State v. Rollins
| Decision Date | 16 March 2006 |
| Citation | 188 S.W.3d 553 |
| Parties | STATE of Tennessee v. Steven James ROLLINS. |
| Court | Tennessee Supreme Court |
H. Randolph Fallin, Mountain City, Tennessee; Roger G. Day, Johnson City, Tennessee (at trial* and on appeal) for the appellant, Steven James Rollins.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Michael E. Moore, Solicitor General; Michelle Chapman McIntire, Assistant Attorney General; H. Greeley Wells, District Attorney General; and Barry P. Staubus, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
WILLIAM M. BARKER, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which E. RILEY ANDERSON, JANICE M. HOLDER, and CORNELIA A. CLARK, JJ., joined. ADOLPHO A. BIRCH, JR., J., filed a concurring and dissenting opinion.
The defendant, Steven James Rollins, was convicted of premeditated murder, felony murder, and especially aggravated robbery. The trial judge merged the felony murder conviction with the premeditated first degree murder conviction. Upon conclusion of the sentencing hearing, the jury found that the State had established beyond a reasonable doubt the following five aggravating circumstances: (1) the defendant was previously convicted of one or more felonies, other than the present charge, whose statutory elements involve the use of violence to the person; (2) the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death; (3) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution of the defendant or another; (4) the murder was knowingly committed, solicited, directed, or aided by the defendant, while the defendant had a substantial role in committing or attempting to commit, or was fleeing after having a substantial role in committing or attempting to commit, any robbery; and (5) the victim of the murder was seventy (70) years of age or older. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(2), (5), (6), (7), (14) (1999). After further finding that these aggravating circumstances outweighed mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury imposed a sentence of death.
The defendant appealed, challenging both his conviction and sentence of death.1 The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed. The case was automatically docketed in this Court. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-206(a)(1). Thereafter, this Court entered an order specifically requesting that the parties address the following three issues at oral argument:2 (1) whether the interrogation of the defendant by the sheriff's officers after his arrest violated the defendant's state and federal constitutional rights to counsel such that the trial court erred by refusing to suppress the defendant's statements; (2) whether the trial court erred in refusing to allow the defendant to call his co-defendant, Greg Fleenor, to the witness stand to invoke his privilege against self-incrimination in the jury's presence; and (3) whether the mandatory review provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13-206(c)(1) require reversal of the defendant's death sentence.3 Upon thoroughly considering these and all issues raised by the defendant, the record on appeal, and the relevant authority, we affirm the defendant's conviction of first degree murder and sentence of death.
The proof offered by the prosecution at trial established that the defendant, thirty-seven-year-old Steven James Rollins, killed the eighty-one-year-old victim, John Bussell, during a robbery. For thirty years prior to his murder, Bussell owned and operated the Fisherman's Paradise bait shop and barbeque restaurant in the Colonial Heights area of Sullivan County near Kingsport, Tennessee. Bussell, a widower, lived alone in a camper next door to the bait shop. Although Bussell suffered from arthritis, bad eyesight, and breathing difficulties, he had remained active and independent for a person of his age. Local residents were aware that Bussell frequently accommodated customers by opening his business late at night to sell bait or fishing and camping supplies. Furthermore, local residents were aware that Bussell carried large amounts of cash on his person, at least $1,000 to $1,500 at any given time, according to Walter Hoskins, Bussell's friend of five years and maintenance man. Hoskins recalled that Bussell often displayed this "wad" of cash as he provided change to customers. Hoskins and other of Bussell's friends and relatives cautioned Bussell against opening the bait shop late at night while he was alone and against making change from his "wad" of cash, but to Hoskins' knowledge, Bussell continued to operate his business as he had for the preceding thirty years. Bussell owned and carried a handgun for his protection, and in July 2001, approximately one-month before his murder, Bussell purchased a two-shot Derringer handgun and carried it with him at all times in his right front pants pocket. Hoskins was the last person to speak with Bussell before his murder. Bussell telephoned Hoskins at 10:30 p.m. on August 21, 2001, to discuss Hoskins' plans for the next day.
Ottie McGuire, who had been Bussell's friend for ten years, arrived at the bait shop around 8:30 a.m. on the morning of August 22, 2001, intending to have breakfast with Bussell, as was their custom. McGuire became worried when he noticed that the restaurant lights were off and the door still locked. McGuire walked next door and found the door to Bussell's camper partly open and the morning newspaper still in the box. McGuire knocked on the camper's window and called for Bussell, and when Bussell failed to respond, McGuire went to a nearby fire hall for help, fearing that Bussell had suffered a heart attack.
Eventually Sullivan County Deputy Sheriff Jamie Free arrived at the bait shop. After looking through a window and seeing the victim's head lying on the floor of the bait shop between two display racks, Officer Free removed the chained "closed" sign and kicked open the locked door. Officer Free then found Bussell's body lying in a pool of blood on the floor behind the counter of the bait shop. Bussell was clothed in pajamas and house slippers; his clothing was blood-soaked; and he was not breathing. The cash register was open and empty; the change drawer, also empty, was lying on the floor beside the body. Several minnows and cups used to dip out the minnows were on floor near the minnow tank. Bussell's Derringer was missing. A trail of bloody footprints led from inside the bait shop to the victim's camper, which had been ransacked. Blood smears were found inside the camper on a variety of the victim's personal belongings. A wad of $1,150 in cash was found lying on the floor of the camper covered by other items.
Forensic experts from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Crime Laboratory ultimately spent 112.5 man hours processing the bait shop, the camper, and the area outside but found no physical evidence tying anyone to the crime. The blood found at the scene belonged to the victim. Investigators neither discovered identifiable latent fingerprints nor shoes belonging to a suspect which could be compared to the bloody footprints found at the scene.
An autopsy disclosed that the victim had sustained twenty-seven and possibly twenty-eight knife wounds and had bled to death from these wounds. While most of these injuries would not have been immediately fatal, a deep six-inch cutting wound that began near the victim's left ear and extended across his neck had sliced through his left common carotid artery and jugular vein and would have rendered the victim immediately unconscious and led to his death within four minutes. Another incised wound to the victim's neck had cut into his right jugular vein and would have been fatal without prompt medical care. A third stab wound to the victim's shoulder had penetrated the victim's lung and heart and would also have been fatal without immediate medical care. In addition, Dr. Gretel Harlan Stevens, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy, noticed multiple painful but non-life threatening stab wounds to the victim's collarbone, chest, abdomen, back, and hands. Dr. Stevens testified that the all of these wounds would have been painful, some more than others, but none of these wounds was itself life threatening. Dr. Stevens further explained that the presence of blood on the victim's feet and clothing as well as defensive wounds to his hands indicated that he had been injured but had remained alive and had struggled with and fled from his attacker. Dr. Stevens opined that the nature of the wounds suggested that the victim initially did a "fairly good job" fending off his attacker, considering his age and health.
Shortly after the victim's murder, Richard Russell, chief investigative officer for the Scott County, Virginia Sheriff's Department, reported to the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department a conversation that he had with the defendant about one month before the murder. In particular, the defendant told Officer Russell that two of the defendant's acquaintances had mentioned robbing "an old guy . . . that owned some kind of a bait shop . . . and taking his money." At that time, Officer Russell believed that the defendant was referring to a crime that had already been committed. After determining that no such crime had occurred, Officer Russell forgot about the defendant's statement. After learning of the victim's murder, Officer Russell relayed the information to the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department.
On August 25, 2001, the defendant and his girlfriend, Angela Salyers, were interviewed by Sullivan County officers. The defendant agreed to accompany the officers to the Sheriff's Department for questioning. Sullivan...
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