State v. Cole, No. W2002-01254-CCA-R3-DD (Tenn. Crim. 11/24/2003)
| Decision Date | 24 November 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. W2002-01254-CCA-R3-DD.,W2002-01254-CCA-R3-DD. |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DETRICK COLE. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Robert Wilson Jones, Public Defender; William L. Johnson (at trial), Dianne M. Thackery (at trial), W. Mark Ward (on appeal), Tony N. Brayton (on appeal), and Garland Erguden (on appeal), Assistant Public Defenders, for the appellant, Detrick Cole.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Angele M. Gregory, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Stephen P. Jones and Jennifer Nichols, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINION
Capital defendant Detrick Cole appeals as of right his sentence of death resulting from the October 2000 murder of Santeife Thomas. A Shelby County jury found the defendant guilty of premeditated first degree murder. Following a separate sentencing hearing, the jury unanimously found the presence of one statutory aggravating circumstance, i.e., the defendant had previously been convicted of one or more violent felony offenses; determined that this aggravating circumstance outweighed any mitigating circumstances; and imposed a sentence of death. The defendant now appeals, presenting for our review the following issues: (1) whether the evidence is sufficient to support premeditated first degree murder; (2) whether the trial court erred in permitting the state to introduce a photograph of the victim while he was alive; (3) whether the trial court erred in permitting the introduction of post-mortem photographs of the victim; (4) whether the fingerprinting of the defendant in the presence of the jury at the penalty phase was constitutional error; (5) whether the trial court erroneously prohibited the defendant from introducing hearsay evidence during the penalty phase; (6) whether the trial court's instructions to the jury as to the (i)(2) aggravating circumstance were contrary to the United States Supreme Court's holdings in Apprendi v. New Jersey and Ring v. Arizona; (7) whether there is a reasonable probability that the instruction on victim impact evidence coerced the death sentence from the jury; (8) whether the evidence is sufficient to establish the defendant had previously been convicted of one or more violent felony offenses; (9) whether the jury verdict form was clear as to whether the jury found the aggravating circumstance relied upon by the state; (10) whether the Tennessee death penalty statutory scheme is constitutional; and (11) whether the sentence of death imposed in this case is disproportionate. Upon review, we question, but need not determine, whether the trial court in the penalty phase had the authority under Apprendi and Ring to find the defendant's prior felony convictions were crimes of violence and to instruct the jury that these prior convictions were crimes of violence; however, we conclude that if there were error, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, we discern no error of law requiring reversal. Accordingly, we affirm the defendant's conviction for first degree murder and the jury's imposition of the sentence of death.
Shortly after midnight on October 17, 2000, the defendant killed the victim by shooting him twice in the head. The homicide occurred in an overgrown, grassy area near an apartment complex, and the victim's body was not discovered until October 21st. Those facts are undisputed. The testimony at trial was as follows:
Between 1:00 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., on October 17, 2000, Marcus Puryear, who lived near the Garden Walk Apartments in Memphis, heard "two loud gunshots" while sitting in his vehicle. Puryear stated he then observed a speeding car which sounded like it had a "small four-cylinder engine." After he returned to his residence, he again heard what sounded like the same vehicle. He then observed two males exit the vehicle, a late model Mitsubishi Galant. They walked around in the bushes and weeds where he previously heard the gunshots, returned to their vehicle after three or four minutes, and left at a high rate of speed.
Fourteen-year-old Andropolis Wells testified that earlier that evening, he saw the defendant at the Ridgemont Apartments. Wells stated they stayed at the complex until the victim, twenty-seven-year-old Santeife Thomas, arrived in his vehicle. Wells said another man, "E," asked the victim for a ride to the Raleigh Woods Apartments and he and the defendant accompanied them. According to Wells, "E" exited the vehicle at Raleigh Woods and the defendant asked the victim to take him to the Garden Walk Apartments, where the defendant directed the victim to the back of the apartments near some bushes and high grass. Wells testified the defendant left briefly and, upon his return, said "Jerry" would bring them some crack cocaine.
