# FIL ED M arch 27 , 200 8 Cec il Cr ow son , Jr . A ppell ate Court Clerk IN THE CO UR T OF CR IM IN AL AP PEALS OF TENN ESSEE AT JAC KSON AU GU ST 1996 S ESSI ON
STATE OF TENN ESSEE , * * Appel lee , * VS. * * GARYLY NN SY KES, * * Appel lan t. *

* C. C. A. #02C 01- 9508- CC -0 0213

D Y ERC OU N TY Hon . J oe G. R il ey , J udg e (A g g ra v ated Ass aul t)

For Appel lan t: G. Ste phe n Davi s Di str ic t Pu bli c D efender 208 N . M il l Av enue P.O. Box 742 Dy ersburg , TN 380 25- 0742 For Appel lee : Cha rl es W . Bu rs on Atto rn ey Gene ra l & R epor

ter Sarah M. Branch Ass is tant Atto rn ey

Gene ra l Cr imi nal Ju sti ce Di v is ion 450 J ames R ober

tso n Par kw ay Nas hv il le, TN 37243- 0493 James E. Lani er Ass is tant Di str ic t At tor ney Gene ra l P
. O
. B o x E Dy ersburg , TN 380 24 OPIN ION F ILED :

AFF IR ME D

GARYR . W AD E, J UD GE2 OPIN ION At the conclusio n of

a ben ch trial, the def end ant , Gary Lynn Sykes, w as conv ic ted o f agg ra v ated ass aul t. The tr ial co urt req uired rest it uti on of $4, 421 .00 and impo sed a Range I, three -y ear sen ten ce in the Dy er Count y jail; all but s ixty day s w er e s uspen ded. In his appeal of ri g ht, the d efendant c hal len g es the s uffi c i en c y

o f t he e v i de nc e. W e affi r m.
On A ug ust6, 1994, the d efendant and his w ife Ida ( the v ic ti m) beg an to arg ue as they

w er e dr iv ing to a fis h fry
. The defendant refused to transpo rtthe v ic ti m to h er

mother-i n- law 's hous e. W hen t he defendant sto pped ata red l ig ht, the v ic ti m g ot ou t of the v ehi cl e. The defendant t hen par ked his v ehi cl e and beg an to push, punc h and ki ck

the v ic ti m. An ey e- w it ness to the i nci dent, Gl enn Thompso n, t est ified thathe s aw the t ru ck dr iv en by

the defendant dr iv e off the ro adw ay

and dow n an embankment
. Thompson s aw

the defendant s tep o ut of the tr uck , g ra b the v ic ti m by the throat, and throw her vi olen tly

against the f ront of

his truck. Tho mp son b elieved the v ictim had bee n i nju re d by

the w ay sh e w as sta ndi ng and hol din g her ar ms. H e next s aw the d efendant th ro w

the v ic ti m to t he g ro und and punc h her se v er al ti mes. Thompson c ontac ted t he pol ic e.

Dr. Scott Ke lly , an em ergency- room physici an, treate d the v ictim. He tes ti fied th at he r face and neck w er e s w oll en and mark ed and that she had numerous cont usi ons. H e des cr ibe d the nec k i nju ri es as cons is tent w it h strang ula ti on and feared t he s w ell ing mig ht affect her breathi ng . The v ic ti m's fifth and sixth ribs w ere f ractured . Dr . Kelly testif ied th at th e v ictim's injuries w ere p o te n ti a lly lif e -t h re a te n in g.T he d ef end ant w as also ind icted for agg rav ate d assa ult for grazing the victim 1 w it h the tr uck , butthi s c ount w as dis mis sed. 3 Off ic er Bobby W all er , w ho w as firs t on the s cene, sa w the defendant sta ndi ng ov er

the v ic ti m. The d efendant, w ho s mell ed of al cohol , ex pla ine d tha t there w as "jus t a li ttl e mi sunde rs tandi ng ." The v ic ti m, w ho w as cr y ing , c lai med that the d efendant had hither
.

The v ic ti m tes ti fied th at t he defendant, i n a fitof jea lou sl y , had made sev er al hateful comments on t hei r w ay to a fis h fry
. She s tated thatsh e g ot ou t of the t ru ck at a red l ig ht an d beg an to w alk bac k t o tow n w hen t he defendant re fused t o re t u rn h e r t o h is m o t h e r' s re s id e n c e . Sh e cl a im e d t h a th e m a d e a u -t u rn , d ro ve dow n an embankment , and cu t her off w it h hi s t ru ck
. Sh e tes ti fied th at t he 1 defendant g ra bbed he r by her sh ir t c oll ar , c hoked her , threw her ag ain st the front o f the t ru ck , and then to the g ro und. She re cal led thatthe defendant c ursed and bea t her i n the face as sh e pl eaded w it h hi m to s top; Off ic er W all er ar ri v ed j ustas the defendant t hr eatened to "ki ck her face i n." Beca use of her inj ur ies , t he v ic ti m w as unabl e to sl eep, si t, or

mov e c omfortabl y

for tw o months
. She s tated thather doc tor did not per mit her

to re tur n to w or k for

three month s.
The v ic ti m admit ted, on c ro ss -e x aminat ion , t hat t he defendant had th r ea te ne d he r

i n th e pa s t. S he s ai d th atw he n he w as d r i nk i ng , he w ou l d be c om e v iol ent. She sta ted t hat tw o w eeks before the a ss aul t t he defendant had t hr eatened her daug hter
. She ac know led g ed th at du ri ng the three month s t hey w er e mar ri ed, the d efendant w oul d, atti mes, g o s tay w it h hi s e x -w ife or

hi s mot her
.

