State v. Tuttle

914 S.W.2d 926, 1995 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 612
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJuly 20, 1995
StatusPublished
Cited by237 cases

This text of 914 S.W.2d 926 (State v. Tuttle) 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. Tuttle, 914 S.W.2d 926, 1995 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 612 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION

WELLES, Judge.

This is an appeal pursuant to Rule 3 of the Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. The Defendant was convicted on a jury verdict of the offense of aggravated burglary. For this Class C felony, he was sentenced as a Range II multiple offender to serve eight years in the Department of Correction. The sentence was ordered to be served consecutively to a sentence he was serving on an unrelated conviction. The Defendant appeals his conviction and the length and consecutive nature of his sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.

The Defendant presents five issues for review in this appeal: (1) That the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the findings by the trier of fact of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; (2) that the Defendant’s rights to fundamental due process were violated because the State delayed from October 16, 1990 to May 6, 1992 in bringing formal charges against him; (3) that the trial judge erred in failing to suppress the introduction of the item taken in the burglary; (4) that the trial judge erred and denied the Defendant a fair and impartial trial by allowing the State to reopen and present additional evidence after the State had announced that it had concluded its case; and (5) that the trial court erred in ordering a mid-range, consecutive sentence for the offense.

The victim testified that on the morning of October 16, 1990, she left her home, which was located in a rural area of Franklin County, to go to Nashville. At that time, her shotgun was hanging in her living room on a gun rack. Late that afternoon, when she returned home, she found that her back door had been pried open. A crow bar was laying in her kitchen floor. Her shotgun was missing. She immediately called the Franklin County Sheriffs Department, and a deputy sheriff came to her house and made a report of the breaking and entering and the theft of the shotgun.

The victim was acquainted with the Defendant. The Defendant worked with her son and, in fact, had visited in her home on several occasions. The victim testified that the Defendant had called her on three occasions and asked her to tell the police that she *929 gave him permission to get the gun. She said she “told him I couldn’t do that because he had tore our door open.” The victim also testified that the Defendant said “I took the gun for one purpose and one purpose only, but I did not get to do what I wanted to do with the gun, and if you don’t get the gun back, I’ll see that Vicki will buy you another gun.”

The State and the Defendant next announced that they had entered into a stipulation of facts, which was read to the jury and introduced as an exhibit as follows:

(1) Police officers seized one .20 gauge single shot Harrington and Richardson shotgun at approximately 5:20 p.m. on October 16, 1990. This item has remained in the custody of the authorities since that time.
(2) Police recovered this shotgun from a vehicle registered to Vicki Lancaster who was, at that time, Robert Tuttle’s girlfriend. Robert Tuttle had used Mrs. Lancaster’s car on numerous occasions to go to and from work and for other purposes.
(3) Robert Tuttle was present at the residence when the shotgun was seized.

The State next called a deputy sheriff from Coffee County who testified that he questioned the Defendant concerning the stolen gun and that the Defendant told him that he had gotten the shotgun from a boy to go squirrel hunting, but that the Defendant did not know the boy’s name.

At this point, the State rested its case and the transcript reflects that the following exchange took place outside the presence of the jury:

MR. CONDRA: Your Honor, basically at this time we’d move for a judgment of acquittal on the indicted charge on the grounds that the State has not made out the essential element of any intent to commit a theft.
THE COURT: Well, let me ask Mr. Blount. The only evidence in this record of the Defendant’s use of this vehicle is contained in this stipulation.
GENERAL BLOUNT: Judge, the stipulation contains that he had used the vehicle—
THE COURT: It didn’t say when.
GENERAL BLOUNT: Sir?
THE COURT: It didn’t say when. Absolutely no proof of when he was in possession of the vehicle.
GENERAL BLOUNT: Obviously—
THE COURT: And you’re depending upon recent possession, the inference of recent possession.
GENERAL BLOUNT: Judge, if you will allow us, we can tell you details about that.
THE COURT: Don’t tell me, I have to go by the evidence that’s in this record.
GENERAL BLOUNT: I understand. Judge, number 3 says Mr. Tuttle was present at the residence when the shotgun was seized. The guns were seized from the vehicle. He was there when the vehicle— plus the stipulation that he had used this on numerous occasions.
THE COURT: Is the State prepared to rely on this stipulation to show the possession of the shotgun in the defendant?
The Court will take a five minute break.
GENERAL BLOUNT: Can I ask the Court a question before the Court takes a break?
THE COURT: If I can answer it.
GENERAL BLOUNT: If you’ll allow us to go back on the record, we’ll call another witness, Judge.
THE COURT: If you’re asking to reopen, the Court will permit it.
GENERAL BLOUNT: I’d like that permission.
THE COURT: Then the motion would be premature and Mr. Condra could renew his motion.
GENERAL BLOUNT: And if the Court wants an explanation why we—
*930 THE COURT: You don’t have to make any explanation. If you want to re-open you may do so.
GENERAL BLOUNT: Yes, sir.
MR. CONDRA: Note our objections to his re-opening.
THE COURT: Yes, sir, overrule the objection.

Thereafter, the State called an additional Coffee County deputy sheriff who testified that he was investigating a separate crime and interviewed the Defendant at his place of employment on October 15, 1990. At that time, the Defendant was driving a 1982 Pontiac Bonneville registered to Vicki Lancaster, who was the Defendant’s girlfriend. He stated that the next day, October 16, 1990, that he, other officers, and Vicki Lancaster went to the home of a friend of Ms. Lancaster’s where Ms. Lancaster’s 1982 Pontiac Bonneville was parked. The Defendant was in the residence. The stolen shotgun was laying across the front seat of Ms. Lancaster’s automobile.

At this time, the State again rested its case. The defense offered no proof.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
914 S.W.2d 926, 1995 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 612, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tuttle-tenncrimapp-1995.