State v. Underwood

669 S.W.2d 700, 1984 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 2727
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJanuary 10, 1984
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 669 S.W.2d 700 (State v. Underwood) 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. Underwood, 669 S.W.2d 700, 1984 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 2727 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION

BYERS, Judge.

The defendant was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to serve ninety-nine years in the penitentiary.

The defendant says the evidence is not sufficient to support the verdict, says the trial court should have suppressed the testimony of two witnesses whose names were not revealed until shortly before the trial, or in the alternative should have granted a continuance on this basis; says oral and written statements made by the defendant should have been suppressed; says the trial court erroneously allowed the state to demonstrate to the jury how the defendant had reenacted the crime at the scene thereof; says the trial judge erroneously allowed evidence of a prior crime committed by the defendant and erroneously instructed the jury on how to view this evidence; and says the trial court erroneously accepted the jury verdict after the jury returned an improper verdict and after they were instructed again on how to return their verdict.

The judgment is affirmed.

The state’s evidence shows that at approximately 12:00 midnight on February 19, 1981, the defendant came to a trailer where the victim was sleeping. The defendant and the victim, who had been the chief witness to a previous crime to which the defendant had pled guilty, conversed for a time, and then left together to get alcoholic beverages. Throughout the early morning hours of February 20, 1981, the defendant was seen, driving a station wagon, by various people, including a witness who saw the defendant at 2:00 a.m., a witness who saw the defendant at 2:30 a.m. and a witness who saw the defendant at 2:45 a.m. The state’s evidence does not show the whereabouts of the defendant between the hours of 2:45 a.m. and approximately 5:00 a.m. on February 20, 1981. A state witness testified he saw the defendant at a store at approximately 5:00 a.m. on that morning. The defendant told this witness that he had gotten lost while hunting in the mountains during the night and that he had called his father to pick him up. Shortly after this, a truck arrived and the defendant was driven away. A state witness, who arrived at the store a brief time later, had passed a burning station wagon.

The sheriff’s department received a report about the burning vehicle at 6:58 a.m. Police officers investigated the report and found the vehicle and a corpse therein. Through autopsy and other means, the corpse was identified as the deceased in this case. Death had resulted from wounds inflicted by a shotgun. A lighter fluid can was found in the car, and a state fire marshal testified the vehicle was intentionally burned.

The records at the sheriff’s department showed the defendant called the department at 10:08 a.m. on February 20,1981, to report that his vehicle had been stolen the previous evening. The records at the sheriff’s office did not show any earlier report of the vehicle being stolen.

The defendant subsequently made a statement in which he admitted shooting the deceased but said it was done to defend himself from an attack made upon him by the deceased.

The defendant did not testify but offered the testimony of his mother and father to establish a defense of alibi. These witnesses testified the defendant arrived at his home at approximately 1:30 a.m. on February 20, 1981, after he had called to tell them his car had been stolen, and the defendant’s father had gone to get him. Both of these witnesses testified the defendant called the sheriff’s office at that time to report the theft of his automobile.

The state’s evidence shows the defendant and the deceased were together prior to the discovery of the vehicle, the defendant had a motive to kill the de *703 ceased, and the defendant was in the vicinity of the burning vehicle when it was found. Furthermore, the defendant attempted to cover up the crime and his participation therein, and he confessed to the crime. The defendant’s defense of alibi presented a factual issue for the jury to determine. State v. Crawford, 635 S.W.2d 704 (Tenn.Cr.App.1982). We are satisfied that there was more than sufficient evidence upon which the jury could reject the defense and to find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. T.R.A.P. 13(e); State v. Patton, 593 S.W.2d 913 (Tenn.1979).

The state, on November 27, 1981, notified defense counsel that they would call the witness who discovered the burning car and the witness who had seen the defendant in the vicinity thereof on the morning of February 20, 1981. Although an officer apparently had known of these witnesses for a considerable length of time, for various reasons, the district attorney general had not. There was no showing of bad faith on the part of the state in not listing these witnesses on the indictment or giving earlier notice of them to the defendant. Defendant’s counsel talked to these witnesses on November 28, and they discussed what they knew about the case with the attorney. The trial of this case commenced on November 30, 1981. During a hearing before the trial judge defense counsel insisted he had not had adequate time to investigate these witnesses to prepare to impeach their credibility or to refute their evidence.

T.C.A. § 40-17-106, which provides that the state shall list upon the indictment the names of witnesses to be called by the state, is directory only. The failure to list witnesses does not alone disqualify them from testifying, and the defendant is not entitled to relief without a showing that prejudice resulted from the omission. State v. Goodman, 643 S.W.2d 375 (Tenn.Cr.App.1982); State v. Kenner, 640 S.W.2d 51 (Tenn.Cr.App.1982). Whether to allow the witnesses to testify is a matter of discretion for the trial judge, and is to be exercised upon the circumstances in the particular case. McBee v. State, 213 Tenn. 15, 372 S.W.2d 173 (1963). Defense counsel interviewed these witnesses two days prior to trial. Under these circumstances we do not think the trial judge abused his discretion in denying the defendant’s motion to disqualify the witnesses.

Further, there is no showing in post-trial proceedings that had the defendant had more time he could have impeached or refuted the testimony of the witnesses. We conclude therefore that the trial court did not err in allowing these witnesses to testify or in denying the defendant’s motion to continue the case to permit an investigation of these witnesses.

The defendant contends the written statements he made to officers should not have been admitted because they were obtained in violation of his right not to give evidence against himself. The basic thrust of the defendant’s claim that his right not to incriminate himself was violated flowed from an initial interview with the sheriff when no Miranda warnings were given and which he says resulted in later statements by the defendant.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
669 S.W.2d 700, 1984 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 2727, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-underwood-tenncrimapp-1984.