State v. Scott

626 S.W.2d 25, 1981 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 397
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 24, 1981
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 626 S.W.2d 25 (State v. Scott) 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. Scott, 626 S.W.2d 25, 1981 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 397 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1981).

Opinion

OPINION

DWYER, Judge.

Six issues have been presented in this appeal as of right from a conviction of murder in the second degree with punishment for twenty-five years.

There is an evidence issue which prompts our recitation of the facts from our review of the record.

*27 Allen Joe, Chinese owner of Joe’s Supermarket located at 2209 Eldridge in the City of Memphis, was robbed and shot in his place of business around 1:00 p. m. on January 10, 1979. He succumbed the same day from the gunshot wound which had penetrated his abdominal cavity.

The ensuing investigation resulted in the officers interviewing appellant around 8:30 p. m. on the evening of July 30, 1979. After being given his rights the appellant gave the officers a statement inculpating others in the robbery and homicide including a Jimmy Lee Hunter. He also told them the whereabouts of the pistol that was used in the felony-murder. Acting on this information the officers went to 1463 Brookins 1 in Memphis where in executing a search warrant they found a dismantled .22 caliber revolver. The officers also searched a late model Chevrolet Camaro at the residence and found therein another .22 caliber revolver.

A firearms expert for the State testified the fatal projectile could have been fired from either revolver.

The officers, continuing their investigation, interviewed a Ms. Kathy Horton, appellant’s girl friend, at police headquarters. 2 After discovering that the police had talked to Ms. Horton, the appellant went to police headquarters and expressed to the officers his displeasure with their actions. The appellant was at that time arrested and later made a statement which inculpated himself in the holdup-murder.

A lineup the following morning, August 1, 1979, resulted in a Ms. Graham, who was inside the grocery at the time of the robbery, identifying appellant as one of the two masked men that robbed and shot Allen Joe on January 10, 1979. Ms. Graham based her identification of appellant on his size, complexion, weight, and voice. 3

A Jimmy Lee Hunter, called as a witness by the State, related he had pled guilty to his part in the holdup and received a twenty-year sentence. Before the holdup, he checked the store and waited in the car until the holdup was consummated. He then went to a house where he received five dollars for his services while two other men split the rest. He further acknowledged seeing Bernice Perry and Martha Wilson before the holdup.

A Ms. Bernice Perry, testifying for the State, related she and Martha Wilson had met Hunter shortly before the holdup. They also saw the appellant and Harvey Holmes. Hunter accompanied the women into the grocery store. Later, she and Martha Wilson were standing at a bus stop across from the store when Ms. Wilson stated, “... look Calvin and Harvey almost just got hit running across the street.” She further related Ms. Graham came running out of the store saying, “... Mr. Allen Joe had just got robbed and that they shot him.” The statements of Wilson by Ms. Perry were entered into evidence over objection.

When State witness Martha Wilson became obtrusive the court, over objection, allowed the State to cross examine her as a hostile witness. She admitted giving a statement to the police on August 1, 1979, that she saw the appellant and Harvey Holmes enter the store with ski masks and depart running in front of cars, pulling the masks off. She had also told the police that the appellant admitted that he and Harvey Holmes had robbed the store. After her testimony, the trial court promptly charged the jury that the prior out-of-court statements were admitted only for the purpose of impeaching the credibility of the witness and not as substantive evidence.

The appellant did not testify and offered no proof.

*28 The jury’s verdict of guilty has resolved all conflicts and discrepancies in the testimony of the witnesses and on appeal the evidence is reviewed in the strongest legitimate light to the theory of the State. State v. Cabbage, 571 S.W.2d 832, 835 (Tenn.1978). The evidence as narrated is sufficient to convince any rational trier of fact of the appellant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. T.R.A.P. 13(e). The evidence issue is overruled.

The appellant insists the trial court erred in allowing into evidence over objection Bernice Perry’s testimony that Martha Wilson had stated, “Look Calvin and Henry almost got hit running across the street.” It is his argument that the State failed to prove that Ms. Wilson’s statement was an excited utterance and therefore an exception to the hearsay rule and admissible evidence.

Prior to the trial court’s determination that Martha Wilson was a hostile witness, her testimony revealed that she and Ms. Perry were standing at a bus stop within sight of the grocery store when she saw Calvin run across the street. We find no prejudice here. See Larry Ray Lloyd v. State, released at Jackson July 10, 1980.

The appellant contends the court erred in allowing the State to impeach its witness Martha Wilson. At trial, the witness repudiated her statement to the police on August 1, 1979, in which she had told them she saw appellant enter Joe’s store with a ski mask and had heard him admit his participation in the robbery. During a jury-out hearing appellant’s counsel submitted that the State could not claim surprise or hostility because appellant’s counsel took a statement on May 5, 1980, that was consistent with her trial court testimony, and this statement was furnished to the State. The State countered by pointing out that this statement was not provided to them until June 16, 1980, the day of the trial and offered proof that on May 19, 1980, the State interviewed Ms. Wilson at which time she reaffirmed her original statement of August 1, 1979.

The trial court under these circumstances did not abuse its discretion in allowing the impeachment. Wallace v. Knoxville Community Development Corporation, 568 S.W.2d 107, 111 (Tenn.App.1978). Further, after direct examination of Ms. Wilson the trial court properly charged the jury that they were to receive the out-of-court statement of the witness only as reflecting on the credibility of the witness and not as being substantive evidence. There is no error here. King v. State, 187 Tenn. 431, 436, 215 S.W.2d 813 (1948). Also see Martin v. State, 584 S.W.2d 830, 833 (Tenn.Cr.App.1979). This issue is overruled.

Next, appellant submits that the trial court erred in granting the State’s challenge for cause when a juror who at first stated she was against capital punishment and would not invoke it later related she would follow the law. With no citation to authorities, this issue is without merit, T.R. A.P. 27(a)(7); Rockett v. State,

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Bluebook (online)
626 S.W.2d 25, 1981 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-scott-tenncrimapp-1981.