State v. Perry
| Decision Date | 23 March 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. M2019-01311-CCA-R3-CD,M2019-01311-CCA-R3-CD |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JOHN CURTIS PERRY, SR., AND ASHLEY NICOLE HANKINS |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Stewart County
Nos. 81CC-2017-CR-155-D, 81CC-2017-CR-155-B
The Defendants, John Curtis Perry, Sr., and Ashley Nicole Hankins, appeal their convictions for three counts of felony murder for which they were sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, the Defendants, either individually or collectively, argue that: (1) the evidence is insufficient to support the convictions; (2) the trial court erred in granting and denying various requests to continue the trial; (3) the trial court erroneously admitted evidence of prior bad acts; (4) the trial court erred in limiting the cross-examination of a witness; (5) the trial court erred in excluding a co-defendant's statement; (6) the trial court erred in instructing the jury regarding the concealment and destruction of evidence; (7) the prosecutor made improper comments during rebuttal closing arguments; and (8) cumulative error warrants relief. Upon reviewing the record, the parties' briefs, and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. However, we remand for entry of corrected judgments reflecting merger of the felony murder convictions into one conviction for each of the Defendants.
JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, P.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., and ROBERT H. MONTGOMERY, JR., JJ., joined.
Anthony L. Clark, Paris, Tennessee, for the appellant, John Curtis Perry, Sr.
Anthony W. Kirby, Jr. (on appeal); and Kenneth Merriweather (at trial), Clarksville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Ashley Nicole Hankins.
Turnbow and Joseph C. Hall, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINIONDuring the early morning hours of June 7, 2016, the victim, Mr. Donnie Cooksey, was shot and killed in his home in Cumberland City, Tennessee, during a robbery. As a result, the Defendants and their co-defendants, Gerald Lovelace, Abdullah Hassan Powell, and Amy Brooke Hankins, were charged with felony murder during the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate robbery, felony murder during the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate burglary, and felony murder during the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate theft. The Defendants and their co-defendants were also charged with aggravated burglary of another victim's home that occurred on June 5, 2016. The trial court severed the Defendants' trials from the co-defendants' trials and severed the felony murder charges from the aggravated burglary charge. The Defendants proceeded to trial on the felony murder charges.
The State presented evidence at trial that Ms. Ashley Hankins, the girlfriend of one of the victim's brothers, persuaded others to rob the victim, who sold drugs from his home. Mr. Perry drove Mr. Lovelace and Mr. Powell to the area of the victim's home. Mr. Perry waited in his truck while Mr. Lovelace and Mr. Powell entered the victim's home and shot the victim while attempting to rob him. The victim died as a result of his injuries.
The victim was last seen alive on the night of June 6 and early morning hours of June 7, 2016, when a friend, Ms. Samantha Kizer, visited him at his home. Ms. Kizer testified that she left the victim's home around midnight, that she received a text message from him at around 1:30 a.m., and that she did not hear from the victim again. At around 2:00 a.m., Ms. Anita Stephens, who was staying at her mother's home located across the street from the victim's home, woke up to her dog barking outside of her window, which was within view of the victim's front door. Ms. Stevens testified that she then heard a loud "popping" noise, which she believed to be a car backfiring. She looked outside but did not see anything. Between 7:45 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on June 7th, Ms. Georgia Cooksey, the victim's sister-in-law, drove by his house and saw that his front door was open. She testified that she found this to be unusual because the victim generally did not get up in the mornings until 9:00 or 9:30 a.m.
Ms. Brandy Burns, who was involved in a relationship with the victim for several years up until his death, testified that the victim sold marijuana and occasionally cocaine to a customer base of five or six people and would not sell drugs to just anyone who wished to purchase them. He stored the drugs in his kitchen cupboards, his recliner, and his bedroom. Ms. Burns stated that she visited the victim on the weekend prior to his death and that he had approximately $3,000 in cash, which he planned to use as a down payment on a house.
