IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

Assigned on Briefs April 1, 2003

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. RICHARD C. ROGERS

Direct Appeal from the Circuit Court for Lauderdale County

No. 7154 Joseph H. Walker, Judge

No. W2002-01632-CCA-R3-CD - Filed August 8, 2003

Defendant, Richard C. Rogers, appeals his convictions in the Lauderdale County Circuit Court for

burglary of a vehicle, a class E felony, and theft of property in an amount over $1,000 and less than

$10,000, a class D felony. Following a jury trial, Defendant was sentenced as a career offender to

six years for his burglary conviction and twelve years for his theft conviction, to be served

concurrently. In this appeal as of right, Defendant contends that the evidence at trial was insufficient

to support his convictions beyond a reasonable doubt. After review of the record, we affirm the

judgments of the trial court.

Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Circuit Court Affirmed

THOMAS T. WOODALL, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which GARY R. WADE, P.J., and

DAVID G. HAYES, J., joined.

Clifford K. McGown, Jr., Waverly, Tennessee (on appeal); Gary F. Antrican, District Public

Defender; and Julie K. Pillow, Assistant Public Defender, (at trial), for the appellant, Richard C.

Rogers.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; P. Robin Dixon, Jr., Assistant Attorney General;

Elizabeth T. Rice, District Attorney General; and Tracey Brewer, Assistant Attorney General, for

the appellee, the State of Tennessee.

OPINION

Ronnie Moore testified that on July 27, 2001, he worked for the Lauderdale County Highway

Department. On that morning, he arrived at work at 6:00 a.m. and noticed that the gate was open.

The gate is usually locked, but the lock had been cut. Mr. Moore also noticed that the doors into the

building had been broken open and a service truck was missing. He notified the sheriff’s

department. 
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Andy Vaughn, a shop foreman for the Lauderdale County Highway Department, testified that

on July 27, 2001, he arrived at work and discovered that the 1996 Dodge Ram service truck that was

assigned to him was missing. Mr. Vaughn testified that the truck was valued at approximately

$9,000. He also testified that the tools belonging to the highway department are marked as such and

identified using serial numbers. Mr. Vaughn reported several items stolen, including eleven

chainsaws, a floor buffer, two tool boxes, several hand tools, several wrenches, an extended arm

pruner, and a weed eater. The total estimated value of all of the items stolen was several thousand

dollars. Mr. Vaughn testified that the truck and some but not all of the tools and other property were

recovered. 

Jeff Fain, an officer for the Collierville Police Department, testified that he was employed

as a criminal investigator for the Ripley Police Department at the time of this offense. Officer Fain

testified that on August 4, 2001, he was notified that the service truck stolen from the Lauderdale

County Highway Department had been recovered in Dyer County. Defendant and his wife had been

found sleeping in the truck and were arrested and taken into custody in Dyer County. Officer Fain

and Lieutenant Sanders transported Defendant from the Dyer County jail to the Lauderdale County

jail. Officer Fain “couldn’t tell” whether Defendant appeared to be under the influence of an

intoxicant. Defendant was not wearing a shirt. 

Lieutenant Steve Sanders of the Ripley Police Department testified that Defendant gave a

statement on August 7, 2001, after Lieutenant Sanders advised Defendant of his Miranda rights.

Defendant admitted his involvement in the burglary and theft. Defendant stated that he had received

information from an inmate who worked as a clean-up person for the highway department.

Defendant stated that he cut the chain link fence surrounding the building using bolt cutters. He

pried open the door to the building, entered the building and obtained the keys to the Dodge truck.

He backed the truck into the bay area where the tools were stored. He drove the truck to Nashville

where he sold some of the tools for $500. He sold several more items on his way to Dyer County.

After giving an oral statement to Lieutenant Sanders, Defendant reduced his statement to writing.

Lieutenant Sanders testified that Defendant did not appear to be under the influence of

alcohol or drugs at the time he gave the statement. Defendant told Lieutenant Sanders that he used

the money from the sale of the stolen tools to buy drugs. 

On August 13, 2001, Lieutenant Sanders drove to Nashville to recover the stolen items that

had been sold, and then he released them to the Lauderdale County Highway Department. Defendant

sold the tools in Nashville to the owner of Cooper Electric Company, who wrote a check to

Defendant for $500 and then immediately cashed the check for Defendant. Lieutenant Sanders

attempted to recover the check, but he never obtained it from the Nashville police. Defendant did

not testify at trial. 

Sufficiency of the Evidence
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Defendant contends that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support his convictions.

When an accused challenges the sufficiency of the convicting evidence, we must determine whether

“‘any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable

doubt.’” State v. Keough, 18 S.W.3d 175, 180-81 (Tenn. 2000) (quoting Jackson v. Virginia, 443

U.S. 307, 319, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L. Ed. 2d 560, 573 (1979)). In evaluating the sufficiency

of the evidence, this Court will afford the prosecution the strongest legitimate view of the evidence

in the record as well as all reasonable and legitimate inferences which may be drawn from the

evidence. State v. Williams, 657 S.W.2d 405, 410 (Tenn. 1983). Questions regarding the credibility

of the witnesses, the weight to be given the evidence, and any factual issues raised by the evidence

are resolved by the trier of fact, not this Court. State v. Pruett, 788 S.W.2d 559, 561 (Tenn. 1990).

Furthermore, a guilty verdict replaces the presumption of innocence with a presumption of guilt, and

the defendant has the burden of demonstrating on appeal why the evidence does not support the

jury’s findings. State v. Tuggle, 639 S.W.2d 913, 914 (Tenn. 1982). 

A conviction for burglary of a vehicle requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that

Defendant, without the effective consent of the property owner, entered any freight or passenger car,

automobile, truck, trailer, boat, airplane or other motor vehicle with intent to commit a felony, theft

or assault. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-402 (1997). Burglary of a vehicle is a class E felony. Id. A

conviction for theft requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Defendant, with intent to deprive

the owner of property, knowingly obtained or exercised control over the property without the

owner’s effective consent. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-103 (1997). 

Defendant confessed to the police that he entered the property without permission, stole the

tools and the key to the service truck, and drove the vehicle away with the stolen tools inside.

Defendant told police that he had sold some of the stolen tools to “a guy” in Nashville. Lieutenant

Sanders recovered the tools, marked “Lauderdale County Highway Department,” from a man in

Nashville. Defendant was found inside the stolen vehicle. The evidence was sufficient for any

rational trier of fact to find Defendant guilty of both offenses beyond a reasonable doubt. 

CONCLUSION

After a careful review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. 

___________________________________ 

THOMAS T. WOODALL, JUDGE