State v. Watkins
| Decision Date | 26 March 2019 |
| Docket Number | No. M2017-01600-CCA-R3-CD,M2017-01600-CCA-R3-CD |
| Parties | STATE OF TENNESSEE v. AHMON WATKINS AND PETER DODSON, IV |
| Court | Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals |
Appeal from the Circuit Court for Rutherford County
In a joint trial, a Rutherford County jury convicted Ahmon Watkins of two counts of aggravated rape, four counts of rape, and two counts of sexual battery, and Peter Dodson, IV, of one count of aggravated rape, one count of rape, and two counts of sexual battery. The trial court sentenced Defendant Watkins to an effective sentence of twenty years and Defendant Dodson to an effective sentence of twenty-five years. On appeal, Defendant Watkins and Defendant Dodson assert that: (1) the trial court erred when it did not grant a new trial based upon newly discovered evidence; (2) the trial court erred when it did not grant a new trial based upon the victim's false testimony; (3) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct during closing argument; (4) the trial court made improper "introductory comments" to prospective jurors during voir dire; (5) the trial court improperly excluded impeachment testimony; (6) the trial court failed to order the deposition of the victim; (7) the trial court erred when it gave jury instructions on the law before jury selection was complete; (8) the trial court improperly instructed the jury on reckless conduct; (9) the trial court improperly addressed a jury question during deliberations; (10) the defendants are entitled to relief based upon cumulative error; and (11) the evidence is insufficient to sustain the defendants' convictions. Defendant Watkins additionally raises issues related to sentencing. After review, we reverse for cumulative error and remand for a new trial.
Thomas S. Santel, Jr. (on appeal), and Drew Justice (at trial), Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, Ahmon Watkins.
Patrick T. McNally (on appeal), Nashville, Tennessee, and Russell N. Perkins (at trial), Murfreesboro, Tennessee, for the appellant, Peter Dodson, IV.
Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Clark B. Thornton, Senior Counsel; Jennings H. Jones, District Attorney General; and Sarah N. Davis and Matthew W. Westmoreland, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINIONThis case arises from the defendants' sexual interactions with the victim on the night of January 21, 2015, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A Rutherford County grand jury indicted Defendant Watkins and Defendant Dodson for six counts of aggravated rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery.
On the night of January 21, 2015, the victim went to the Campus Bar at 8:00 p.m. to drink beer after work. It was karaoke night and, after participating in karaoke, the victim returned to her seat at the bar. Over the course of the evening, the victim drank approximately four beers. As she sat at the bar, Defendant Watkins introduced himself, and they began talking. Defendant Watkins told the victim she was pretty and "push[ed] up against" her. She described their interaction as flirting, and she believed Defendant Watkins was "hitting on" her.
As they talked, Defendant Watkins introduced Defendant Dodson to the victim. Defendant Dodson spoke with the victim briefly before moving on to talk with other people at the bar. Defendant Watkins asked the victim to leave with him. She described Defendant Watkins as "persistent" and "pushy," but she agreed to leave the bar with him because she "felt like it." When Defendant Watkins and the victim left the bar together, Defendant Dodson stayed at the bar talking with other persons. As they walked out to the parking lot, Defendant Watkins guided the victim by her elbow to his vehicle. The victim recalled having "doubts" about leaving with Defendant Watkins but agreed that she did so "willingly." Once inside the car, Defendant Watkins began "groping" the victim. The victim told the Defendant "no," that she would not engage in sex in a car. Defendant Watkins drove to an Exxon gas station and went inside to buy condoms while the victim waited in the car. As they drove, Defendant Watkins continued to tell the victim that she was "pretty" and that she could sing well. The victim said that she was "flattered" by the compliments.
After buying the condoms, Defendant Watkins drove several businesses away from the gas station and parked in front of Grace Automotive. Defendant Watkins and the victim entered the business through a door that led into an office. Another door inside the office led into a "garage" area. The two entered into the garage area and began kissing and removing clothing. The victim voluntarily undressed "thinking that [she] and [Defendant Watkins] were going to have sex." Defendant Watkins sat the victim in a chair and then "was all over her."
