State v. Stacy

• Citation: 601 S.W.2d 696
• Parties: STATE of Tennessee, Respondent, v. William Earl STACY, Petitioner.
• Decision Date: 30 June 1980
• Court: Supreme Court of Tennessee

Page 696

601 S.W.2d 696

STATE of Tennessee, Respondent, v. William Earl STACY, Petitioner.

Supreme Court of Tennessee.

June 30, 1980.

Walter C. Kurtz, Richard McGee, Nashville, Martha Meares, Knoxville, for petitioner.

William M. Leech, Jr., Atty. Gen., Michael J. Passino, Asst. Atty. Gen., Nashville, Ronald A. Webster, Dist. Atty. Gen., John W. Gill, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty. Gen., Knoxville, for respondent.

OPINION

HARBISON, Justice.

Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction. Although a number of assignments of error were made in the petition for certiorari to this Court, the petition was granted primarily to consider the sufficiency of the convicting evidence in light of petitioner's defense of lack of mental capacity.

This case involved a planned, deliberate robbery and a murder committed by petitioner in the perpetration of it. Petitioner was driven to the scene of the crime by two other persons. Neither of these individuals claimed mental illness or inability to control his conduct. In the course of attempting to commit the robbery, petitioner shot and killed the intended victim. He was aware of what he had done immediately thereafter, recognized that he had killed the victim, and actively sought to avoid apprehension by the police. He was successful in doing so, even though his two companions were not. Petitioner evaded capture for several weeks. The offense occurred in Knoxville. Petitioner came to Nashville and was seen there on several occasions by persons who had known him previously. He recognized these persons and recalled past events in conversations with them.

Petitioner had a fairly short history of mental illness, dating, not from his childhood, but for a period of about one year prior to the crime in question. There is evidence that he was highly intelligent. It is conceded by counsel for petitioner that there was sufficient evidence to make a jury issue in this case as to whether the accused did or did not appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct.

Reversal is sought on the other prong of the rules of criminal responsibility as stated in Graham v. State, 547 S.W.2d 531 (Tenn.1977); that is, inability of petitioner to control his conduct.

In the opinion of the majority, that issue, like the issue of cognitive capacity, was a question of fact to be determined by the jury. There was evidence that the accused, when he had been removed from medication for a considerable period of time, became completely irrational. At the time of the homicide, however, he had been without medication for only a short period of time, if at all, and his conduct on or about the time of the murder does not compare even remotely with the conduct described when he was totally psychotic or out of touch with reality. In our opinion, it was for the jury to determine whether petitioner could or could not control his conduct. If he could not control it at the time when he committed the shooting a few hours earlier, it is difficult to conceive that he could have effectively escaped from a wrecked vehicle and eluded captivity for weeks thereafter or, at least, a trier of fact might reasonably so conclude from the proof.

The jurors in this case were given full instructions on the rules of criminal responsibility pursuant to Graham v. State, supra. Presumably the facts were fully argued to them, as they were to this Court. The jury and the trial judge, all of whom saw and observed the witnesses, concluded that the accused was not incompetent within the Graham rules, and in our opinion there was ample material evidence to support that conclusion.

Petitioner's case has been before the appellate courts on another occasion. See State v. Stacy, 556 S.W.2d 552 (Tenn.Cr.App.1977). His drug therapy was discussed in that case. It is clear both from that opinion and from the record in the present case that his ability to control his conduct varied with the degree and extent of medication which he received and the length of time he was without it. In our opinion, it was for the jury to say whether or not, at the time of the homicide, he had been without medication for a sufficiently long period of time to be unable to control his conduct. The fact that he was seen in Nashville a substantial period of time later and recognized and conversed with persons whom he knew, apparently in control of himself, is evidence from which the jury could have concluded that petitioner was not psychotic or out of control at the time of the homicide involved here.

