State v. Gass

Decision Date10 June 2022
Docket NumberE2021-00692-CCA-R3-CD
PartiesSTATE OF TENNESSEE v. DOUGLAS CODY GASS
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee. Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee

Session April 26, 2022

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Hamilton County No. 309956 Barry A. Steelman, Judge

Douglas Cody Gass, Defendant, entered an open guilty plea to reckless aggravated assault (Count 10), felony evading arrest (Count 11), and vehicular homicide (Count 12); and the remaining nine counts were dismissed. Following a sentencing hearing the trial court imposed a total effective sentence of twenty years-four years to serve in Count 10, six years to serve in Count 12, and four years suspended to ten years' probation in Count 11- and aligned the sentences consecutively. Defendant claims that the trial court erred in setting the length of his sentences, in imposing consecutive sentences, and in denying alternative sentencing in Counts 10 and 12. Discerning no error, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Tenn R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Criminal Court Affirmed

Kendell F. Stivers and Mitchell A. Raines, Assistant Public Defenders - Appellate Division; Steven E. Smith, District Public Defender, and Jonathan Wilson, Assistant District Public Defender, for the appellant, Douglas Cody Gass.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Katharine K. Decker, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Neal Pinkston, District Attorney General; and P. Andrew Coyle, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Robert L. Holloway, Jr., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which John Everett Williams, P.J., and Timothy L. Easter, J. joined.

OPINION

ROBERT L. HOLLOWAY, JR., JUDGE

Guilty Plea Submission Hearing

According to the factual basis presented by the State at the guilty plea submission hearing, Defendant, on October 7, 2019, led members of law enforcement on a high-speed chase that began in Catoosa County, Georgia, and crossed into Hamilton County, Tennessee, where he lost control of his vehicle and struck an electric utility pole. The impact ruptured a transformer on the utility pole causing it to leak oil onto the vehicle. The transformer oil ignited. Defendant exited the vehicle and fled on foot. Rather than pursue Defendant, the officers on the scene attempted to assist the passengers from the burning vehicle. The front-seat passenger, Jacob Buchanan, was able to exit the vehicle with only minor injuries. The back-seat passenger, Kobe Burchfield, was not able to get out of the vehicle before being severely burned. He was rushed to Erlanger Hospital and then airlifted to Vanderbilt Medical Center where he died as a result of his injuries.

Mr. Buchanan told the officers at the scene that the three men had been smoking marijuana and went to a McDonald's in Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. After they left McDonald's, law enforcement officers attempted to initiate a traffic stop. Defendant sped away in an attempt to evade arrest. Mr. Buchanan said that he and Mr. Burchfield tried to get Defendant to stop the vehicle.

After fleeing the scene of the accident, Defendant went to Florida. He dyed his hair to change his appearance. He was finally apprehended weeks later by U.S. Marshals and extradited to Tennessee.

Sentencing Hearing

The State introduced the presentence report as Exhibit 1 and then called Chattanooga Police Department (CPD) Traffic Officer Jeffery Buckner. Officer Buckner was dispatched to a "residential area" near "the Georgia line." He said that, by the time he arrived at the scene, there were numerous law enforcement officers and firemen on the scene, the vehicle was engulfed in flames, and both passengers had been transported from the scene by ambulance. Officer Buckner obtained the dash cam video from the Fort Oglethorpe Police Department and compiled body cam footage from the CPD officers at the scene. The dash cam video and the body cam footage were entered by agreement as exhibits and played at the hearing.

Numerous family members of Mr. Burchfield testified about how Mr. Burchfield's death had impacted them. Jeff Chambers, Mr. Burchfield's uncle, said that his nephew was "funny, sensitive, loving, and respectful but also insecure and naïve." He said that he had known Defendant for several years and stated that Defendant

is a thief, drug user, and criminal. He is also a predator. He is a few years older than my son and street savvy. He was acutely aware of [Mr. Burchfield]'s insecurities and preyed on them. He would call him into just about anything -- he would talk him into just about anything through shame, threats, or whatever worked for him to get his way.

