State v. Tyree

CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedMarch 26, 1998
Docket03C01-9607-CC-00279
StatusPublished

This text of State v. Tyree (State v. Tyree) 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. Tyree, (Tenn. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT KNOXVILLE FILED DECEMB ER SESSION, 1997 March 26, 1998

Cecil Crowson, Jr. Appellate C ourt Clerk STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) C.C.A. NO. 03C01-9607-CC-00279 ) Appellee, ) ) ) ANDERSON COUNTY VS. ) ) HON. JAMES B. SCOTT, JR. GREGORY SCOTT TYREE, ) JUDGE ) Appe llant. ) (Aggravated Rape)

ON APPEAL FROM THE JUDGMENT OF THE CRIMINAL COURT OF ANDERSON COUNTY

FOR THE APPELLANT: FOR THE APPELLEE:

NANCY MEYER JOHN KNOX WALKUP Office of the Public Defender Attorney General and Reporter 101 South Main Street, Suite 450 Clinton, TN 37716 PETER M. COUGHLAN Assistant Attorney General 450 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37243-0493

JAMES M. RAMSEY District Attorney General

JAN HICKS Assistant District Attorney General 127 Anderson County Courthouse 100 S. Main Street Clinton, TN 37716

OPINION FILED ________________________

AFFIRMED

DAVID H. WELLES, JUDGE OPINION

The Defen dant, G regory S cott Tyree, appeals as of right pursu ant to R ule

3, Tennessee Rules of Appellate Procedure. He was convicted by a Anderson

Coun ty jury of aggravated rape and sentenced as a standard, Range I offender

to twenty-five years imp risonmen t. He argues three issues in this appeal: (1)

That the trial court erred by introducing evidence of the content of a 1-900

telephone call made from the victim’s home; (2) that the trial court misapplied

sentence enhancement factors and erred in sentencing the Defend ant to twenty-

five years; and (3) tha t the trial court erred b y refus ing to g ive pre trial jail credit.

We affirm the ju dgme nt of the trial co urt.

In Oak Ridge, Tennessee, at approximately 3:00 a.m. on August 20, 1994,

Marie Davis , age 7 9, was awak e, had been in her ya rd “wo rking” on her pear

trees and then had gone back inside her house. The Defendant had been out

with friends to the Am-Vets in Harriman, Tennessee, and drank some beer. At

around 2:30, the group left and some wanted to go to a Krystal Restaurant for

hamburgers, but the De fenda nt dec lined. H e ask ed to b e drop ped o ff at his

moth er’s house. Shortly thereafter, the Defendant knocked on Mrs. Davis’ door

and asked to use the telepho ne. He had b een livin g next d oor to h er with h is

mother since May, 1994. They had used her telephone on a number of

occasions becau se they d id not hav e their ow n telepho ne servic e. Mrs. D avis

was reluctant to let the Defendant in her house that late at night, but he told her

that it would only take a few minutes. The Defendant stated that his mother was

sick an d nee ded to go to th e hos pital.

-2- Mrs. Davis said that the Defendant went to the phone in the living room and

made a call. The Defendant was just s tanding there an d Mrs. D avis told him to

hurry up bec ause s he wan ted to go to bed. Suddenly, the Defendant turned and

grabbed her blouse and bra and tore them off. The Defendant hit her in the head

with his fist and choked her. He threw Mrs. Davis down against the couch. The

Defendant threaten ed “I’m g oing to kill you.” The Defendant went to the kitchen

and turned off the light. Mrs. Davis attempted to run and the Defendant hit her

in the head a nd she was blee ding. He grabbed her neck and choked her. The

Defendant sucked the victim’s breast, threatened to chew it off, and bit her

breast. Mrs. D avis the n felt the Defe ndan t’s pen is in her vagina. The Defendant

later admitted to penetrating the victim with his fingers. Mrs. Davis recalled that

the Defendant was wearing black shorts with white buttons. The victim was

wearing large, baggy shorts when the rape occurred and, afterwards, there was

blood on her und erwear. Mrs. Davis blacked out at some point and awakened

in the morning. She called her friend, Adele Haun, and her brother-in-law, James

Hicks to come over. Mr. Hicks called the police. After the police arrived, the

Defendant came to the victim’s yard and asked what h ad ha ppen ed. A b aseb all

cap was found under the coffee table and the Defendant later admitted that it was

his.

Dr. Anthony DiFranco examined the victim at the Oak Ridge Methodist

Medical Center. The exam revealed that Mrs. Davis had bruising of th e

conjunctiva of her e yes, br uising on the left side of her face, and a bruise that

went along her neck. She also had a ruptured tympanic membrane, or eardrum,

and blood and drainage was visible. These injuries were consistent with her

claims of being hit about the head and choked. There were small bite marks on

-3- the left nipp le. Mrs. Davis also h ad a b ruise o n the b ack o f her left hand. A

pelvic exam ination show ed vag inal tea rs from rabic n oire an d sm all intravaginal

tears on both side of the vaginal walls. Thos e tears w ere con sistent with

penetration and could result from penile penetration or penetration by fingers.

Swabs taken revealed no presence of semen.

The Defendant submitted a written statement on August 20, denying that

he was at the victim’s home at the time the crime was comm itted. The next da y,

the De fendan t subm itted a state ment im plicating him self in the crim e:

I, Grego ry Scott Tyree, remember going into Marie Davis’ home to use the phone. After using the phone, I struck Davis with my hand and only my hand. I do remember touching her sexually with my hand. I’m very sorry for hurting her and would never kill her. I would like some help for the problems that I now, that I, I know I have.

The Defendant was charged with one count of aggravated rape. He was

convicted and sentenced to twenty-five years. He now appeals the judgment of

the trial cou rt.

I.

As his first issue, the Defendant contends that the trial court committed

revers ible error by admitting rebuttal testimony regarding a 1-900 call placed from

the victim’s ho me. D uring the investigatio n of this ca se, it cam e to the victim’s

attention that a telephone call was placed from her residence around 3:30 a.m.

on the night o f the incide nt. The v ictim d id not re cogn ize the num ber no r did she

pay the char ge of $6 .98. Detective Mike Uher called the number, which stated

-4- it was the “Hotte st Girls in Am erica.” After voice activa tion, a woman on the line

talked to the caller about performing sexual acts.

At trial, the State attempted to admit testimony regarding the call in its case

in chief. The victim was un able to identify the telephone bill because she forgot

her glasse s. Nex t, the victim ’s brother-in-law, James Hicks, testified that he was

respo nsible for handling Mrs. Davis’ telephone bills every month. He knew who

she regularly ca lled and h e did not r ecognize the long distance number. He

testified that the charge was $6.98. The trial judge allowed no testimony

regarding the conte nt of the ca ll becaus e the teleph one b ill was n ot prop erly

authenticated.

The Defe ndan t testified on dire ct exam ination that he went to the victim ’s

house with the inte nt to rob he r. He state d that he called a friend in Oliver

Springs. On cross-examination, the Defendant denied that he called a 1-900

number for the p urpos e of se xual ar ousa l. The S tate offered Detective Uher as

a rebuttal witness. Uher testified that the content of the 1-900 number was

sexual in nature. The testimony was adm itted as proba tive of the Defe ndan t’s

intent.

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State v. Tyree, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-tyree-tenncrimapp-1998.