State v. Thacker, No. W2002-01119-CCA-R3-DD (Tenn. Crim. 12/18/2003)
| Decision Date | 18 December 2003 |
| Docket Number | No. W2002-01119-CCA-R3-DD.,W2002-01119-CCA-R3-DD. |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. STEVEN RAY THACKER. |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Charles S. Kelly, Sr., and Wayne Emmons, Dyersburg, Tennessee, for the appellant, Steven Ray Thacker.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Gill R. Geldreich, Assistant Attorney General; C. Phillip Bivens, District Attorney General, and Karen Burns, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINION
Capital defendant, Steven Ray Thacker, appeals his conviction and sentence of death resulting from the January 2, 2000, murder of Ray Patterson. A Dyer County jury convicted Thacker of first degree murder. Following a separate sentencing hearing, the jury found that the proof supported two aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) the murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with, or preventing a lawful arrest or prosecution of the defendant, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-204(I)(6), and (2) the murder was knowingly committed by the defendant while the defendant had a substantial role in committing or was fleeing after having a substantial role in committing a first degree murder, rape, robbery, burglary, theft or kidnapping, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-204(I)(7). The jury further determined that the mitigating circumstances did not outweigh the aggravating circumstances and imposed a sentence of death. The trial court approved the death verdict. The defendant appeals, presenting for our review the following claims: (1) the trial court erred in denying the defendant's motion for a change of venue to a county outside the judicial district; (2) the trial court erred in admitting a redacted statement made by the defendant; (3) the trial court erred in admitting evidence of other crimes; (4) the trial court erred in permitting the cause of death to be proven by lay testimony; (5) the trial court erred by failing to grant a mistrial based upon the State's comments during closing argument; (6) the trial court erred by not permitting the defendant to argue self-defense; (7) the evidence is insufficient to support a conviction; (8) the trial court erred in denying the motion to suppress the defendant's confession; (9) the trial court erred by prohibiting the introduction of mitigation evidence; (10) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct in eliciting testimony about the defendant's prior bad acts; (11) the trial court erred in refusing to permit an expert witness to explain details of the defendant's mental condition; (12) the trial court erred in permitting the prosecutor to argue that mitigators must outweigh aggravators beyond a reasonable doubt to impose a sentence of life without parole; (13) the trial court erred by limiting the defense to statutory mitigators; (14) the trial court erred in permitting the introduction of certain victim impact evidence; (15) the trial court erred by permitting the State to present evidence that the defendant was fleeing from present charges; (16) the death penalty is unconstitutional; and (17) the sentence of death is not proportionate. After review, we find no error of law requiring reversal. Accordingly, we affirm the jury's verdict of guilt as to the offense of first degree murder and the jury's imposition of the sentence of death in this case.
Elizabeth Patterson testified that her husband, Ray Patterson, the victim, operated a service station/wrecker service with his brother, Jerry Patterson, in Dyersburg. On Sunday morning, January 2, 2000, Mrs. Patterson answered a telephone call requesting wrecker service. She gave the phone to the victim, who wrote the following on an envelope: "Oldsmobile Cutlass, `85, pull to AutoZone Store." The victim expressed his intent to go on the wrecker call and to be in church if he returned in time.
Mrs. Patterson did not find the telephone call unusual as she was used to her husband receiving wrecker calls at odd hours, any day of the week. She explained that, when her husband responded to wrecker calls, it was not unusual for him to carry a .25 caliber automatic handgun in his left pocket for his own protection. Mrs. Patterson added that her husband had towed people's cars for free on occasion. Her daughter, Karen Bobo, confirmed that her father would often tell people who could not pay, to come back and pay him later. Both Mrs. Patterson and her daughter, Karen, related that the victim usually carried a pocket knife, his wallet, money, and a pack of cigars on his person.