Multiple members of the victim's family called the victim on June 7th, but the victim did not answer their calls. As a result, Mr. Troy Cooksey, one of the victim's brothers, went to the victim's home around 2:00 p.m. The victim's front door was slightly open, and the storm door was closed. Mr. Troy Cooksey knocked on the front door and called the victim's name, but the victim did not come to the door. Mr. Troy Cooksey looked inside through the storm door and saw the victim lying on the living room floor.
Mr. Troy Cooksey testified that he entered the home and unsuccessfully attempted to awaken the victim. Because he did not have cellular service inside the victim's home, he exited the home and asked a neighbor to call 911. When he returned to the victim, he saw that the victim had a gunshot wound to the chest and that the victim's gun was lying beside him. Mr. Troy Cooksey observed blood in the living room leading down the hallway. He believed the victim was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, which he described as "bed clothes." Ms. Georgia Cooksey testified that the victim, generally, would not come to the door while wearing such clothing. Mr. Troy Cooksey acknowledged taking marijuana that the victim had rolled up in five cigarillos from the home.
Officer Rick Smith of the Cumberland City Police Department responded to the scene. He entered the home through the front door and saw the victim lying on the living room floor with his head close to a wall adjacent to a hallway. The victim was wearing a t-shirt, socks, and underwear, and stains consistent with blood were on his shirt, his legs, the floor, and on the top and side of a red chair sitting upright by the door. Officer Smith checked the victim for a pulse and called for an EMS unit. Mr. Edward Wood, a paramedic, responded to the scene and found that the victim had no vital signs. Mr. Wood observed a gunshot entrance wound to the left side of the victim's upper chest.
Special Agent Kevin Warner, a forensic scientist with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation ("TBI"), also responded to the scene. Upon entering the home, he observed reddish brown stains on the top and side of a red chair in the living room, and he testified that the stain appeared to have begun on the top of the chair and run down the side. Drops consistent with blood were on the floor in the living room near the victim and onthe floor in the hallway leading away from the victim to outside of the victim's bedroom. A pistol was on the living room floor next to the victim. A fired cartridge casing and what appeared to be blood drops were on the carpet next to the bed in the bedroom, and reddish-brown stains consistent with blood were on the bedding. On cross-examination, Special Agent Warner testified that although the front door was open, the dead bolt was extended, and the area of the door where the dead bolt had been was damaged. The items recovered from the home included plant material in a bag in the bedroom and in a jar in a kitchen cabinet, and Special Agent Warner also found four cell phones in the home.
Ms. Amanda Blake, a friend of Ms. Ashley Hankins, testified that around the time of the victim's death, Ms. Ashley Hankins was in a relationship with both Mr. Chris Cooksey, who was the victim's brother, and Mr. Powell, to whom she referred as "D." Ms. Blake stated that in March or April of 2016 while at her home, Ms. Ashley Hankins asked Ms. Blake's brother, Mr. Johnny Blake, to rob the victim. Ms. Ashley Hankins described the victim's home and told Mr. Blake that he would need to have a gun with him because the victim owned guns. Ms. Ashley Hankins instructed Mr. Blake to take a black box containing money from the home. Ms. Blake stated that she interrupted Ms. Ashley Hankins and told her to not ask Mr. Blake to commit a robbery. Ms. Blake told Ms. Ashley Hankins that if she wanted the victim to be robbed, she should do it herself.
Ms. Blake testified that on June 6th, she was in her car with Ms. Ashley Hankins, Ms. Amy Hankins, and Ms. Angela Sweeney as Ms. Ashley Hankins was laughing and stating that "they had gotten the wrong house and that she had to show them ... 'stupid N. words' the right house." Ms. Blake did not know that Ms. Ashley Hankins was referring to the victim's home until the following day.
On cross-examination, Ms. Blake acknowledged that she had a prior theft conviction. She stated that when Ms. Ashley Hankins was speaking to Mr. Blake, she did not refer to the victim by name but just described his house. Ms. Blake recalled that at one point, Ms. Ashley Hankins and Mr. Blake went outside together.
Mr. Johnny Blake testified that in April of 2016, while at Ms. Blake's home, Ms. Ashley Hankins asked him to burglarize a home in Cumberland City and told him that a large amount of money was possibly in the home. Ms. Ashley Hankins told him that he would need to be armed because the owner of the home may carry a...
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