Defendant's mother testified that Defendant had a twenty-six-month-old daughter who was in state custody and living with her maternal grandparents. She said that Defendant worked construction prior to the offense and wanted to go to college. Defendant's mother and sister testified that Defendant, Mr. Burchfield, and Mr. Buchanan were close friends and had grown up together.

Defendant made an allocution during which he said that everyone in the vehicle "had the same thing in mind that night, and it was to get away. No one ever asked to stop." Defendant said that he "spent nearly [his] entire life with [Mr. Burchfield] and loved him as a brother and best friend."

Defendant introduced a letter from Wendy Harris, Reentry Supervisor with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, stating that Defendant had been a part of the reentry program since July 2020 and that he had completed "Discover Yourself," "an independent study course that takes an individual through understanding who they are and overcoming obstacles they may have encountered." She said that Defendant also completed an eight-week correspondence course through Christian Library International. Ms. Harris wrote, "It is my belief that [Defendant] is ready to rebuild his life. I have witnessed his newfound passion to improve himself." Defendant also introduced a "Letter of Character" from D. McCloud, a correctional counselor at Silverdale Detention Center. Mr. McCloud said that Defendant had shown "that he is responsible and hardworking." He also said that Defendant had "shown the staff and other inmates tremendous respect, and [that Defendant] is always eager to work and help out anyone in need." Mr. McCloud wrote that he believed that, if Defendant "was to get out[, ] he would be a remarkable member of society and strive to be that kind of person every day." Finally, Defendant submitted a letter from Nashville Rescue Mission accepting Defendant into its six-to-eight-week residential program upon his release from incarceration.

Pronouncement of Sentence

At the end of the sentencing hearing, the trial court stated that it had considered the evidence received at the sentencing hearing, the presentence report, the purposes and principles of sentencing, the nature and the characteristics of the criminal conduct involved, mitigating and enhancement factors, the allocution made by Defendant on his behalf, the potential for or lack of potential for rehabilitation, the statistical information provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts as to sentencing for similar offenses, and the arguments of counsel. Regarding the purposes and intent of sentencing, the court noted that the "foremost purpose" of sentencing was to "promote justice" and that certain principles of sentencing were designed to ensure that "[e]very defendant shall be punished by the imposition of a sentence justly deserved in relation to the seriousness of the offense." Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-102(1) (2021). The court also noted that punishment should be imposed: (1) "to prevent crime and promote respect for the law by providing an effective general deterrent to those likely to violate the criminal laws of this State," (2) to restrain "defendants with a lengthy history of criminal conduct," and (3) to encourage "effective rehabilitation of those defendants, where reasonably feasible, by promoting the use of alternative sentencing and correctional programs that elicit voluntary cooperation of defendants." Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-102(3) (2021). The court recognized that, because "state prison capacities and the funds to build and maintain them are limited, convicted felons committing the most severe offenses, possessing criminal histories evincing a clear disregard for the laws and morals of society, and evincing failure of past efforts at rehabilitation, shall be given first priority regarding sentencing involving incarceration." Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-35-102(5) (2021).

Turning to the presentence report, the court found that, during the four-year period since becoming an adult, Defendant had been convicted of the following criminal offenses in the State of Georgia:

(1) November 21, 2017, possession of cocaine and driving while impaired "DUI less safe (drugs)" and sentenced to two years' probation.
(2) November 16, 2017, disorderly conduct.
(3) September 14, 2017, driving without a license on his person and speeding.
(4) November 22, 2016, seat belt violation, but granted diversion on other charges.
(5) May 6, 2015, "false reports," reckless driving, and "improper driving on a divided highway," and sentenced to three years' probation.

The court also noted that Defendant's criminal history showed that he had violated probation on three occasions. The court found that Defendant's prior convictions of "impaired driving, reckless driving, and driving too fast for conditions are relevant to and are probative with regard to the matters that the [c]ourt must consider today with regard to sentencing."

Based on Defendant's conduct during his incarceration, as evidenced by the letters from Ms. Harris and Mr....

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