State v. Cuddy
| Decision Date | 23 November 2015 |
| Docket Number | No. E2014-01724-CCA-R3-CD,E2014-01724-CCA-R3-CD |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. EUGENE BERNARD CUDDY, III |
Appeal from the Criminal Court for Sullivan County
Defendant, Eugene Bernard Cuddy, III, was indicted in a three-count indictment by the Sullivan County Grand Jury for possession of Oxycodone, a Schedule II controlled substance, with intent to sell or deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of Alprazolam, a Schedule IV controlled substance, with intent to sell or deliver. Defendant filed a motion to suppress evidence seized during a search of Defendant's person. Following a hearing, the trial court denied Defendant's motion to suppress. Defendant was convicted as charged. The trial court sentenced Defendant to an effective sentence of seven years' incarceration. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends that: 1) the trial court erred by denying Defendant's motion to suppress; 2) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions; 3) the trial court erred by instructing the jury that it could infer Defendant's intent from the amount of controlled substances Defendant possessed; and 4) the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing Defendant. Having reviewed the entire record and the briefs of the parties, we find no error. Accordingly, the judgments of the trial court are affirmed.
Stephen M. Wallace, District Public Defender; and Andrew J. Gibbons, Assistant Public Defender, Blountville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Eugene Bernard Cuddy, III.
Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Clarence E. Lutz, Senior Counsel; Barry Staubus, District Attorney General; and Joshua Parsons, Assistant Public Defender, for the Appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINIONMotion to suppress
On October 24, 2011, Kingsport Police Officer Scott Denney responded to a robbery call at the Red Roof Inn in Kingsport. When he arrived, he saw Defendant bleeding from his head and face. Officer Denney testified that Defendant was coherent. Defendant told Officer Denney that he had been robbed at gunpoint by a female and two males. Officer Denney testified that he believed "there was something more to it" because Defendant's account of what happened was inconsistent with that of witnesses to the event. Defendant told Officer Denney that a female knocked on his motel room door, and Defendant thought she was there to clean the room, so he opened the door for her. Two men came into the room with her. One of the men hit Defendant in the face with a pistol. Defendant had multiple wounds on his face and the back of his head.
Sergeant Sean Chambers also responded to the scene. Defendant told Sergeant Chambers that the assailants knocked on the door to his motel room, and when Defendant opened the door, they forced their way into his room, assaulted him, and bound his hands with duct tape. Defendant stated that he did not know anyone in Kingsport, and it was a random act. Sergeant Chambers was skeptical of Defendant's story because he did not recall in his experience in law enforcement a random robbery at a motel. Defendant was coherent. Sergeant Chambers asked Defendant when he had last taken illegal drugs, and Defendant answered that he did not use illegal drugs or drink alcohol. Sergeant Chambers asked Defendant for consent to search his person, and Defendant consented. Sergeant Chambers did not handcuff or otherwise restrain Defendant. Sergeant Chambers found a plastic bag containing smaller plastic bags inside Defendant's coat pocket. During the search, Defendant reached for his crotch area. Sergeant Chambers testified that he feared for his safety because he did not know whether Defendant had a weapon in his possession. Sergeant Chambers took Defendant to the ground. He saw that Defendant was holding in his right hand a plastic bag containing individually packaged pills. Sergeant Chambers placed Defendant under arrest, and Defendant was transported to the hospital for medical treatment of his wounds.
Bradley Mayes, a front desk clerk at the Red Roof Inn at the time of the incident, testified that he found Defendant in his room screaming, "Help!" The door was open and the "room was a wreck." Defendant was "bloodied [and] beaten." Defendant had duct tape on his neck, his wrists, and his ankles. Mr. Mayes testified that Defendant appeared to be "totally dazed," and he was "not really" coherent. Mr. Mayes told Defendant that he was going to call 911 and that Defendant needed to go to the hospital, and Defendant responded, "no, no, no, no" and told Mr. Mayes that he would take himself to the hospital.
