Title: Helton v. State

State: tennessee

Issuer: Tennessee Supreme Court

Document:

547 S.W.2d 564 (1977) Dennis HELTON, Petitioner, v. STATE of Tennessee, Respondent. Supreme Court of Tennessee, March 7, 1977. *565 B.C. McInturff, Kingsport, for petitioner. David L. Raybin, Asst. Atty. Gen., R.E. Ashley, Jr., Atty. Gen., Nashville, for respondent. COOPER, Chief Justice. Petitioner, Dennis Helton, was convicted of second degree murder for the slaying of his wife, Linda Helton, and was sentenced to serve fifteen years in the penitentiary. The Court of Criminal Appeals, with one judge dissenting, affirmed the conviction. This court granted certiorari, primarily to determine if the trial judge, as the thirteenth juror, approved the verdict of the jury. Petitioner and Linda Helton were married on three different occasions. The break-up of the first two marriages was due to Mrs. Helton's association with Jerry Lawson. After the second divorce, Mrs. Helton married Mr. Lawson. The break-up of that marriage was encouraged by petitioner. From these facts and other evidence, it is apparent that most of the turbulence in the relationship between petitioner and Linda Helton had its origin in the attention paid Mrs. Helton by Jerry Lawson. Mrs. Helton was killed on July 26, 1974, by a shot from a pistol fired by petitioner. Ironically, the killing occurred on the day the Heltons had planned to take their family to Nashville on a "third" honeymoon. Petitioner's version of events leading up to the shooting and the shooting itself, is set forth in the following statement given the arresting officers: In addition to the statement, the State's proof showed that Mrs. Helton was found in the front room of the trailer, with one bullet hole in her back. A dish towel was wrapped several times around her right hand in a manner to make it difficult, if not impossible, for her to have held a gun. There was a bullet hole in the door separating the kitchen of the trailer from the living room, indicating that the fatal shot was fired when Mr. Helton was in the kitchen and his wife in the front room. The pistol used in the killing was found to have one spent shell and two live shells in it. In overruling petitioner's motion for a new trial, which was filed in an effort to set aside the jury's verdict of guilty of second degree murder, the trial judge stated: In announcing the verdict and sentencing the defendant the trial judge made this additional statement: The remarks of the trial judge set out above indicate to us that he was not satisfied with the jury's verdict. Specifically, the trial judge expressed dissatisfaction with the degree of homicide of which petitioner was convicted. Despite this dissatisfaction, the trial judge overruled the motion for new trial. This was error which requires that petitioner be given a new trial. It is settled in this state that in all instances where there is a trial by jury, the trial judge is under the burden of acting as the thirteenth juror to either approve or disapprove the verdict of the jury. White v. State, 490 S.W.2d 502 (Tenn. 1973); Messer v. State, 215 Tenn. 248, 385 S.W.2d 98 (1964); Hime v. Sullivan, 188 Tenn. 605, 221 S.W.2d 893 (1949); Mize v. Skeen, 63 Tenn. App. 37, 468 S.W.2d 733 (1971). See also Curran v. State, 157 Tenn. 7, 4 S.W.2d 957 (1928), wherein this court quotes with approval the following statement of Mr. Justice *567 McKinney in Durant v. State, Manuscript Opinion, filed May 2, 1925: In State v. Ferguson, 165 Tenn. 61, 64, 52 S.W.2d 140, 141 (1932), this court stated: "* * * Under our practice, if the trial court is of the opinion that the verdict is not sustained by the evidence, all that he can do is to grant a new trial." And in Messer v. State, supra, this court granted a new trial where the trial judge expressly indicated that he did not approve the degree of homicide of which the defendant was convicted. Petitioner also has complained of the fact that the trial judge, in instructing the jury, characterized the statement he made to the investigating officers as a confession. Petitioner insists that it was no more than an admission against interest and should have been so characterized. The distinction between an admission and a confession is blurred. Generally, however, "a `confession' is a statement by the accused that he engaged in conduct which constitutes a crime... . An admission is an acknowledgement by the accused of certain facts which tend together with other facts, to establish his guilt; while a confession is an acknowledgement of guilt itself. An admission, then, is something less than a confession and, unlike a confession, putting to one side the problem of corroboration, an admission is not sufficient in itself to support a conviction." 3 Wharton's Criminal Evidence (13th ed. Torcia 1973), §§ 662 and 663. See also Collins v. State, 169 Tenn. 393, 88 S.W.2d 452 (1936). Here, the petitioner admitted shooting his wife, but not his guilt to the offense with which he was charged, nor for that matter any offense. To the contrary, petitioner asserted the defenses of self-defense and accidental shooting, both of which are compatible with his statement if the statement is taken at face value. The statement properly then should be characterized as an admission and, on remand, the jury should not be instructed on "confession" and its effect. The judgment of the trial court is reversed and the case is remanded for a new trial. FONES, HENRY, BROCK and HARBISON, JJ., concur.