T he d ef end ant , w hose blood alcoho l lev el w as .11 % shortly af ter his4 ar re st, tes ti fied th at t he v ic ti m w as mad bec ause his ex -w ife c all ed j ustbefore they left for the fish fry
. He cl aimed that she tr ied to g et ou t of hi s t ru ck w hil e i t w as g oin g 55 mi les an h our .

Th e d e fe n d a n ta c k n o w l e d g e d t h a th e w a s a n g r y w h e n t h e v i c t i m l e ft the truck and conce ded thathe followed her. He claimed thathe stop ped the truck abo ut twenty feet aw ay f rom th e v ictim, an d tha t he grabbe d he r by the shirt collar in orde r to keep her f rom walking aw ay. He adm itted thathe pu shed the victim against the front o f his tr uck

but deni ed k ic ki ng or

i ntendi ng to hur

t t he v ic ti m.
The defendant offered s ev er al ex pla nati ons for th e v ic ti m's broken ri bs and extens iv e br uis es on her nec k. H e the or iz ed th at he r ri bs w er e broken w hen she jum ped out of

the truck at the red lig ht an d turne d to slam the do or. He sug g est ed th at w hen t he pol ic e c ar ar ri v ed, t he v ic ti m mig ht ha v e been inj ur ed w hen she fell backw ards.

W hil e admi tti ng thathe l osthi s t emper and chok ed th e v ic ti m, the defendant c ontende d tha t t he s w ell ing i n her nec k w as re lat ed to a w or k i nju ry and had oc cur re d on tw o oth er oc cas ion s. On ap peal , of co urse, the sta te i s e nti tl ed to the strong estl eg it imat e v iew of the e v ide nce and al l re asona ble i nferenc es w hic h mi g ht be draw n the re from. Stat e v . C abbag e, 57 1 S. W .2d 8 32, 8 35 ( Tenn. 1978 ). The c re dib il it y of the w it ness es, the w eig ht t o be g iv en th eir tes ti mony , and the re conc il iat ion of confli cts in the p ro of are matters e ntr ust ed to the tr ier of fact. See B y rg e v . St ate, 575 S.W .2d 292 , 295 (Ten n. Crim. Ap p. 19 78). W hen the suf f iciency of

the evidence is chal len g ed, t he rele v ant q uest ion i s w hether , after r ev iew ing the ev ide nce in the l ig ht5 most fav or abl e to the s tate, any rati onal tr ier

of fact c oul d hav e found the es sent ial ele ments of the c ri me bey ond a re asona ble doubt
. Stat e v . W il li ams, 657 S. W .2d 405 , 410 (Ten n. 19 83); T enn . R. App. P. 13(e).

An as saul t i s c ommitt ed w hen a person "[i ]nten ti onal ly , k now ing ly or re ck les sl y

ca uses bodi ly

i nju ry to another ." Tenn. C ode An n. § 39- 13- 101. The ass aul t bec omes a g g ra v ated w hen, among othe r thi ng s, the v ic ti m suffers "ser iou s bodi ly i nju ry " defined as inj ur y ca usi ng "[p] ro tract ed l oss or su bst anti al impai rment of a functi on of a bod il y member [or ] org an" or

"[e] xtr eme phy si cal pai n." Tenn. Cod e Ann. §§ 3 9- 13- 102( a) (1 ), 39- 11- 106( 33)
.

T hat there was an assau lt w as alm ost un cont este d. T he victim tes ti fied th at s he w as in extr eme pai n for about si x w eeks ; s he c oul d notsi t, sta nd, or l ie in a c omfortabl e pos it ion
. Her pai n medi cat ion , s he s aid , di d notr eli ev e her s u f fe ri n g. Sh e wa s u n a b le t o d o si m p le t a s k s fo r a b o u tsi x we e k s a n d wa s e n t ir e ly dependenton h er

so n. She c oul d not

r etur n to w or k u nti l three month s a fter t he ass aul t.
The tr ial co urt found t he defendant g uil ty of ag g ra v ated ass aul t. Impl ic iti n thi s fin din g i s t he findi ng thatthe v ic ti m suffered s er iou sl y bodi ly i nju ry . Vi ew ed i n the l ig ht mos t fav or abl e to the s tate, the ev ide nce is su ff ic ien t t o s uppor t a conv ic ti on. A rati onal tr ier of fact c oul d hav e found the es sent ial el ements of the cr ime bey ond a re asona ble doubt
.

Acc ordin g ly , t he j udg ment of the tr ial co urt i s a ff ir med.

Gar y R . W ade, Judg e6 CONCUR:

W ill ia m M. B a rke r, Ju d ge

Je rry L. Sm it h , J u d ge