State v Reid
| Decision Date | 18 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | 99-00058 |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. DONALD CURTIS REID 01C01-9903-IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Davidson County No. 97-B-1101
The defendant, Donald Curtis Reid, was convicted of aggravated robbery in connection with the holdup of a Nashville Burger King and sentenced to nine years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal, the defendant asserts that the trial court committed error by admitting evidence seized from his vehicle pursuant to a traffic stop and subsequent arrest for driving on a suspended license. He also contends that the evidence was insufficient and that the sentence was excessive. We find that the search of the defendant's vehicle was proper and that the evidence obtained as a result thereof was correctly admitted. There being no error, the judgment of the trial court is affirmed.
Dwight E. Scott, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Donald Curtis Reid.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General & Reporter, Elizabeth T. Ryan, Assistant Attorney General, and D. Paul DeWitt, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINION
The defendant, Donald Reid, was convicted of aggravated robbery. The trial court imposed a Range I sentence of nine years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. In this appeal of right, the defendant presents the following issues for our review:
(1)whether the trial court erred by refusing to suppress evidence seized from the defendant's car at the time of his arrest;
(2)whether the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction of aggravated robbery; and
(3)whether the sentence was excessive.
We find no error and affirm the judgment of the trial court.
At 7:15 A.M. on December 26, 1996, Charles Sparkman, the manager of Burger King on Gallatin Road in Nashville, walked out of the restaurant restroom and was confronted by a masked individual who announced in a female voice, "This is a robbery." The individual then called the name, "Curtis," and a second masked individual, whom Sparkman believed to be a male, came out of the restaurant office armed with a weapon Sparkman described as a black pistol having a brown handle. The male robber directed Sparkman to the office to open the safe. The female took the money from the safe and put it in a bag. Sparkman estimated that the robbers took between $400.00 and $700.00, which included some wrapped coins. The two robbers then left the restaurant and drove away in what Sparkman described as a dark brown Oldsmobile or Buick, the same car he had seen earlier that morning in his parking lot. Sparkman then called the police.
Five days later, there was an armed robbery at Lee's Chicken on Gallatin Road. As the suspects fled the scene, a patrolman gave chase but was unable to make an arrest. A private citizen, who happened to be outside with his camera, took photographs of the suspects' brown Oldsmobile during the police chase. The private citizen turned the film into the authorities within thirty minutes of the pursuit. The photos showed that the vehicle used in the Lee's Chicken robbery was similar to the car used in the Burger King robbery, a two-tone "80's model Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale" with a temporary tag in the windshield.
Seven days after the Lee's Chicken robbery, Metro Detective Norris Tarkington searched the East Nashville area for the vehicle used in the robberies. Near Stratford High School, he found a vehicle which matched the one in the photograph. Detective Tarkington learned that the same vehicle, which was driven by the defendant, had been stopped on December 4 because an officer believed the driver was "casing" West End Avenue for a possible holdup. The detective stopped the defendant for failing to make a turn signal. Marnita Roberson was a passenger in the defendant's vehicle at the time of the stop.
Detective Tarkington arrested the defendant for driving on a suspended license and searched the vehicle. When he looked in the passenger compartment, he found two pellet guns, a ski mask, some gloves, and coin wrappers for quarters and pennies. While the defendant acknowledged ownership of the vehicle, he denied owning the pellet guns.
Several weeks later, Ms. Roberson was arrested. After initially denying any involvement in the robberies, she acknowledged that she and the defendant had robbed the Burger King. The defendant was arrested for the Burger King robbery a few days after Ms. Roberson's confession.
Ms. Roberson appeared as a witness for the state at the trial of the defendant. She testified that she met the defendant, Donald Curtis Reid, through Elizabeth LeMay, who stayed with her, her three children, and her two sisters, in the Settle Court projects. She identified the defendant's car from the photograph of the vehicle pursued by the police after the Lee's Chicken robbery. Ms. Roberson confirmed that she was with the defendant when he was stopped in the West End area in early December of 1996 and stated that she knew the defendant by his middle name of "Curtis." Ms. Roberson described his vehicle as a "beige or a tan Buick . . . a long car with tinted windows."
