State v. Dellinger & Sutton
| Decision Date | 07 March 2001 |
| Docket Number | E1997-00196-CCA-R3-DD |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JAMES HENDERSON DELLINGER & GARY WAYNE SUTTONIN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
On April 6, 1992, the Blount County Grand Jury indicted Appellants James Henderson Dellinger and Gary Wayne Sutton for one count each of first-degree murder in the death of Tommy Griffin. Following a jury trial, the Appellants were convicted of first degree murder. After a subsequent sentencing hearing the jury imposed the death penalty on both appellants. They raise thirty five alleged errors concerning both the guilt and sentencing phase of their trial. After a review of the entire record we have concluded there is no reversible error and we therefore AFFIRM the verdict.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court is Affirmed.
Eugene B. Dixon; Charles Deas, Maryville, Tennessee, for appellant, James Henderson Dellinger, and F.D. Gibson, Maryville, Tennessee and John Goergen, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Gary Wayne Sutton.
John Knox Walkup, Attorney General & Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Kenneth W. Rucker, Assistant Attorney General; and Mike Flynn, District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Stella Griffin Whitted testified that she was the sister of the victims in this case, Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam. She testified that her brother had been twenty-four years old at the time of his death and had walked with a pronounced limp due to an earlier amputation of one of his legs. She also testified that her sister was thirty-three years old at the time of her death.
Jamie Carr testified that she was working as a barmaid at Howie's Hideaway Lounge in Maryville, Tennessee on February 21, 1992. Carr stated that during her shift, Appellants and an individual whom she later learned was Tommy Griffin arrived in a dark blue Camaro or Trans Am. The three men sat in a booth and began drinking beer.
Terri Newman testified that when she arrived for work at Howie's Hideaway on February 21, 1992, a blue Camaro or Grand Prix was parked in her parking space. When Newman entered the establishment, she saw Appellants and Griffin drinking beer and shooting pool. Newman stated that the three men left Howie's Hideaway at approximately 7:00 p.m.
Cynthia Walker testified that on February 21, 1992, she and Kevin Walker were returning to Knoxville from Maryville when she saw a dark-colored Camaro parked in the emergency lane of the Alcoa Highway. Ms. Walker stated that she thought there might have been a fight because it appeared that someone was being pulled from the passenger side of the Camaro.
Kevin Walker testified that he had also seen the altercation that occurred in and around a dark-colored Camaro that had only one headlight. Mr. Walker stated that after he saw a person who was outside of the Camaro fighting with a person who was inside the Camaro, he used his radio to report the incident to Blount County authorities. Mr. Walker stated that the incident happened at approximately 7:00 p.m.
Sharon Davis testified that she and her family had also been driving along Alcoa Highway at approximately 7:00 p.m. on February 21, 1992, when she noticed a man on the side of the road who was not wearing a shirt or shoes and who appeared to be stumbling around. Davis stated that she and her family traveled approximately one mile down the road to eat at the Waffle House, and upon their return, she saw a dark-colored Camaro that was near the place where she had seen the man who was not wearing a shirt or shoes. Davis also saw two men by the Camaro who appeared to be searching for something or someone.
Sandra Hicks testified that while she was working as a dispatcher at 7:11 p.m. on February 21, 1992, she received a report about a fight involving some people in a black or dark-colored Camaro. Hicks then dispatched Officer Steven Brooks to investigate.
Officer Steven Brooks of the Alcoa, Tennessee Police Department testified that he received the dispatch about a possible fight at approximately 7:00 p.m. When Brooks arrived at the scene approximately two minutes later, he observed nothing unusual. Brooks then made a routine traffic stop and when he began questioning the occupants of the vehicle, he noticed another vehicle on Hunt Road that was flashing its lights erratically. Brooks then radioed Officer Drew Roberts and requested that Officer Roberts check on that vehicle.
Brooks testified that when he subsequently joined Roberts, he saw two men standing beside a S-10 pickup and saw another man sitting on the tailgate of the truck. Brooks stated that the man on the tailgate was not wearing a shirt and it appeared that he had been involved in a fight because he was upset and he had abrasions on his back and neck.
