Timothy Lee Simpson v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

Kentucky Supreme Court·Decided June 25, 2009·No. 2007 SC 000253·Unknown

Opinion

IMPORTANT NOTICE NOT TO BE PUBLIS HED OPINION

THIS OPINION IS DESIGNATED "NOT TO BE PUBLISHED ." PURSUANT TO THE RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE PROMULGATED BY THE SUPREME COURT, CR 76.28(4)(C), THIS OPINION IS NOT TO BE PUBLISHED AND SHALL NOT BE CITED OR USED AS BINDING PRECEDENT IN ANY OTHER CASE IN ANY COURT OF THIS STATE; HOWEVER, UNPUBLISHED KENTUCKY APPELLATE DECISIONS, RENDERED AFTER JANUARY 1, 2003, MAY BE CITED FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT IF THERE IS NO PUBLISHED OPINION THAT WOULD ADEQUATELY ADDRESS THE ISSUE BEFORE THE COURT. OPINIONS CITED FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE COURT SHALL BE SET OUT AS AN UNPUBLISHED DECISION IN THE FILED DOCUMENT AND A COPY OF THE ENTIRE DECISION SHALL BE TENDERED ALONG WITH THE DOCUMENT TO THE COURT AND ALL PARTIES TO THE ACTION .

RENDERED: JUNE 25, 2009

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

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TIMOTHY LEE SIMPSON

ON APPEAL FROM BOYD CIRCUIT COURT V. HONORABLE C . DAVID HAGERMAN, JUDGE NO . 06-CR-00234

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY APPELLEE

MEMORANDUM OPINION OF THE COURT AFFIRMING IN PART, VACATING AND REMANDING IN PART

Timothy Lee 1 Simpson challenges his convictions for murder and tampering with physical evidence, maintaining there was insufficient evidence that he murdered Faith Clay and that the Commonwealth made improper comments during its closing argument. We agree that the Commonwealth made improper remarks during its opening and closing statements about two cell mates of Appellant's who were not called as witnesses at trial. However, we adjudge that said error does not rise to the level of palpable error in this case. Although not raised by Appellant, we acknowledge the trial court's clear error in running the five-year sentence consecutive to the life sentence. Thus, we

1 The notice of appeal lists Appellant's name as "Timothy Lee Simpson", but the lower court records refer to the defendant as "Timothy Scott Simpson." The Commonwealth's documents refer to Appellant as "Timothy Scott Simpson."

vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing in accordance with this opinion. We reject the remaining claims of error and affirm in all other respects.

In 2006, Appellant, 'Timothy Lee Simpson, was living in a garage apartment behind his mother's house. At 5:04 a.m. on February 16, 2006, Appellant's mother, Linda Simpson, placed a 911 call reporting that Appellant's "girlfriend had a gun and she shot herself." Numerous officers from the Ashland Police Department ("APD") responded to the scene .

When the police arrived, they observed the dead body of the victim, Faith Clay, lying on her back on a couch in the living room. Her face was covered in blood, and it appeared that she had been shot just below her right eye. Appellant's 9 mm handgun was on a chair six to eight feet away from Clay's body.

Appellant was calm at the scene and consented to be interviewed by police. Appellant told police that he had been at his computer listening to music when he heard a shot . Appellant then ran into the living room and saw Clay bleeding from her right eye. The Appellant. stated that he grabbed some cloth items and held them on Clay's head in an attempt to stop the blood flow. At some point, Appellant went to his mother's house.

After a period of knocking on his mother's door, Linda Simpson finally answered, and they both went back to Appellant's apartment. Linda Simpson testified that once in the apartment, Appellant reached down and picked up the gun . She then took the gun from Appellant, with a piece of paper and laid it in the chair.

The police took photographs and gathered evidence from the scene in order to make the determination whether the shooting was a suicide or a homicide . The next day, the police received an anonymous tip that resulted in a second search warrant being issued regarding Appellant's apartment. Pursuant to that search, police found two 2-liter plastic Mountain Dew bottles and a 20-ounce plastic Mountain Dew bottle in the trash can in the alley behind Appellant's apartment. The 20-ounce bottle had a hole in the bottom . Police also found numerous pieces of used duct tape in the garbage and at various places in the apartment. One piece of duct tape found underneath a couch cushion had a plastic ring from a soft drink bottle stuck to it. Several small pieces of green plastic and another plastic ring were found around the couch where Clay's body had been. Blood which was ultimately found to match Clay's DNA was found on two pieces of the used duct tape.

In conducting the autopsy on Clay's body, the Medical Examiner found several bits of green plastic shrapnel in Clay's hair, on her head, and underneath her right eye . A portion of another white plastic bottle ring was also found on her body. The Medical Examiner determined that the bullet entered Clay's lower right eyelid and exited the left side of the back of her skull. Because of the shrapnel around the entry wound, the irregular shape of the entry wound, and the absence of stippling or smoke residue around the wound, the Medical Examiner opined that Clay had been shot through some sort of barrier. Although high levels of Methadone and Xanax were found in Clay's bloodstream, the Medical Examiner concluded the cause of death to be from the gunshot wound to the head . As to manner of death (suicide or homicide), the Medical Examiner reported it undetermined due to the suspicious plastic fragments recovered from the body, the location of the wound, and the fact that it was an "atypical" wound.

A forensic analyst determined that the pieces of green plastic found in the apartment matched the pieces found on Clay's body, and that all the pieces had once been part of the same object . The pieces were further determined to be identical to the plastic of a 2-liter Mountain Dew bottle .

In the search of Appellant's apartment, police found a receipt showing that Appellant had purchased the 9 mm handgun that Clay was shot with on February 10, 2006, less than a week before her death. Police also discovered a bullet hole in the ceiling, which Appellant initially stated was from when he got mad a few days earlier and shot a hole in the ceiling. Underneath the deck of Appellant's apartment, police found the burnt remains of various items of synthetic fabric and a 9 mm shell casing .

Appellant gave two statements to police, one on the day Clay was shot and one the next day, after police had conducted the second search of Appellant's apartment. After being confronted with the information about the plastic pieces and bottles recovered by police, Appellant admitted in the second interview that his gun had had a 2-liter Mountain Dew bottle duct-taped to the end of it to make a homemade silencer. He stated that he had an interest in silencers and had test-fired the gun with the homemade silencers, determining that the 2-liter silencer worked better. He told police that he sometimes test- fired the gun by the railroad track, but had test-fired the gun in the apartment a few days before, which caused the bullet hole in the ceiling. He maintained, however, that Clay had shot herself with the silencer on the end of the gun . He further admitted removing and disposing of the plastic bottle from the gun, other plastic bottles, and some shell casings before police were called because he thought it would make him look guilty. Appellant claimed he kept the gun with the homemade silencer on the end of it under the couch and that Clay must have found it there and shot herself.

On September 21, 2006, Appellant was indicted for the murder of Faith Clay and tampering with physical evidence. The case was tried by a jury from February 6-14, 2006 .

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