The testimony of experts offered on behalf of petitioner was opinion evidence only. Its weight and credibility were clearly issues to be determined by the jury under appropriate instructions from the trial judge. One of these witnesses, Dr. Luton, did not see petitioner until April 1976, over eight months after the homicide in question. The other, Dr. Siegmann, had observed him during the years 1974 and 1975. He testified that on July 1, 1975, petitioner was discharged from the Forensic Services Unit as being improved. At that time petitioner was on medication. Thereafter he was in custody and in the Eastern State Hospital until July 23, 1975. Dr. Siegmann testified that if petitioner discontinued his medication, his condition "would disintegrate relatively soon again." It was for the jury, in our opinion, to say what "relatively soon" meant and to determine whether the petitioner's condition had deteriorated by July 30, 1975, the date of the crime, and the extent of such deterioration, if any. He was out of the hospital and without supervision for only seven days before the murder was committed. Dr. Siegmann did not see petitioner again after July 1 until March 9, 1976, over seven months after the homicide. He expressed the opinion that the accused could appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the crime but that petitioner could not control that conduct or conform it to the requirements of the law. He described the conduct of petitioner when he was in a state of disintegration. The jury was entitled to compare that conduct with the demeanor of the petitioner at or about the time of the robbery and homicide. Further, Dr. Siegmann testified positively that petitioner is not mentally retarded and that his intelligence is well above the average range.

In this Court, the evidence must be viewed in its strongest light favorable to the verdict. It is not the function of this Court to draw inferences from testimony in jury cases. That is the province of the jury whose verdict, in our opinion, was justified from the evidence in the record.

The judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeals and the trial court are affirmed at the cost of petitioner.

BROCK, C. J., and COOPER, J., concur.

HENRY and FONES, JJ., dissent.

DISSENTING OPINION

HENRY, Justice, dissenting.

We granted certiorari in this case for the sole purpose of considering the issue of insanity.

Petitioner was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to serve life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. We find that the defendant's insanity at the time of the commission of the crime was established beyond any reasonable doubt. Accordingly, we would reverse.

The details of the murder are of no significance to the issue under consideration. ¹ The offense was committed on July 30, 1975, seven days after the defendant had been discharged from a state mental hospital. He and two companions entered the Knoxville bus station where defendant shot and killed a ticket clerk. All fled and, after being pursued by the police, defendant's two companions were captured. Defendant escaped in a weed field and was captured some three weeks later.

The precipitating factor and proximate cause of this tragic and senseless murder was the action of Eastern State Hospital in releasing this dangerously mentally ill individual, who was hospitalized on court order, without the knowledge of the court of commitment, without medication and without any arrangement for out-patient or follow-up care. This slaying occurred seven days after his release, and at a time when he was off medication because none had been prescribed for him.

On January 31, 1977, this Court released its unanimous opinion in Graham v. State, 547 S.W.2d 531, adopting a new and enlightened rule for the determination of criminal responsibility. We pointed out the failure of our courts to address the "nature and quality" prong of the old M'Naghten rule, relying instead and solely upon the "right and wrong" portion. 547 S.W.2d at 541. We held the Graham test to be "essentially a refinement and restatement of the full M'Naghten rules." (Emphasis supplied) Id.

The opinion the Majority released today erodes the Graham rules and effectively takes us back to the old, outmoded and rejected "right and wrong" test. In a very real sense it even obliterates M'Naghten. In effect, the Majority's action proclaims that the defense of insanity is available only to a criminal defendant who can prove that he is a "wild beast," with the limitation that if he has sense enough to run and hide, he is legally responsible for his criminal conduct.

We submit that this record shows clearly, convincingly and conclusively to a moral and legal certainty that this defendant was legally insane under any reasonable and logical application of any test of criminal responsibility.

We document the record.

I. Mental Health Background

Defendant's background of hospitalization is significant. He was first admitted to the Forensic Services Division at Central State Hospital on August 13, 1974, from the state penitentiary, where he was serving a sentence for burglary and shoplifting. On October 18, 1974, he was transferred to Eastern State Hospital, from which he was discharged on October 23, 1974. On March 5, 1975, he was again admitted to Central State Hospital from...