While the victim and Defendant Watkins were engaged in "sex," Defendant Dodson entered the garage. Defendant Watkins stopped and walked over to Defendant Dodson. As the men talked, the victim tried to gather her clothing, feeling uncomfortable with the introduction of a third person. After a few minutes, both men moved toward her and began "rubbing up against [her], touching her." Defendant Dodson kissed the victim on her breast. The victim told the men that she did not want to participate in a threesome, but Defendant Watkins assured her that it would be "okay." The victim reiterated that she "don't share" and did not "want this." She was again told, Defendant Watkins "flipped" the victim over and while standing behind the victim, instructed her to "suck [Defendant Dodson's] cock." Defendant Dodson, who was now seated in the chair in front of the victim, pulled out his penis. Defendant Watkins pushed the victim's head into Defendant Dodson's crotch while pulling her hair and repeated that the victim was to "suck [Defendant Dodson's] penis." Feeling fearful and that she had no choice, the victim performed fellatio on Defendant Dodson while Defendant Watkins penetrated the victim's vagina from behind with his penis.
While standing behind the victim, Defendant Watkins also anally penetrated the victim with his penis while holding the victim's arm back, "kind of like pinning [her]." The victim did not normally engage in anal sex and had not consented to it. She told Defendant Watkins that "it hurt." During these interactions, Defendant Watkins "hit" the victim on her buttocks. As the victim was bent over Defendant Dodson, she heard Defendant Watkins say, "heads up," so she turned her head toward Defendant Watkins. As she turned, Defendant Watkins slapped the side of the victim's face causing a nose bleed. The victim was "really scared" and when she turned her head back toward Defendant Dodson, who was still seated in front of her, he told her that her nose was bleeding. Defendant Dodson, angry that the victim had bled on his new sneakers, backed away saying that the victim was "too bloody" to continue. The victim attempted to push Defendant Watkins off of her and, in the process, kicked "someone's" cell phone, propelling the phone "off to the side." The victim said that Defendant Dodson "got very angry," asking why she had "do[ne] that," and the victim responded that she was trying to push Defendant Watkins off of her. The victim had seen a light, "like a flash," and assumed the defendants were filming the acts. She said it appeared that Defendant Dodson was the one holding the phone.
The victim cleaned her face in the bathroom and then returned to the garage area and dressed. Defendant Watkins drove the victim back to the Campus Bar. During the drive, Defendant Watkins, who is black, told the victim that he was married and advised the victim that if she saw him in public with "another white woman" not to speak to him. The victim testified that this upset her because she would not have left the bar with Defendant Watkins had she known he was married. The victim described Defendant Watkins's demeanor during the incident at the garage as "aggressive," but on the return drive to the Campus Bar, she said he was "[v]ery sweet, mellow." She exited Defendant Watkins's vehicle in the bar parking lot and went inside the bar. The victim went to the bathroom to wash her face again because she was still bleeding. She then asked the bartender for the Murfreesboro Police Department phone number. When the bartender refused, the victim went outside and called 911.
Initially, the victim told the 911 operator that she had been raped in a car. She explained that she did so because she was scared, confused, and she wanted someone to help her. She said that, although the rapes occurred in the garage, the incident began with Defendant Watkins groping her in the car. Upon police arrival, the victim vomited multiple times due to fear and stress. She was transported to St. Thomas Murfreesboro where she underwent a sexual assault examination. She told the nurse practitioner treating her that Defendant Watkins and Defendant Dodson had raped her in a garage but that she did not know their names. The victim testified that, since these events, she had discussed the rapes in therapy and struggled with sleeplessness and anxiety. She further identified photographs of her injuries, including a bruise on her hand and a handprint on her buttock. The photographs were taken as part of the sexual assault examination. She stated that she had experienced pain from irritation caused by the anal penetration.
Shonda Davenport, a bartender at the Campus Pub, testified that on Wednesday and Saturday nights, the bar held karaoke nights. Ms. Davenport recalled that one night a patron, later identified as the victim,...
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