State v. Morris

469 S.W.3d 577, 2014 WL 1831017, 2014 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 425
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMay 6, 2014
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 469 S.W.3d 577 (State v. Morris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of 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. Morris, 469 S.W.3d 577, 2014 WL 1831017, 2014 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 425 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION

D. KELLY THOMAS, JR., J.,

delivered the opinion of the court,

in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., and JEFFREY S. BIVINS, JJ., joined.

Following a jury trial, the Defendant, Harold Morris, was convicted of aggravated rape, a Class A felony; aggravated robbery, a Class B felony; and aggravated burglary, a Class C felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-402, -13-502, -14-403. The trial court imposed an effective sentence of twenty-five years to be served at one hundred percent. On appeal, the Defendant contends (1) that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence and (2) that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss on the grounds that his right to a speedy trial had been violated. Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

The victim, O.W.,1 testified that on April 08, 2007, she was eighty-nine years old, a widow, and lived alone in a rural area of Morgan County. That evening, a man O.W. did not know knocked on her door and said that he wanted to “know about the family that lived up above” her, “whether they were home or not.” The man then “just came in” the victim’s house without her permission, “sat down in the chair by the door[,] and just went to talking to [her] about that family.” When he finished talking, the man “got up and locked the front door and pulled [her] phone out of the wall.”

O.W. testified that the man grabbed her by her feet, dragged her “out of [her] chair,” and started “to pull [her] clothes off.” The man then penetrated her vagina. The victim testified that she tried to fight the man off but that she was scared and that he was stronger than she. She also testified that her breasts were injured during the rape from where the man had been “chewing on them.” After he finished raping her, the man took the victim’s wedding rings, a bracelet, and a watch. O.W. testified that in taking the jewelry, the man “tore [her] finger up.” O.W. later learned that she also suffered a cracked rib during the attack.

The man left once he had the victim’s jewelry. The victim testified that the man [581]*581was wearing “blue jeans and a blue jean jacket” and that he drove away in a gray van with “windows all the way around” it. O.W. then called her neighbor, Glen Moore, to tell him what happened. The police were called, and O.W. was eventually taken to a nearby hospital. • O.W. testified that, at first, she did not tell anyone that she had been raped because she was “embarrassed to talk about it” but claimed that she eventually told her neighbor and the staff at the hospital. However, there was no rape kit performed at the hospital. O.W. later picked the Defendant’s picture out of a photographic lineup and identified him at trial as her attacker.

Mr. Moore testified that he received a phone call from the. victim around 4:00 p.m. and that she told him “something terrible [had] happened.’.’ When he got to the victim’s house, Mr. Moore found her sitting in a chair with blood “dripping off of her finger.” Mr. Moore testified that it looked like something had “skinned” her finger and left arm. Mr. Moore’s wife tended to the victim’s injuries while he left to search for the van. The victim’s son testified that she was in “pretty bad shape mentally” when he got to her house. He testified that the victim did not say anything while they were at her house about being raped, that she told the hospital staff that the attacker had attempted to rape her, and that she did not actually say she was raped until the preliminary hearing.

Chief Allan Dagley of the Sunbright Police Department testified that in 2007 he worked for the Morgan County Sheriffs Office (MCSO) and was the first officer to-respond to the victim’s home. Chief Dag-ley recalled that the victim had a “little bit of blood” on her hand, “was real nervous,”- and pacing. Chief Dagley testified that the victim did not say anything about being raped while he Was at her house but that -later, “once she got a little more comfortable with actually what had just happened,” she stated that the attacker had “taken her clothes off and gotten on top of her and assaulted her.”

Investigator Mike Wren of the MCSO testified that he led the investigation in this case. Investigator Wren testified that he was given an anonymous tip that he “might want to check in the Cumberland County jail.” Officer Tony Aikens of the Crossville Police Department testified that on the evening of April 8, 2007, he spotted the Defendant driving a light blue van that had “[wjindows all around.” The van’s headlights were off, and its tag was expired. Officer Aikens turned on his blue lights, and the Defendant fled for over two miles. The van was eventually stopped by a “spike strip.”

The Defendant was wearing blue jeans and “a jean jacket” when he was taken out of the van. The Defendant had “a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath,” had blood shot eyes, and “very slurred speech.” The Defendant stated to Officer Aikens, “[T]his is retarded, I’ve drank too much.” Officer Aikens arrested the Defendant ■ for driving under the influence (DUI) as well as felony evading arrest and took him to the Cumberland County jail.

Corrections Officer Terry Boots of the Cumberland County Sheriffs Department (CCSD) testified that it was department procedure to search and inventory the personal property of every person booked into the Cumberland County jail. Officer Boots testified that he searched the Defendant and found a watch, a bracelet, and two rings in a pocket of the Defendant’s jeans. The items were then inventoried and placed in to a property bag that was locked in' the jail’s property room. Officer Boots testified that the items were the Defendant’s personal property and not seized as evidence. ' ■

[582]*582Acting on the anonymous tip, Investigator Wren contacted Investigator Scott Griffin of the CCSD and arranged to view the jewelry found when the Defendant was arrested. Investigator Wren testified that “[b]ased on what [he] had seen on [the] inventory sheet, it matched up with the description of the things that [the victim] had [taken], so [they] did look in the bag and [he took] some photographs.” Investigator Griffin testified that he took possession of the jewelry that day, April 16, 2007, to keep as possible evidence. However, Investigator Wren recalled viewing the property on April 9 or 10, 2007. Investigator Wren testified that he showed the photographs of the items to the victim and that she identified them as the jewelry taken by her attacker. The victim was sure that the jewelry was hers because it had been given to her by her deceased husband.

Investigator Wren testified that he showed the victim a photographic lineup on April 10, 2007, and that she identified the Defendant as her attacker. Investigator Wren looked at the Defendant’s van at the impound lot and testified that it “matchefd] almost perfectly” the victim’s description. Investigator Wren also noticed that the van was damaged and had mud on it. Investigator Wren testified that he believed the Defendant fled the victim’s home on an old “oil well road” behind the victim’s home and that was where the mud and damage to the Defendant’s van had come from. Officer Wren testified that he took custody of the Defendant and the jewelry from the CCSD on May 14, 2007.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
469 S.W.3d 577, 2014 WL 1831017, 2014 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-morris-tennctapp-2014.