She recalled that in the early morning hours of December 26, 1996, she was with the defendant as he "was riding around . . . going [to] rob something and . . . looking at places and stuff." Ms. Roberson recalled that the two went into a Wal-Mart at Rivergate and purchased a BB gun. The defendant also acquired some gloves while at Wal-Mart. She testified that the two then saw the Burger King on Gallatin Road and the defendant decided to stop. The defendant went to the trunk and provided Ms. Roberson with a ski mask. He pulled a shirt sleeve with cut eye holes over his own head. Ms. Roberson testified that the defendant went into the office area when they found the restaurant empty and that she called for "Curtis" when the manager emerged from the restroom. She stated that the defendant forced the manager to open the safe and acknowledged that she held the bag while the manager placed the cash inside. Some of the cash included wrapped coins. Ms. Roberson testified that she received $200.00 from the robbery. She stated that she used some of the proceeds for illegal drugs and gave some to her children.
Ms. Roberson confirmed that she initially denied any involvement in the robbery but ultimately admitted her participation, not only in the Burger King robbery, but in others as well. Ms. Roberson conceded that she had committed other robberies with other men. She acknowledged that the defendant himself had been robbed at her apartment just prior to the Burger King robbery by a person she knew as "Mike Ike." Ms. Roberson denied having "set up" the robbery. She also denied having any romantic relationship with the defendant.
The defendant, who testified on his own behalf, stated that he stayed at Ms. Roberson's apartment for approximately three days in December of 1996. He recalled that while there, he was robbed at gunpoint by a person known to Ms. Roberson. The defendant claimed that Ms. Roberson had unsuccessfully attempted to recruit him into participating in a robbery. While he acknowledged having been with Ms. Roberson during late December of 1996 and recalled their trip to the Wal-Mart, he contended that it was Ms. Roberson who had stolen two BB pistols from the store. The defendant explained that he had purchased a two-tone Oldsmobile Delta 88 in early December of 1996 and that at the time of the purchase, there were two BB pistols and some compact discs in the trunk, those items found by police at the time of his arrest. The defendant contended that he had loaned Ms. Roberson his vehicle on three different occasions and implied that she would have had the opportunity to rob the Burger King with the help of someone else.
The defendant claimed that on December 25, 1996, he had gone to his parents' house and also visited with his aunt. He stated that he later went to the residence of Tonya Hill where he spent the night. He contended that he was not with Ms. Roberson at the time of the Burger King robbery and that he had slept until 1:00 or 2:00 P.M. on December 26. The defendant believed that Ms. Roberson had testified falsely against him because he had told her children's father about being robbed at her apartment. He believed he had been set up by Ms. Roberson and loaned her his vehicle afterwards only because he had compassion for her children. The defendant denied that Ms. Roberson ever referred to him as "Curtis" and claimed that she always referred to him as either "Donnie" or "DQ."
Initially, while the defendant makes no complaint about the seizure of the vehicle and its use by the state as evidence, he does contend that the trial court erred by refusing to suppress the tangible evidence found in the passenger compartment and trunk of his vehicle immediately after the stop. He argues that he had broken no laws and was not acting suspiciously at the time, and that the detective had no reason to believe that the vehicle contained contraband. The defendant submits that the search of the vehicle cannot be justified as either incident to a lawful arrest or for inventory purposes. In response, the state contends that an investigative stop was warranted and that, upon learning that the defendant was driving on a suspended driver's license, the seizure of the two pellet pistols, a ski mask, and the other items were the consequence of a lawful search incident to an arrest for the license violation.
There was a separate hearing on the motion to suppress. Detective Tarkington testified that on the date of the arrest, he was looking for the vehicle that appeared in the photographs taken during...
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