State v. Jefferson
| Decision Date | 24 May 1996 |
| Citation | 938 S.W.2d 1 |
| Parties | STATE of Tennessee, Appellee, v. James Thomas JEFFERSON, Appellant. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Jeffrey A. DeVasher, Senior Assistant Public Defender, Peter D. Heil, Assistant Public Defender, Karl F. Dean, Metropolitan Public Defender, David M. Siegel, Assistant Public Defender, Nashville, for appellant.
Charles W. Burson, Attorney General & Reporter, Christina S. Shevalier, Assistant Attorney General, Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General, Roger D. Moore, Cheryl A. Blackburn, Assistant District Attorneys General, Nashville, for appellee.
The appellant, James Thomas Jefferson, was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life in the Department of Correction. Both the State of Tennessee and the appellant filed notices of appeal, and they both have presented issues for this Court to review. 1
The State of Tennessee presents one issue for review. The state contends that the trial court erred by dismissing Count VI of the indictment, which alleges the offense of rape, because the state did not provide the appellant with a speedy trial as to this offense.
The appellant presents five issues for review. The issues presented are:
I. The passage of time, dispersion of witnesses, erosion of memories and loss of defense evidence rendered the conviction unreliable in violation of the federal and state constitutions.
II. The trial court erred by substituting a term of life imprisonment for the jury's verdict imposing 40 years imprisonment.
III. The trial court erred by refusing to allow Defendant to present evidence on the issue whether Defendant's lineup was conducted in an unfairly suggestive manner.
IV. The trial court erred by allowing Barbara Bolte to display her scars to the jury.
V. The evidence was insufficient to establish the elements of premeditated murder.
The appellant's conviction for premeditated murder is affirmed. This case is remanded to the trial court for a new sentencing hearing.
On July 23, 1968, the Davidson County Grand Jury returned four indictments against the appellant. One indictment alleges that the appellant murdered the victim, John Robert Bolte, on or about the 15th day of June, 1968. Another alleges that the appellant raped the victim's wife, Barbara Bolte. A third indictment charged the appellant with assault with attempt to commit murder in the first degree as to Barbara Bolte. The final indictment charged the appellant with assault with attempt to commit murder in the first degree as to the Boltes' infant child, Dara Bolte.
The appellant was arrested on July 1, 1968. On July 2, 1968, the appellant petitioned the general sessions court to admit him to bail. The court denied the petition. On July 3, 1968, the appellant filed a petition in the criminal court, alleged what had occurred in the general sessions court, and asked the court to admit him to bail. The criminal court refused to entertain the petition based on a statute governing successive applications for bail. The appellant then sought relief in the Tennessee Supreme Court. On January 17, 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that the petition filed in the criminal court should be considered an appeal of the proceedings conducted in the general sessions court, and the criminal court should treat the petition accordingly. 2
The appellant was tried for the murder of Mr. Bolte. The trial commenced on October 28, 1969. When the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict, the trial court declared a mistrial.
The second trial for the murder of Mr. Bolte commenced on January 18, 1971. The jury convicted the appellant of murder in the first degree and sentenced the appellant to confinement for ninety-nine (99) years in the Department of Correction. This Court affirmed the appellant's conviction and sentence. 3 However, the case was remanded to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing on the allegation contained in the appellant's plea in abatement, i.e., whether African-Americans were systematically excluded from the grand jury that indicted him and the petit jury that convicted him. The Supreme Court initially granted the appellant's petition for the writ of certiorari to review this Court's order of remand. The Tennessee Supreme Court summarily affirmed this Court's judgment. 4
On remand, the trial court held a hearing on the plea in abatement on March 22 and 23, 1976. The trial court took the matter under advisement. On April 7, 1976, the trial court overruled the plea in abatement. This Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 5 The Supreme Court denied the appellant's petition for the writ of certiorari on October 11, 1977.
On April 1, 1982, the appellant filed a petition for the writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The appellant alleged that African-Americans were systematically excluded from the grand jury that indicted him and the petit jury that convicted him. On September 28, 1984, an evidentiary hearing was conducted on the grounds raised in the petition. On March 30, 1985, the district court ruled that the appellant established a prima facie case of systematic exclusion of African-Americans from the grand jury that indicted him, and the warden, the defendant, had failed to rebut the prima facie case. 6 The State of Tennessee was given ninety (90) days to reindict the appellant or grant him his freedom. 7 On April 30, 1985, the district court stayed the judgment pending appeal to the Sixth Circuit. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court. 8 The Sixth Circuit ruled that the appellant had not exhausted his state remedies before filing the habeas corpus action. 9 The case was remanded to the district court with instructions to dismiss the habeas corpus action without prejudice. 10
The appellant filed a post-conviction action in Davidson County. The trial court denied the appellant relief from either his conviction or sentence. This Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court. 11 The Supreme Court denied the appellant's application for permission to appeal on April 3, 1989.
