State v. Moore

713 S.W.2d 670, 1985 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 3306
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee·Decided December 31, 1985·Published·Cited by 18 cases

Opinions

[672] OPINION

TATUM, Judge.

The defendants, James Moore and James Carter, appeal their convictions for bank robbery with the use of a firearm, T.C.A. §§ 39-2-502, 39-6-1710. Moore was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for bank robbery and 5 years for the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Carter was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for bank robbery and 5 years for the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. Both defendants were given consecutive sentences. The defendants filed separate briefs raising several issues. We have concluded that the judgments as to both defendants must be affirmed.

Both Moore and Carter assigned issues attacking the sufficiency of the evidence.

The evidence adduced at trial showed that on September 8, 1983, at approximately 1:15 p.m., two black males entered the Old Hickory Mall Branch of the Jackson National Bank and declared “This is a robbery. Stick it up. Don’t anybody move.” Both of the men were wearing military fatigue-type clothing, gloves and blue and red ski masks, and one was carrying a .38 black snub-nosed pistol. Both men appeared as if their clothes (jumpsuits) were “padded.” As one gunman threatened to kill a bank employee, the other robber jumped across the teller’s counter carrying a big white sack similar to a pillowcase. He forced a bank teller to empty the contents of two cash drawers into the sack. The two masked robbers then fled the bank in what appeared to bank employees to be a 1970 burgundy (maroon) and white Pontiac driven by a third individual. The car had no license plate and the black male driver was unmasked. The robbers managed to take a total of $14,806.43 in cash, including 50 twenty-dollar bills previously recorded by the bank as “bait money.” 1 None of the bank employees could identify the two robbers because of the ski masks which covered the robbers’ faces.

Three other witnesses testified that they observed two black males wearing masks and stuffed or padded coveralls enter the mall. They also observed a large maroon car with a white top parked in a No-Parking zone directly outside the bank. The car had no license plate. Two of the witnesses identified the defendant Moore as the man who was driving the getaway car. Following the robbery, the getaway car was seen leaving the mall parking lot and traveling west on Old Hickory Boulevard, subsequently stopping at the Foxfire Apartments complex.

Investigators with the Jackson Police Department discovered a 1978 Pontiac Bonneville, maroon with a white top, parked near the back of the Foxfire Apartments complex. The car was identified by several witnesses as being the getaway car used by the two robbers. A green fatigue jacket and a glove were found in a dumpster located near the abandoned car.

Other evidence established that the getaway car was purchased from Frazier’s Used Cars in Jackson on September 1, 1983. The salesman at the used car lot identified the defendant Moore in a photographic line-up conducted a few days after the robbery and at trial as being the individual who bought the car. He also identified defendant Carter as having been present at the car lot on the date the car was purchased. The owner of Frazier’s Used Cars also identified defendant Moore as having been involved in the purchase of the car and stated that another man, possibly defendant Carter, supplied the cash to pay for the car. He also identified a drive-out tag that was found on the maroon and white Pontiac as one that he had filled out for the sale of the car.

A fingerprint specialist with the Jackson Police Department testified that he examined the automobile used in the robbery for [673] possible identifying fingerprints. He concluded that two identifiable fingerprints taken from the side of the getaway car matched a set of fingerprints previously taken from defendant Moore. In addition, five latent fingerprints found on the drive-out tag were determined to be those belonging to defendant Moore.

A desk clerk at the Airways Motor Hotel in Jackson testified that on September 10, 1983, he received four twenty-dollar bills from the defendant Carter in payment for a rented room. The serial number on one of these bills matched the number listed by the Bank as part of the bait money taken by the robbers. Another witness also testified that sometime after the robbery, he received three twenty-dollar bills while involved in a crap game with the defendant Carter. These three bills were also identified as having been part of the bait money taken.

A teller with another local bank testified that on September 16, 1983, she received $400 worth of twenty-dollar bills from a lady customer who requested the teller to exchange the twenties for different denominations. Four of the twenty-dollar bills proved to be part of the stolen bait money. It was established that the lady and defendant Carter were related and part-owners in a family restaurant business.

Robert Powell, a State witness, testified that he participated in the robbery of the Jackson National Bank, Mall Branch, along with Robert Bailey and defendants Moore and Carter. Powell had previously pled guilty to armed bank robbery for his involvement in this offense. He related that on September 7, 1983, defendant Carter went into the bank and made a withdrawal. This was in preparation of the robbery which the four men had planned.2 On the morning of the robbery, September 8,1983, Robert Bailey and defendant Carter arrived at Powell’s house with ski masks, jumpsuits, gloves and a .38 snub-nosed pistol. The three men left Powell’s house and went to meet defendant Moore. Around noon, they all agreed to meet at the Foxfire Apartments no later than 1:00 p.m.

Powell further testified that he and defendant Moore wiped down the car purchased for use in the robbery, so as to leave no fingerprints on it. They then met Robert Bailey at the Foxfire Apartments and he (Powell) and Bailey put on the jumpsuits, which they stuffed with pillows. Defendant Carter was parked nearby in another car, as part of the getaway plan. Defendant Moore then drove the getaway car to the Bank where Powell and Bailey got out. The two men pulled their ski masks down over their faces and entered the Bank. The robbery then took place within a matter of two minutes. The two robbers fled the bank and got back into the maroon and white getaway car. Defendant Moore then drove back to the Foxfire Apartments where Powell removed his fatigue shirt and gloves and threw them in a dumpster. Powell and defendant Moore then climbed into the trunk of the other car in which defendant Carter was waiting. Bailey got on the back floorboard and defendant Carter drove away, leaving the maroon and white car at the Foxfire Apartments. The four men drove to defendant Carter’s sister’s house where the stolen bank money was divided. Each man got $3,500 and each paid defendant Carter $75 for the cost of the car purchased by him for use in the robbery.

Both defendants presented an alibi defense. The defendant Moore’s theory was that they had purchased the maroon and white Pontiac for someone else.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

State v. Moore, 713 S.W.2d 670, 1985 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 3306 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1985).

713 S.W.2d 670 (State v. Moore) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

State of Tennessee v. Christopher Bolden
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2024
State of Tennessee v. Larry Mitchell Brooks
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2014
State of Tennessee v. Jerry R. Shouse
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2014
State v. Ernest Vickers III
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2010
State of Tennessee v. Calvin Fleming
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2007
State of Tennessee v. Jacques Sherron
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2006
State of Tennessee v. John Ruff
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 2001
State v. James Moore
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1999
State v. Allan Brooks
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1998
Harris v. State
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1998
State v. Richard Madkins
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1997
State v. Vickers
985 S.W.2d 1 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1997)
State v. Turner
919 S.W.2d 346 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1995)
State v. Adkisson
899 S.W.2d 626 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1994)
State v. Keel
882 S.W.2d 410 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1994)
State v. Dykes
803 S.W.2d 250 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1990)
State v. Killebrew
760 S.W.2d 228 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, 1988)