Wells said he then heard the defendant repeatedly tell the victim to open his mouth and saw the defendant pointing a gun near the victim's face. Wells testified the victim did not have a weapon and had made no aggressive moves toward the defendant. Wells recounted that the victim told the defendant, "[S]top playing, man — stop playing" and backed up. Wells said he then heard two gunshots. Wells stated the defendant ran from the bushes holding a set of keys, but stated, "No, these the wrong keys — these the wrong keys." The defendant then ran back to the victim's body and returned with another set of keys. Wells testified the defendant ran toward the victim's car and ordered Wells to enter it. Wells stated the defendant then drove the victim's car to the Ridgemont Apartments.
Wells said that upon arriving at the apartment complex, the defendant removed two shells from the gun and threw them into a garbage can. Wells testified the defendant then took the gun to a man in one of the apartments. According to Wells, the defendant instructed him to return with him to the victim's car. Wells stated that when they entered the car, the defendant said he had lost his electronic organizer and announced they must return to the scene and look for it. Wells said they returned to the Garden Walk Apartments, where they walked to the victim's body. The defendant rolled the body over while looking for his organizer. Wells said the defendant expressed concern that if he did not find the organizer, he would get caught; however, the search for the organizer was unsuccessful.
According to Wells, the defendant said he shot the victim because the victim owed him fifteen dollars. Wells then stated he would have given the defendant fifteen dollars; however, the defendant responded, "Nig___ gonna start respecting me."
Robert Eric Adams testified he saw the defendant on October 18, 2000. Adams stated the defendant told him the victim was taking him to meet someone regarding a drug transaction when he asked the victim about the money the victim owed him. Adams said that according to the defendant, the victim replied he would pay the defendant on Friday, but the defendant felt the victim was lying. Adams stated the defendant recounted that he asked the victim the same question three times, and when the victim failed to respond the last time, he shot him in the head. Adams said the defendant told him that the victim fell, but he shot him again because he did not believe he was dead.
Adams testified the defendant then requested a ride to the Garden Walk Apartments, and the defendant showed him the victim's body. Adams stated the defendant said he lost his electronic organizer; he began searching for it; and they left after the defendant found it.
Officer J. Taylor testified that on the morning of October 20th, he observed the defendant exiting a convenience store. Officer Taylor stated that during a routine check for weapons, he found the defendant possessed a Mitsubishi ignition key. Officer Taylor then transported the defendant to the homicide division for questioning. Officer Taylor stated that when he instructed the defendant to empty all of his belongings onto a table, the Mitsubishi ignition key was missing. Officers later searched the room and found the key under a chair.
Sergeant T.J. Helldorfer testified that after the defendant was advised of his rights, he said he found the key at the Ridgemont Apartment parking lot and, since he collected car keys, he took it. The defendant said he was aware that the victim had been reported missing but did not admit any involvement in the victim's disappearance. Sgt. Helldorfer said the defendant admitted concealing the car key under the cushion of a chair in the homicide office because "he had second thoughts about this key" after the officer questioned him. Sgt. Helldorfer stated the defendant was then released.
Sgt. Helldorfer testified the key unlocked the victim's Mitsubishi car. He stated the victim's car had blood on the door handle, and a piece of paper bearing the defendant's fingerprint was found inside the vehicle.
According to Sgt. Helldorfer, officers began to search for the defendant again, and when they located him, he made an obscene gesture and fled. Sgt. Helldorfer said the defendant later contacted police and stated he was going to turn himself in, but he failed to do so. Sgt. Helldorfer testified that after the defendant was subsequently arrested and again advised of his rights, he admitted his prior statement to the police was false. Sgt. Helldorfer stated the defendant admitted killing the victim and gave the following statement:
On the night that [the victim] was murdered, it was me, [Wells], and [the victim]. We left the Ridgemont Terrace Apartments going to the...
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