State v. Peat

790 S.W.2d 547, 1990 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 134
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedFebruary 21, 1990
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 790 S.W.2d 547 (State v. Peat) 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. Peat, 790 S.W.2d 547, 1990 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 134 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

JONES, Judge.

The appellant, Robert L. Peat, III, was convicted of murder second degree and aggravated assault by a jury of his peers. The trial judge found that the appellant was a standard offender and imposed the following Range I sentences: (a) a term of twenty (20) years for murder second degree with an additional five (5) years to be served consecutively because the appellant used a firearm in the commission of the crime, an effective sentence of twenty-five (25) years; and (b) five (5) years for the offense of aggravated assault. The sentences were ordered to be served concurrently in the Department of Correction.

ISSUES PRESENTED FOR REVIEW

The appellant has raised four (4) issues for our review. He contends that the trial court committed error of prejudicial dimensions in (a) denying his motion for judgment of acquittal as to murder first degree and murder second degree, (b) sentencing him to a consecutive term of five (5) years for the use of a firearm when the trial judge charged the jury it could infer the element of malice since a deadly weapon was used in the killing, (c) failing to give a curative instruction when the District Attorney General stated in summation the defendant had conceded his guilt of manslaughter, and (d) failing to grant a mistrial due to the conduct of the victim’s mother as she mingled with the jurors in a hallway.

FAILURE TO GRANT MOTION FOR JUDGMENT OF ACQUITTAL

The appellant made a motion for the entry of a judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the State’s case in chief.1 Defense counsel contended that the evidence introduced by the State was insufficient to support a conviction for either first degree murder or second degree murder. Counsel cited State v. Thornton,2 in support of his argument. The trial court denied the motion. Thereafter, the appellant and other witnesses testified in support of his defense.

The appellant may not predicate error upon the fact the trial judge denied his motion for judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of the State’s proof. He waived this issue when he elected not to stand on [549]*549his motion and introduced evidence in support of his defense.3

The appellant renewed his motion for a judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of all the evidence.4 The trial judge denied this motion as well. This issue has not been waived; and we will consider this issue on the merits.

The motion for a judgment of acquittal presents a question of law.5 The trial judge’s only concern is the legal sufficiency as opposed to the weight of the evidence.6 In determining whether “the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction”,7 at the conclusion of all the evidence, the trial judge must consider the evidence introduced by the parties, disregard any evidence which conflicts with the evidence introduced by the defendant, and afford the State the strongest legitimate view of the evidence, including all reasonable inferences which may be drawn from the evidence.8 With this rule in mind, we will undertake to analyze the evidence.

The record establishes that the appellant and Cheryl Cates, one of the victims, lived together for approximately two years. A child was born as a result of this relationship. In January of 1988 serious problems surfaced, the problems became irreconcilable, and the parties separated. The appellant was permitted to see his son after the separation. It is uncontradicted that the appellant and Ms. Cates were never married.

Ms. Cates had been dating the victim, Paul Porter, for approximately two weeks. On the evening of March 5, 1988, a Saturday, the victim visited in Ms. Cates’ home. Subsequently, the appellant called Ms. Cates, told her he wanted to see her, and she told the appellant that she did not want to see him. The appellant then instructed Ms. Cates to tell the victim to leave.

During the early morning hours of Sunday, March 6, 1988, the appellant parked his car on the street behind Ms. Cates’ home, removed his shotgun from the car, and walked approximately 100 yards to the residence. The appellant broke into the residence, went to the bedroom, and shot the victim at least twice, possibly three times. There is evidence that the appellant reloaded the shotgun since the gun was plugged, and it would only hold three shells. Two spent shells were found in the house, and a spent and a live shell were found in the shotgun. Ms. Cates only heard two shots. A medical doctor, who attended the victim at the hospital, testified the victim sustained three major gunshot entry wounds; and the victim bled to death as a result of a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The appellant struck Ms. Cates twice. As a result, she received two wounds to her head requiring a total of eleven stitches.

The appellant told Ms. Cates that he had been outside the bedroom window and heard Ms. Cates and Porter. The appellant continuously asked Porter the nature of sexual activity in which he and Ms. Cates had engaged.

The appellant remained inside the residence for approximately one and one-half hours. During this time he called his parents to inform them that he had shot someone, and he attempted to locate a friend by telephone. However, he did not call an ambulance to assist the victim. The victim was lying on the floor bleeding profusely the entire time.

The District Attorney General argued, and it may be reasonably inferred from the evidence, that after the appellant discovered Porter’s car in Ms. Cates’ driveway, he travelled to the home of his parents several [550]*550miles away, obtained a shotgun, changed vehicles, and returned to the scene of the crime.

The trial judge properly denied the appellant’s motion for the entry of a judgment of acquittal at the conclusion of all the proof. The facts contained in the record, along with resonable inférences which can be drawn from the evidence supported a conviction for murder first degree or murder second degree. The only question presented by the proof was whether the appellant was guilty of first or second degree murder or, in the alternative, voluntary manslaughter. The case of State v. Thornton, supra, is clearly distinguishable upon the facts.

This issue is without merit.

FAILURE TO GRANT A MISTRIAL

After the jury had been selected, the appellant contends that the victim’s mother was very emotional and crying in a hallway adjacent to the courtroom. Defense counsel stated this occurred in the presence of the jury during a recess. The appellant concedes that the District Attorney General acted promptly to remove the State’s witnesses and family members from the same hallway used by the jury after defense counsel expressed concern. However, the District Attorney General did not concede that the incident happened.

The trial judge asked the bailiff, who accompanied the jury during the recess, if there was “any contact, or verbal contact [between] the jurors and those people there.” The bailiff answered in the negative. He did state, however, that some lady was crying, but he did not know who she was. When the jury returned to the courtroom, the trial judge asked the jury if they heard or saw anything that might have affected their ability to be fair and impartial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
790 S.W.2d 547, 1990 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 134, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-peat-tenncrimapp-1990.