The second petition for the writ of habeas corpus was filed in the District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on May 10, 1989. The magistrate recommended that the district court reinstate its prior decision. On May 20, 1991, the trial court adopted the recommendation of the magistrate, reinstated its prior decision, and gave the State of Tennessee ninety (90) days to either reindict the appellant or release him. However, this order was stayed pending the warden's appeal. The Sixth Circuit affirmed the judgment of the district court on April 1, 1992. 12 The Court directed the State of Tennessee to reindict Jefferson within ninety (90) days or release him from custody. 13 The United States Supreme Court denied the warden's petition for a writ of certiorari on October 5, 1992. 14
On July 24, 1992, the Davidson County Grand Jury returned a six-count indictment against the appellant. The first count charged the appellant with felony murder, the felony being the rape of Barbara Bolte. The second count of the indictment charged the appellant with felony murder, the felony being robbery. The third count of the indictment charged the appellant with felony murder, the felony being burglary. The fourth count of the indictment charged the appellant with felony murder, the felony being larceny. The fifth count of the indictment charged the appellant with premeditated murder. The sixth count of the indictment charged that the appellant raped Barbara Bolte.
The appellant moved to dismiss Count VI of the indictment, the rape count, because the state had failed to provide the appellant with a speedy trial. A hearing was conducted on the motion on March 26, 1993. On April 2, 1993, the trial court entered an order finding that the appellant had in fact been denied a speedy trial in violation of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 9 of the Tennessee Constitution and dismissed Count VI.
The present trial commenced on August 9, 1993. The jury returned a verdict finding the appellant guilty of premeditated murder and sentencing him to serve forty (40) years in the Department of Correction. The state moved the trial court to correct the sentence on the ground that the "only possible punishment for the offense of First Degree Murder as to this defendant is Life Imprisonment." On August 23, 1993, the trial court entered an order modifying the sentence and imposing a sentence of confinement for life in the Department of Correction. The trial court denied the motion for a new trial on October 22, 1993.
During the early morning hours of June 15, 1968, the victim, John Robert Bolte, was asleep in his bedroom. His wife, Barbara, was asleep in the living room. Their child was asleep in another bedroom.
The appellant entered the Bolte residence through the basement. He went to a small room in the basement and armed himself with an axe. He obtained two knives, which were made by the victim, from a workbench in the basement. He also obtained a pair of rubber gloves that Mrs. Bolte used when washing clothes. The appellant removed his shoes before ascending the stairway leading to the living area of the residence.
The appellant entered the bedroom where the victim was sleeping and struck him with the axe at the base of his skull. The blow severed the victim's spinal cord as well as the carotid artery, which delivers the main blood supply to the brain. The cause of death was exsanguination--the victim bled to death. The medical examiner, who went to the scene of the murder later than morning, estimated that the victim died at 2:00 a.m. on the morning of June 15, 1968.
Mrs. Bolte testified that she was awakened by...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
State v. Rickman & Groseclose
...work prejudice to the constitutional right of the accused. Arrowsmith v. State, 175 S.W. 545, 547 (Tenn. 1915); State v. Jefferson, 938 S.W.2d 1, 33 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1996), overruled on other grounds by Moore v. Illinois, 434 U.S. 220, 231-232, 98 S. Ct. 458, 466 Consistent with the above ......
-
Kuot v. Lindamood
...was violated for an abuse of discretion. State v. Hudgins, 188 S.W.3d 663, 667 (Tenn. Crim. App.2005) (citing State v. Jefferson, 938 S.W.2d 1, 14 (Tenn. Crim. App.1996)). State v. Kuot, at *10. In considering the length of the delay, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals found that the t......
-
State v. Green
...when a jury is discharged, they may not be reassembled to amend or correct their verdict in a substantive way. See State v. Jefferson, 938 S.W.2d 1, 22 (Tenn.Crim.App.1996). The State contends, however, that the jury in the present case was not actually discharged after reporting the initia......
-
State v. Tabb
...under an abuse of discretion standard. State v. Hudgins, 188 S.W.3d 663, 667 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2005) (citing State v. Jefferson, 938 S.W.2d 1, 14 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1996)); State v. Easterly, 77 S.W.3d 226, 236 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2001); State v. Gai D. Kuot, No. M2012-01884-CCA-R3-CD, 2013 WL......