Officer Drew Roberts testified that when he questioned the man who was not wearing a shirt, the man told the officers that his name was Tommy Griffin and that he lived in Sevier County. Griffin initially told the officers that an argument had taken place and that some friends put him out of the car, but when questioned further, he stated that the men were not really his friends. Griffin refused to give any other information. Roberts subsequently arrested Griffin for public intoxication and took him to the Blount County Jail.
Sergeant Ray Herron testified that Griffin was booked into the Blount County jail at 7:40 p.m. on February 21, 1992. Herron stated that approximately forty-five minutes later, appellant Dellinger approached him to see when Griffin could be released. Herron told Dellinger that Griffin would be kept a minimum of four hours. Herron stated that Griffin was subsequently released from jail at 11:25 p.m. when Dellinger returned to the jail and posted a cash bond.
Captain Kenneth Beeler testified that on February 21, 1992, he saw both Appellants in the lobby of the Blount County Jail at approximately 11:15 p.m. Lieutenant Tom Defoe testified that on the evening of February 21, 1992, he saw Appellants enter the lobby of the Blount County Jail and he noticed that one of them was carrying a shirt. Shortly thereafter, Defoe saw Appellants leave the jail with an individual who had just been released.
Alvin Henry testified that he lived in the same neighborhood as both Dellinger and Griffin. Henry stated that at approximately 9:00 p.m. on February 21, 1992, he looked out the window of his residence when his dog started barking. When Henry looked down the road, he saw someone getting in Dellinger's white pickup truck. Henry then saw the truck drive up the road and pull into Dellinger's driveway. A few seconds later, Henry looked back down the road and noticed that flames were shooting out of Griffin's trailer.
Jennifer Branam, Griffin's niece, testified that on the night of February 21, 1992, her sister came into her bedroom and yelled that Griffin's trailer was on fire. Jennifer Branam then awakened her father and ran to Dellinger's trailer to see whether Griffin was there. Jennifer Branam stated that she believed that Dellinger was at home because his truck was in the driveway. She then knocked on the door and Linda Dellinger answered. Jennifer Branam stated that when she asked whether Dellinger was home, Linda said that he was not there. However, Jennifer Branam then saw both Appellants walking down the hall. She also noticed that they were both wearing jackets and their pants were wet up to their knees. When Jennifer Branam asked Sutton if Griffin was in the trailer, Sutton replied that Griffin was in Blount County with a girl. Jennifer Branam then asked both Appellants to accompany her to Griffin's trailer, but Dellinger said he could not go because he was in enough trouble already.
Jennifer Branam testified that later that night, she saw Appellants move an object from Dellinger's truck to Linda Dellinger's car. Jennifer Branam stated that the object was two to three feet long and it was covered with a sheet. She stated that Appellants then left in the car. The following morning, Jennifer Branam saw Dellinger remove the object that had been put in the trunk of his wife's car and place it under his trailer. She stated that the object looked like a shotgun.
Herman Lewis, a neighbor of Griffin, testified that at approximately 10:00 p.m. on February 21, 1992, he saw someone who looked like Dellinger come out of the Dellinger trailer and put something white that was about the size of a walking stick in the back of a car. He stated that two people had been in the car when it drove away, but he admitted that he could not identify the two people.
Sandy Branam, another of Griffin's nieces, testified that she had a conversation with Dellinger at approximately 9:00 p.m. on February 21, 1992, during which she inquired about Griffin. She stated that defendant Dellinger told her that Griffin was at the Blount County Jail and that he and Sutton were going to get him out of jail. Sandy Branam also stated her mother had previously complained that there was a faulty plug behind the television set in Griffin's trailer. She also stated that she saw three vehicles in the Dellinger driveway on the night of the fire: an Oldsmobile, a white truck, and a Camaro. Sandy Branam also testified that around noon on February 22, 1992, her mother, Connie Branam, stated that she was going to look for Griffin in Blount County.
Jason McDonald testified that at 11:55 p.m. on February 21, 1992, he heard two or three gunshots coming from the Blue Springs/Blue Hole area near his home. Brenda McKeehan, McDonald's mother, testified that she also heard two gunshots on the evening of February 21, 1992.
Jerry Sullivan,...
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