State v. Rice, No. W2002-00471-CCA-R3-DD (TN 7/9/2004)
| Decision Date | 09 July 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. W2002-00471-CCA-R3-DD.,W2002-00471-CCA-R3-DD. |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CHARLES RICE. |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
Marty B. McAfee and Stephen Leffler, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Charles Rice.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael Moore, Solicitor General; Angele M. Gregory, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General, and Amy Weirich and Gerald Harris, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
Robert W. Wedemeyer, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which, Joe G. Riley and John Everett Williams, JJ., joined.
The Defendant, Charles Rice, appeals as of right his conviction for the first degree premeditated murder and first degree felony murder of Emily Branch during the perpetration of a rape. A Shelby County jury found the Defendant guilty of first degree premeditated murder and of first degree felony murder. The trial court merged the convictions into one count of first degree murder. Following a sentencing hearing, the jury found that the proof supported three aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt: the Defendant had previously been convicted of a violent felony offense, see Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-204(i)(2); the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel, see Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-204(i)(5); and the murder was committed during the perpetration of a rape, see Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-204(i)(7). The jury further determined that these aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, and sentenced the Defendant to death. The trial court approved of the sentencing verdict. In this appeal as of right, the Defendant contends that: (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial court improperly restricted the Defendant's right to cross-examine one of the State's witnesses; (3) the trial court improperly excluded evidence tending to prove the guilt of another; (4) the trial court erred in refusing to permit the Defendant to impeach his own witness; (5) the trial court erred by refusing to permit the Defendant to sit at the same table as his attorney; (6) the trial court's failure to instruct on the lesser offense of facilitation was error; (7) the trial court's failure to instruct the jury as to the definitions of knowingly and recklessly as to the offense of felony murder was error; (8) the indictment failed to set forth a capital offense; (9) Tennessee's death penalty statutory scheme is unconstitutional; (10) the evidence is insufficient to establish the statutory aggravating circumstances found by the jury; (11) the trial court improperly instructed the jury as to the (i)(2) aggravator; and (12) the sentence of death imposed in this case is disproportionate compared to other capital cases. After reviewing the record and applicable law, we conclude that there are no errors of law requiring that the Defendant's conviction or sentence be reversed. Accordingly, we affirm the jury's verdict and imposition of the sentence of death.
This case involves the murder and rape of thirteen-year-old Emily Branch, which occurred on or near June 18, 2000, in Memphis. Emily Branch was reported missing on June 18, 2000, and her body was discovered on June 25, 2000. After a police investigation, the Defendant was questioned and arrested for her murder. A Shelby County jury found the Defendant guilty of first degree premeditated murder and of first degree felony murder, and sentenced the Defendant to death. The Defendant now appeals.
Steven Dwayney Branch, the victim's father, testified that on Sunday, June 18, 2000, which was Father's Day, he was living at 1228 Louisville Street, in Memphis, Tennessee, with his girlfriend and three of her children. Branch testified that, at that time, the victim lived with his sister, Margaret Branch. He said that, on the night of June 17, 2000, the victim, who was thirteen, spent the night at his house. On the morning of June 18, 2000, the victim awoke, dressed, and told her father "Happy Father's Day," while Branch cooked breakfast for all the children. Branch testified that the victim was wearing "a white short-pants overall set with a navy blue shirt, some white socks, her blue and white tennies, and she had a necklace around her neck." He said that the victim left the house that day, and he began to worry when she had not returned by 5:00 p.m. He stated that at 7:00 p.m. he called the police department. Branch testified that the police told him that the victim would probably be back, and they would report her as a "runaway."
Branch testified that his daughter had never runaway before, so that night he began to look for her around the neighborhood. He said that a few people in the neighborhood searched for the victim with him. Branch testified that, a few days after his daughter's disappearance, he spoke with Tony Evans, whom he had known since they were children, and told Evans that he was looking for his daughter. He said that, during the afternoon of Sunday, June 25, 2000, one week from the day that the victim disappeared, Evans came by his home and told him that he had found the victim. Branch testified that he accompanied Evans and Marquette Houston to the place where Evans said that he had found the victim. He said that they all drove in his truck to an Amoco station and parked the truck in the lot of the station. Then, the three men walked on a trail through a wooded area behind an Amoco station, and, after Branch identified the body as belonging to the victim, he called the police. Branch testified that he could not recognize the victim's facial features because her body had decomposed, but he recognized her clothing, necklace, and shoes as the same that she was wearing on the day that she disappeared. Branch stated that, after he found his daughter's body, he did not move anything and immediately called the police. He said that, when the police arrived, he stayed and talked to them.
Branch testified that the victim's mother was Tracie Anderson, who was married to the Defendant at the time of the victim's disappearance. Branch stated that he and Anderson were never married. He said that the victim never lived with Anderson and the Defendant while they were married. Branch testified that, at the time of his daughter's disappearance, the Defendant lived two streets over from him on Firestone Street. Branch testified that he did not see the Defendant while the victim was missing, and the Defendant never offered to help look for her.
On cross-examination, Branch testified that the victim left the house with three girls at around 11:00 a.m. Branch said that, at the time of his daughter's disappearance, he did not know where Anderson was living. He testified that, when Evans came to his house, Evans told him that the victim was in a field behind the Amoco station located on Chelsea Street. Branch testified that the field behind the Amoco station is a large area that is heavily wooded, and the victim's body was located in a ditch. Branch said that there is a path that starts at the back of the Amoco station and runs along a dry creek bed through the woods. He said that it was just a few minutes walk from the Amoco station to where he found the victim. Branch also testified that he had known the Defendant for thirteen to fifteen years. He said that he was told that the Defendant and Anderson used some kind of "dope," but he had never seen them with it.
Marquette Houston, the victim's friend, testified that he was approximately three years older than the victim, and he had known the victim for a long time "from the neighborhood." Houston said that, during the afternoon of June 18, 2000, he saw the victim on the front porch of her father's house listening to music. He recalled that the victim was listening to a Vanilla Ice CD, and he told her that "nobody . . . listen[s] to Vanilla Ice [any]more." He looked at the Vanilla Ice CD and noticed that it had a scratch on it. Houston testified that this was the last time that he saw the victim alive. He said that, on Sunday, June 25, 2000, he saw Evans come to Branch's house and heard him say that he had found the victim's body behind the Amoco. Houston said that, after he heard this, he got in the truck with Evans and Branch. He explained that Evans led them on the path behind the station, and Houston saw a Vanilla Ice CD lying on the ground in the "pathway area." Houston said that the CD looked like it had been "cracked or something" and had the same scratch on it that he had noticed earlier on the victim's Vanilla Ice CD. Houston recalled that Evans told him not to touch the CD and then showed them the body that Evans had found. He said that Branch then identified the body as the victim from her clothing, but the victim could not be identified by her face because "it was rotten." Houston said that he then ran out of the woods because he was scared, but then stayed to tell the police what he had seen.
On cross-examination, Houston testified that, when Evans drove up on his four-wheeler and told Branch that he found the victim, he had a machete with him and seemed frightened. Houston testified that Evans led them directly to where the body was hidden in the bushes. He said that, when they came to where the victim's body was located, Evans stuck the machete in the ground and said, "there it is . . . [is] this your daughter?" Houston said that Branch responded,
Monica Downey testified that, on June 18, 2000, she was living with her mother and her mother's boyfriend, ...
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