Edwards v. State
| Decision Date | 09 February 1968 |
| Citation | 221 Tenn. 60,25 McCanless 60,424 S.W.2d 783 |
| Parties | , 221 Tenn. 60 Carlie EDWARDS, Plaintiff in Error, v. STATE of Tennessee, Defendant in Error. |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Henry, McCord, Forrester & Richardson, Tullahoma, for plaintiff in error. Doyle E. Richardson, Tullahoma, of counsel.
George F. McCanless, Atty. Gen., and Paul E. Jennings, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nashville, for defendant in error; and Harry C. Templeton, Dist. Atty. Gen., Winchester, prosecuted the case in the trial court.
This is an appeal in error from a judgment rendered in the Criminal Court of Franklin County. The parties will be referred to herein as they appeared in the court below; that is, plaintiff in error Carlie Edwards as defendant, and defendant in error as the State.
The defendant was indicted for murder in the first degree for a homicide which occurred in Winchester, Tennessee, on January 4, 1966. The trial was held on November 14 and 15, 1966. The jury returned a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree, and sentenced the defendant to twenty years and one day in the State Penitentiary.
The State's case consisted of the following evidence: (1) An eyewitness testified that he observed the shooting from a position across the street; that he saw the defendant approach the deceased from the rear; that when the two men were some four feet apart, the defendant shot the deceased five times. (2) Another eyewitness testified that the defendant fired three shots at the deceased as the defendant crossed the street, and two other shots from the curb; and that as the defendant was shooting, the deceased was backing away toward a hedge. (3) Two witnesses testified that on more than one occasion, they heard the defendant state that he was going to kill the deceased.
The evidence of the defense was (1) that the deceased had been instrumental in causing the divorce of defendant and his former wife, (2) that the deceased had continued to date the defendant's former wife, (3) that the deceased and the defendant had argued previously, and the deceased had threatened to kill the defendant, (4) that on the morning of the killing, the defendant obtained a .22 caliber pistol from his sister as payment for a debt, (5) that the defendant had taken the pistol to Winchester, in order to sell it, (6) that immediately before the killing, the deceased had wired the defendant's former wife $40.00 to pay her transportation from Florida to Winchester, (7) that the defendant did not anticipate a meeting with the deceased on the morning of the killing; that when the defendant saw the deceased enter the Western Union office, he proceeded in a different direction, (8) that the deceased followed the defendant down the street from the telegraph office, threatened the defendant and reached into his pocket as if to draw a gun, and (9) that the defendant shot only in self-defense.
The defendant has filed ten assignments of error on this appeal. In assignments 1 and 2, the defendant asserts that there was no evidence to support the verdict of guilty; and that the verdict was contrary to the weight and preponderance of the evidence. The principal contention of the defendant in this regard is that the jury erroneously rejected the theory of self-defense; and that if the defendant was guilty of any offense, it was manslaughter or, at most, murder in the second degree.
The record reveals that the evidence was controverted regarding the existence or nature of any dispute between the defendant and the deceased. The same is true, and critically so, with respect to whether or not the evidence supported any right of defendant to kill in his own necessary self-defense. The jury decided those issues against the defendant. This Court cannot say that the evidence preponderates against that finding. Arterburn v. State (1965) 216 Tenn. 240, 391, S.W.2d 648; May v. State (Opinion released for publication on Oct. 20, 1967) Tenn., 420 S.W.2d 647.
The defendant vigorously contends that the State introduced no evidence to establish the necessary elements of premeditation and deliberation to sustain a conviction of murder in the first degree. This Court has many times held that the elements of premeditation and deliberation may be inferred from the circumstances of the killing, In Bass v. State (1950) 191 Tenn. 259, 231 S.W.2d 707, the Court said:
191 Tenn. at 270, 231 S.W.2d at 711.
The record indicates that the defendant had stated an intention to kill the deceased. The defendant was in possession of a deadly weapon and fired a number of shots at the deceased, at least some of which were fired when the deceased was retreating from the defendant. It is true that these facts are controverted by the defendant. The defendant has not, however, adduced sufficient evidence to sustain his burden of showing, on appeal, that the evidence preponderates against the verdict of guilt. Cooper v. State (1909) 123 Tenn. 37, 138 S.W. 826; McBee v. State (1963) 213 Tenn. 15, 372 S.W.2d 173; Nelson v. State (1967) Tenn., 413 S.W.2d 358.
It is the duty of the jury to fix the degree of the homicide, as shown by the facts. Tate v. State (1967) Tenn., 413 S.W.2d 366. The defendant urges that there was ample provocation to lessen the degree of the offense, in the present case, from the first degree to second degree, or manslaughter. The defendant, however, has not produced sufficient evidence to overcome the presumption in favor of the jury's finding that the provocation, if present, was inadequate to reduce the homicide to a degree less than first.
By assignment of error No. 3, the defendant asserts that the court erred in...
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State v. Harris
...is within the trial court's discretion and will not be interfered with in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Edwards v. State, 221 Tenn. 60, 424 S.W.2d 783, 786 (1968); State v. Elliott, 703 S.W.2d 171, 176 (Tenn.Crim.App.1985). The trial court restricted questions which were repetitiou......
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Overstreet v. Shoney's
...obstruction of the orderly progress of a trial. These limitations are left to the trial court's discretion. See Edwards v. State, 221 Tenn. 60, 66, 424 S.W.2d 783, 786 (1968); Austin v. City of Memphis, 684 S.W.2d 624, 631 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1984); Wagner v. Niven, 46 Tenn. App. 581, 598, 332 ......
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Tooley v. State
...show premeditation. The elements of premeditation and deliberation may be inferred from the circumstances of the killing. Edwards v. State, 221 Tenn. 60, 424 S.W.2d 783. If the design to slay was premeditated, it is not material that the defendant was in a passion or excited when that desig......
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Green v. State
...many times that the elements of premeditation and deliberation may be inferred from the circumstances of the killing. Edwards v. State, 221 Tenn. 60, 424 S.W.2d 783. Concerning the weight and sufficiency of evidence to establish premeditation, and particularly with reference to the nature o......