State v. Collins
| Decision Date | 21 April 2022 |
| Docket Number | W2020-01566-CCA-R3-CD |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. QUINCY LAMONT COLLINS |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
November 2, 2021 Session
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Madison County No. 20-67 Roy B Morgan, Jr., Judge
Defendant Quincy Lamont Collins, was indicted by the Madison County Grand Jury for one count each of attempted first degree premeditated murder, aggravated assault, especially aggravated robbery, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony having been previously convicted of a dangerous felony. Following a jury trial, Defendant was convicted as charged, and he received an effective sentence of 31 years. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress his statement to police; that the trial court should have suppressed the gun located as a result of information obtained during Defendant's interrogation; that the trial court erred by instructing the jury on flight; and that his convictions for attempted first degree premeditated murder and aggravated assault violate double jeopardy. Following our careful review of the record, the arguments of the parties and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Trial Court Affirmed
M. Todd Ridley, Assistant Public Defender, Appellate Division, Franklin, Tennessee (on appeal); Jeremy Epperson, Jackson, Tennessee (at trial) for the appellant, Quincy Lamont Collins.
Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Katharine K. Decker, Assistant Attorney General; Jody S. Pickens, District Attorney General; and Bradley Champine, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINION
On September 9, 2019, an arrest warrant was issued alleging that Defendant shot in the chin and upper chest the victim, Jessica Graves. Defendant had been involved in a relationship with the victim. Defendant turned himself in to police and gave a statement to Jackson Police Department ("JPD") Sergeant Nick Donald on September 10.
Defendant filed a pretrial motion to suppress his statement to police arguing that he asserted his rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present and that he was coerced into providing a statement by promises of leniency. The State filed a response.
A recording of Defendant's police interview was the only evidence introduced at the suppression hearing. The interview lasted approximately one hour and twenty minutes. Defendant entered the interview room wearing leg shackles and handcuffs. Defendant's leg shackles were removed and he was given a bottle of water. Sergeant Donald entered the room five minutes after Defendant, and he removed Defendant's handcuffs.
Defendant stated that he was not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol and that he was able to read and write. Sergeant Donald read Defendant his Miranda rights and asked if he understood his rights. The following exchange occurred:
Defendant then signed the form. Sergeant Donald confronted Defendant with Ms. Graves' allegation that Defendant shot her. Defendant told Sergeant Donald that he was at work on the night Ms. Graves was shot. He explained that he went to his car to get his cigarettes but returned right away. He denied that he went to Ms. Graves' apartment that night. Sergeant Donald again told Defendant that Ms. Graves said Defendant shot her. Sergeant Donald told Defendant that Ms. Graves made a police report three days prior to the shooting that Defendant had threatened to shoot her. Defendant told Sergeant Donald, Sergeant Donald then asked Defendant who he thought shot Ms. Graves, and Defendant responded, "I don't know and I don't care."
Sergeant Donald commented on Defendant's lack of remorse, stating: "When a person doesn't show any kind of remorse, or anything like that, it will go into how people look at you, how you're perceived. . . . That's just my look on it, my experience with it. Defendant then stated:
I need a lawyer. I ain't going to show you no - I can't sit here and show you no remorse and keep talking, and you putting this on me. I need a lawyer then, is what it sounds like. I ain't no damn dummy either, keep talking to you. . . . So I just ask you what this is, like, what you fixin' to charge me with?
Sergeant Donald responded that Defendant was being charged with attempted murder. Defendant asked Sergeant Donald what he thought he would "get out of attempted murder," and Sergeant Donald told him that the judge would make that decision. Defendant then began to talk about his treatment in jail. He said that he had been "treated like s**t," that he had asked for "PC," or protective custody, and that a man who shot him in the back was also at the jail. Defendant continued to speak about remorse and whether he had remorse and then told Sergeant Donald, "Don't nobody know what the f**k happened 'cause it was something somebody else said." Sergeant Donald then asked Defendant, "What do you think happened?" Defendant said he did not know because he was at work and he doubted that his supervisor saw him leave. Sergeant Donald told Defendant that police "did this all the time" and that people who do not "even acknowledge what they did or have remorse, then they tend to be given a stricter punishment."
A short time later, Defendant asked, Defendant then complained again about his treatment in jail and said that he felt like his life was in danger there. Sergeant Donald told Defendant that he would see if he could get Defendant moved.
Without any prompting by Sergeant Donald, Defendant then returned to the subject of the allegations against him and said, "dude don't work that shift" about a co-worker who said he saw Defendant leave work. Sergeant Donald told Defendant, "I'm not calling you a liar or anything like that." He told Defendant that he would "listen without judging" if Defendant wanted "to elaborate and explain some things." Then the following exchange occurred:
Defendant told Sergeant Donald that his "life [was] gone" because police were "blaming this" on him. Defendant again told Sergeant Donald that his supervisor did not see him leave work. Sergeant Donald then told Defendant that Ms. Graves said Defendant shot her. Defendant told Sergeant Donald that people "put a lot of s**t" on him that he did not know how to "clear up." Sergeant Donald informed Defendant that he would meet with the district attorney and present the evidence police had and they would "take it from there." Defendant began another discussion about his treatment in the jail. Sergeant Donald told him he would "get [him] a ride in a minute" and "meet [him] outside to smoke."
Sergeant Donald left the room and Defendant turned off the lights and adjusted the video camera. Sergeant Donald returned to the room approximately seven minutes later and gave Defendant a cigarette. While Defendant smoked the cigarette, he told Sergeant Donald that he had been suicidal and that he had been treated poorly by "the system" for 20 years. He told Sergeant Donald that he "laid in the f**king bushes" all day Saturday and gestured like he was pointing a gun to his head. He said that he changed his mind because he loved his children and wanted to spend one last night with them.
Defendant eventually told Sergeant Donald that he turned himself in because he loved Ms. Graves and he "didn't mean to do it." He said that he called Ms. Graves at 1:00 a.m to ask if he could come to her apartment. She let him inside, and he went to sleep on her couch. He stated that Ms. Graves woke him up and told him to go back to work. Ms. Graves was sitting in her bed, and...
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