saw a .357 Magnum pistol on a T.V. tray and the pistol was identified to him as belonging to the defendant. Cole and the defendant were also together at Grubbs’s house around 5:00 p.m. on December 31, 1982.

Other evidence showed that the police found Cole’s Pontiac automobile in the back yard at Grubbs’s residence. Also, Chris Lancaster, a relative of Cole, saw the defendant and Cole in the early morning hours of January 1, 1983, when they arrived at the Lancaster house. They had a pistol and shotgun in their possession. They spent the night in the Lancaster home. The next morning Mrs. Chris Lancaster saw both Cole and the defendant with weapons, and she identified the pistol, which turned out to be the murder weapon, as being the pistol she had seen in her den at the time.

Additionally, the evidence showed that Cole and the defendant spent the night of January 1, 1983, at the house of Walt Holcomb. Holcomb saw the defendant in possession of a pistol. Subsequently, Holcomb gave the police permission to search his house, and the police found the murder weapon in the room where Cole and the defendant had stayed.

Further, according to the testimony of Cole’s sister, on the evening of December 31, she went with Cole and the defendant to visit some relatives in Scotts Hill, Tennessee. Cole told her he had shot Sykes, and the defendant told her he was driving the car.

Other evidence established that lead fragments removed from Sykes’s squad ear and other lead fragments found at the scene had been fired from the Magnum pistol recovered from Mr. Holcomb’s house. Also, the fingerprints of both Cole and the defendant were found on Cole’s Pontiac automobile.

Cole testified in his own behalf and admitted the robbery of Ms. Mayham, and the shooting of Officer Sykes. He insisted he did not intend to hit anyone when he fired but only wanted to create a diversion. Cole said the defendant was the driver of the Pontiac automobile during the commission of the robbery of Ms. Mayhem and the murder of Officer Sykes.

The defendant testified and denied any involvement in the robbery of Ms. Mayham or in the murder of Officer Sykes. The defendant attempted to establish an alibi, which defense the jury rejected.

We need not further detail the evidence. Suffice it to say that the record is replete with other incriminating evidence against the defendant. His guilt is shown beyond a reasonable doubt. The proof fully satisfies the evidentiary requirements of T.R.A.P. 13(e) and Jackson v. Virginia, *535 443 U.S. 307, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979).

Under his evidentiary complaint, in Issue 1, the defendant argues that the State failed to prove that the killing of Officer Sykes was done “deliberately.” The indictment did allege that the killing was done “wilfully, deliberately and maliciously” during the perpetration of a robbery.

In a felony-murder prosecution the State is not required to prove the elements of malice, deliberation and premeditation. State v. Johnson, 661 S.W.2d 854 (Tenn.1983); Farmer v. State, 201 Tenn. 107, 296 S.W.2d 879 (1956). The defendant concedes that this is the law, but says since that element of deliberation was alleged, it should have been proved. We disagree. This allegation was mere surplusage and could not have misled the defendant in any manner.

Further, the State’s proof showed that the defendant was guilty as an aider and abettor to Cole in the robbery of Ms. Mayham, and that he was equally culpable with Cole in the killing of Officer Sykes as they fled from the robbery scene. The indictment charged felony-murder and the proof showed this offense.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
695 S.W.2d 530, 1985 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 3053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-hopper-tenncrimapp-1985.