On Sunday, January 2, 2000, Melissa Atkeson was working at the Northside Truck Stop on St. John Avenue in Dyersburg. A man approached Ms. Atkeson and inquired as to whether there was a wrecker service that was open on Sundays. Ms. Atkeson provided the man with Ray Patterson's name and telephone number. The man went to a pay phone and made a telephone call. After making the telephone call, the man returned to the front of the building and sat and had coffee until Mr. Patterson arrived. During this time, Ms. Atkeson engaged in conversation with the man. Ms. Atkeson later learned the man's identity to be Steven Ray Thacker.
Several witnesses testified that they observed Ray Patterson accompanied by an unidentified man on January 2, 2000. Thomas Burns was employed as a maintenance worker at the Dyersburg welcome center. Mr. Burns recalled that, on January 2, 2000, the victim brought a man with him to the welcome center. Later that afternoon, Thomas Burns learned that Ray Patterson had been killed. Burns later saw the defendant's picture in the newspaper and recognized him as being with the victim at the welcome center. Curtis Hinson, an employee of Triple-A Taxi in Dyersburg, testified that on Sunday, January 2, 2000, he passed the Patterson Brothers' wrecker on Lake Road. Mr. Hinson was able to observe the victim and another male individual in the cab of the wrecker.
Wyman Brasfield, a wrecker driver for Brasfield Body Shop, testified that on January 2, 2000, on his way to visit his daughter in south Dyersburg, he passed Patterson Brothers' Service Station. The Patterson wrecker was parked outside the station with a car on it. Mr. Brasfield observed the victim in the building with his back to the window. He also noticed that there was another person with the victim, although he could not identify the individual. Mr. Brasfield decided to stop to talk to the victim about a vehicle stuck in deep water; however, his wife urged him on to their daughter's house. On the way back from their daughter's house, the Brasfields observed police officers in front of the Patterson Service Station; they also noticed "[the victim's] body laying out front there." Later that day, Wyman Brasfield received a call to tow a vehicle on Rambo Road at Timmy Capps's residence. Mr. Brasfield recognized the vehicle that had been on the Patterson wrecker earlier that day.
Kenneth Campbell and Emily Guinn were on their way to church on January 2 when they stopped at Patterson's Service Station on Main Street for a drink. Mr. Campbell pulled up to the soft drink machines and got out. He observed a person walking towards his truck, but thought nothing of it. However, as Mr. Campbell was attempting to get a soda from the machine, he saw the victim lying on the ground between the gas pumps and the office. Mr. Campbell then left the parking lot in order to find a telephone to call the police. He circled the block and as he neared the service station, he noticed "someone dragging the body near the roll-up door of the gas station." Mr. Campbell then drove directly to the police station.
At approximately 12:20 p.m., on January 2, 2000, Paul Gage and his wife were at the Dyersburg AutoZone. While there, a man asked Mr. Gage about "a place to get a car worked on." Mr. Gage referred the man to his nephew, Tim Capps, and gave the man directions to Capps's business. Mr. Gage later recognized the defendant's picture on television as the individual encountered at AutoZone.
David Fisher, an officer with the Dyersburg Police Department, testified that he received a radio report of an injured person lying on the pavement at 200 North Main, the BP station. Officer Fisher, upon arriving at the scene, discovered the deceased victim lying in the first service bay of the service station. Officer Fisher observed that a blood trail led from the first fuel pump island directly to the position in which the body was found. The victim was dressed in an "ordinary service station type uniform with a light jacket." "His inner shirt was torn, and the jacket and shirt, around the collar area, was pulled backwards, as if he'd been dragged to the location that he was found." Officer Fisher also observed that the victim "had an apparent wound to his upper torso that appeared to be a substantial wound."
Jerry Walker and Ronnie Collins, two EMTs with the Dyersburg Fire Department, arrived shortly thereafter. Mr. Walker stated that, upon his arrival at the scene, he examined the victim for vital signs, and there were none. He further stated that, upon opening the victim's shirt, they observed a wound No other wounds were discovered. Mr. Walker was unable to determine if the knife wound was the cause of death.
Tony Douglas, a paramedic employed by Methodist Hospital Emergency Services, also responded to the call at the Patterson Service Station. Mr. Douglas examined the deceased for wounds and discovered "a puncture wound on the right side...
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