Defendant testified at the hearing that he was robbed at gunpoint in his motel room on October 24, 2011. He testified that his attackers put duct tape over his mouth and around his hands and feet and repeatedly hit him in the face and head with a pistol. Defendant lost consciousness. When he regained consciousness, he removed the duct tape and called for help. He testified that he ran out of the room, "trying to chase them down." Defendant did not remember giving his consent to Sergeant Chambers to search him. Defendant testified that he was giving Sergeant Chambers a description of his attackers when Sergeant Chambers and handcuffed him.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court found that Defendant The court noted that although Mr. Mayes testified that Defendant did not appear to be coherent, "[Mr. Mayes] did have a conversation with [Defendant], again all showing an awareness of his surroundings, what had happened, and that the police had been called and what-have-you." The court noted that Defendant's statements to Mr. Mayes, Officer Denney, and Sergeant Chambers were consistent. The trial court rejected Defendant's argument that he did not have the capacity to consent to a search and found that despite his injuries, "Defendant did have the capacity based on overall evidence."
The trial court accredited Sergeant Chambers' testimony that he obtained Defendant's consent to conduct a search of Defendant's person. The trial court noted that Sergeant Chambers was unequivocal in his testimony, and Defendant "was vague in his remembering what conversation he had with [Sergeant] Chambers." The trial court denied Defendant's motion to suppress.
At trial, Officer Denney testified that he responded to the Red Roof Inn on October 24, 2011. When he arrived, he saw Defendant in the parking lot. Defendant's head and face were bleeding. Defendant had duct tape hanging from his hands and legs. Defendant had refused treatment from EMS workers that were at the scene. Officer Denney testified that Defendant was coherent. Defendant was standing up, and he was steady on his feet. Based on information that Defendant provided to him, Officer Denney called Sergeant Chambers to assist him in the investigation of what had happened. Officer Denney testified that he was standing away from Defendant and Sergeant Chambers, and he could not hear their conversation. Officer Denney saw Defendant and Sergeant Chambers in a struggle, and he went to assist Sergeant Chambers. SergeantChambers had Defendant on the ground, and Officer Denney handcuffed Defendant. Officer Denney saw a bag of pills packaged individually in smaller bags. Officer Denney transported Defendant to the hospital for medical treatment.
Sergeant Chambers testified that he was called to the scene by Officer Denney. Sergeant Chambers spoke to Defendant when he arrived. He testified that Defendant had blood on his face, and Defendant "seemed kind of nervous." Defendant told Sergeant Chambers that he had been robbed. Sergeant Chambers testified that he asked Defendant when Defendant last used illegal drugs, and Defendant responded that he did not use illegal drugs or drink alcohol. Sergeant Chambers asked Defendant if he had any weapons on his person, and Defendant replied that he did not. Sergeant Chambers then asked Defendant for consent to search his person, and Defendant consented. Sergeant Chambers found a plastic bag containing other small plastic bags inside Defendant's jacket pocket. Sergeant Chambers asked Defendant again if he had any illegal drugs on his person, and Defendant responded that he did not. Sergeant Chambers continued his search of Defendant, and he noticed that "[Defendant's] hands kept working their way back down towards his crotch area." Sergeant Chambers asked Defendant to keep his arms raised. Defendant again lowered his arm, and Sergeant Chambers again admonished him to keep his arms raised. When Defendant began to lower his arm again, Sergeant Chambers grabbed Defendant's left arm and raised it. Defendant then immediately reached for his crotch area with his other hand, "and it was lightning fast when he moved that arm." Sergeant Chambers "grabbed [Defendant]'s upper torso and took him to the ground." He testified, "on the way to the ground, I noticed that in his right hand he now had a plastic [b]aggie." Sergeant Chambers handcuffed Defendant and removed the plastic bag from his hands.
Detective Daniel Lane was assigned to the Vice and Narcotics Unit of the Kingsport Police Department at the time of Defendant's arrest. He responded to the scene to assist with the investigation of the robbery. Defendant had already been placed under arrest when Detective Lane arrived. Detective Lane testified that officers...
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