State v. Sam Neely

1 S.W.3d 679, 1999 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 415, 1999 WL 270360
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedApril 29, 1999
Docket01C01-9510-CC-00343
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 1 S.W.3d 679 (State v. Sam Neely) 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. Sam Neely, 1 S.W.3d 679, 1999 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 415, 1999 WL 270360 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION

TIPTON, Judge.

The defendant, Sam Neely, appeals as of right from his convictions for reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon and passing a worthless check in the amount of $808.20, both Class E felonies. The convictions were the result of two separate, unrelated jury trials in the Rutherford County Circuit Court. However, the records from both cases were commingled below so as to reflect a single, consolidated appeal. Therefore, we will address the defendant’s contentions with respect to each conviction in this opinion. The defendant received concurrent one-year sentences for both convictions as a Range I, standard offender and a $2,000.00 fíne for the reckless endangerment conviction. 1 Regarding the reckless endangerment conviction, the defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient. Regarding the worthless check conviction, the defendant contends that the trial court erred by allowing him to be tried on a dismissed indictment for a charge barred by the statute of limitations. In both cases, the defendant argues that the trial court erred by denying him probation. We affirm the convictions upon the jury verdicts but modify the sentences to reflect time served with the remainder of the one-year sentences to be served on supervised probation to be served concurrently.

I. RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT CONVICTION

The defendant was originally charged with evading arrest and two counts of reckless endangerment with an automobile as a deadly weapon. One count related to the reckless endangerment of Rutherford County Deputy Whit Davis, and the other count related to the reckless endangerment of Marvin Lester. The defendant was acquitted of evading arrest and the reckless endangerment of Deputy Davis but was convicted of the reckless endangerment of Mr. Lester.

Deputy Davis testified that on April 21, 1993, he went to the defendant’s home to serve a writ of execution upon the defendant’s Cadillac Seville in order to satisfy a civil judgment against the defendant. After being told by an elderly woman that the defendant was not home, he went around the corner of the house and saw the defendant getting into the Cadillac. He said that he approached the car and told the defendant to get out. He said that he opened the driver’s side door and tried to pull the defendant out, but the defendant pushed him off and closed the door. Deputy Davis testified that he threatened to shoot the defendant but did not pull his weapon. He said that the *681 defendant drove away before he could release the door handle.

Murfreesboro Police Officer Tom Sissom testified that he received a dispatch regarding the defendant. He said he saw the defendant driving at a high rate of speed causing other cars to take evasive action. Officer Sissom stated that the defendant was driving forty-five to fifty miles per hour in a thirty-mile-per-hour zone. He said that the defendant “whipped up into a driveway” as a man was crossing it. Officer Sissom arrested the defendant.

Marvin Lester testified that he was in his yard when he heard a siren, and then he saw a car coming into his driveway. He said that he had to run to get out of the way or the car would have run over him. He said that the car came within ten feet of him.

The defendant testified that he was unaware that Deputy Davis was at his house when he left. He said that as he was leaving, Davis ran up and threatened to blow his brains out if he did not get out of the car. He said that Davis’ testimony was incorrect. He said that his car doors automatically locked and that Davis would have had to reach into the car to unlock the door. He said that Davis did not touch the car. The defendant testified that he felt threatened by Davis and drove away. He explained that he did not think about Davis being a deputy; he only saw a gun.

The defendant denied going the route described by Officer Sissom and stated that he was going to visit some people. He said he saw Officer Sissom’s flashing fights but did not think they were for him. He denied hearing a siren. He said that when he realized that Officer Sissom was pursuing him, he pulled into a driveway. The defendant testified that he was driving about twenty-five miles per hour, and he pulled into the driveway at a slow speed. He claimed that Mr. Lester was in the yard about seventy-five feet from the driveway. Also, he said that there were no skid marks on the driveway. He said that he was unaware of any outstanding civil judgment against him.

The defendant contends that the evidence is insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Lester was placed “in imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury” as required by the reckless endangerment statute. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-103(a). He argues that the evidence fails to show that his car came close enough to Mr. Lester to put him in imminent danger. The defendant asserts that Mr. Lester was standing in the yard when the car pulled into the driveway. Also, he claims that he was not violating any traffic laws. The state contends that the evidence is sufficient.

Our standard of review when the sufficiency of the evidence is questioned on appeal is “whether, after viewing the evidence in the fight most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.” Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 319, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979). This means that we do not reweigh the evidence but presume that the jury has resolved all conflicts in the testimony and drawn all reasonable inferences from the evidence in favor of the state. See State v. Sheffield, 676 S.W.2d 542, 547 (Tenn.1984); State v. Cabbage, 571 S.W.2d 832, 835 (Tenn.1978).

Viewed in this fight, we believe that the evidence is sufficient to support the reckless endangerment conviction. Although the defendant claims that Mr. Lester was seventy-five feet away from him and that he was traveling at a slow speed, the jury obviously accredited the testimony of the state’s witnesses. Officer Sissom testified that the defendant was traveling about fifteen to twenty miles per hour over the speed limit when he “whipped up into” Mr. Lester’s driveway. Mr. Lester testified that if he had not been looking, the defendant would have run over him, and he had to run to get out of the way. He testified that the defendant’s car came within ten *682 feet of him. In the light most favorable to the state, the evidence is sufficient.

II. WORTHLESS CHECK CONVICTION

The defendant contends that the trial court erred by allowing him to be tried for the worthless check charge. He states that the charge had been dismissed as part of a plea agreement, but the trial court reinstated the charge when the defendant withdrew his plea agreement. He contends that the proper procedure to reinstate the charge would be to issue a new indictment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 S.W.3d 679, 1999 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 415, 1999 WL 270360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sam-neely-tenncrimapp-1999.