State v. William H. Stitts

• Court: Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
• Decided: December 1, 2010
• Docket: 02C01-9604-CC-00126
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON APRIL SESSION, 1997 FILED July 2, 1997

Cecil Crowson, Jr. STATE OF TENNESSEE, ) Appellate C ourt Clerk ) No. 02C01-9604-CC-00126 Appellee ) ) MADISON COUNTY vs. ) ) Hon. FRANKLIN MURCHISON, Judge WILLIAM HERBERT STITTS, ) ) (Aggravated Robbery) Appellant )

For the Appellant: For the Appellee:

DANIEL J. TAYLOR CHARLES W. BURSON Assistant Public Defender Attorney General and Reporter 227 West Baltimore Street Jackson, TN 38301 M. ALLISON THOMPSON Assistant Attorney General GEORGE MORTON GOOGE Criminal Justice Division District Public Defender 450 James Robertson Parkway Nashville, TN 37243-0493

JAMES G. (JERRY) WOODALL District Attorney General

DONALD H. ALLEN Asst. District Attorney General P. O. Box 2825 Jackson, TN 38302

OPINION FILED:

AFFIRMED PURSUANT TO RULE 20

David G. Hayes Judge OPINION

The appellant, William Herbert Stitts, was found guilty by a Madison

County jury of aggravated robbery, a class B felony. Following his conviction,

the appellant was sentenced to twelve years in the Department of Correction. In

this appeal as of right, the appellant contends that the evidence is insufficient to

support his conviction for aggravated robbery. After a review of the record, we

affirm the judgment of the trial court pursuant to Rule 20, Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. R.

The proof at trial established that Harry Allen Stimpson and his wife,

Jackie Stimpson, are the owners of The Olive Branch, a health food store in

Jackson. On December 23, 1995, a man brandishing a tire iron entered the

store and forcibly removed between five and six hundred dollars from the cash

register. Additionally, while being struck on the head with the tire iron, Mr.

Stimpson was robbed of his wallet, which contained approximately thirty to fifty

dollars. During the course of the robbery, the perpetrator also "stomped" Mrs.

Stimpson. Both victims described the robber as a "black male, medium

complexion, height around 6'2" to 6'3", weighing between 225 to 250 pounds,

having a round face with a moustache and wearing a green Army-type

camouflage jacket, jeans, and low cut black shoes or boots." Both victims later

identified the appellant from a police photographic line-up. Immediately following

the robbery, a witness outside the store observed a man running beside the

store building. The man then climbed over a privacy fence at the back of the

property. Police officers made a plaster cast of a shoe print found in the mud at

this location. A forensic scientist with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation

testified that the shoe print cast was consistent in size, shape, and tread design

with a pair of black shoes owned by the appellant. During their testimony, both

victims positively identified the appellant as the perpetrator.

2 It is undisputed that the perpetrator, by means of a deadly weapon,

knowingly obtained money and property from the persons of the victims by

violence. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-402 (1991). Moreover, the proof

establishes that a rational trier of fact could find, beyond a reasonable doubt, that

the appellant was the perpetrator. Tenn. R. App. P. 13(e). In State v. Strickland,

this court held that the testimony of a victim identifying the perpetrator is

sufficient in and of itself to support a conviction. State v. Strickland, 885 S.W.2d

85, 87-88 (Tenn. Crim. App.1993). Accordingly, after a review of the evidence in

this case, we conclude that this is an appropriate case for affirmance under Rule

20 of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

____________________________________ DAVID G. HAYES, Judge

CONCUR:

__________________________________ JOSEPH M. TIPTON, Judge

__________________________________ WILLIAM M. BARKER, Judge