C o n siste n t with the p ra c tice o f this co u rt, w e re fer to this d e fen d a n t b y the na m e us e d in the ind ic tm e n t. W e 1

not e, howev er , t hat t he defendan t ’ s medi cal bi l l s an d cer t ai n pl eadi ng s f i l ed by he r defens e c ouns el r efer t o her as (c o n tinu e d ...) 

### IN THE COURT OF CRIMI NAL AP PEALS OF TENNES SEE

AT KNOXVI LLE A ugus t 18
, 200 4 S es sio n

STATE OF TENNESS EE v . RANDY PRUITT an d ANET AMERI CA

Direc t Appeal from the Cr im inal Cou rt for Coc ke County Nos. 8929, 9129 Rex He nry Ogle, Judge

No. E2004-00891-CC A-R3- CD - F iled October 18, 2004

Th e de fe nd a nts , who are br oth e r andsis te r, we re e a c h c on vic te d b y a Coc ke Cou nty

jury of a ssa ult
, a Class A misdemeanor , and sentenced by the t rial court to serve 11 months, 29 day s on supervised probation. B oth defe ndants cha lleng e the suff iciency of the e vidence on appea l. We conclude that

su ff ic ie nt e vid e nc e wa s p re se nte d f ro m w hic h a

ratio nal tr ier of

fa c t c ou ld r e a so na

bly fi ndbo th defe ndants g uiltyof assault. Accor dingly , we a ffirm the judg ments of the trial c ourt.
Tenn. R. App . P . 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgme nts of

the Cr im inal Cou rt A ff irm ed

A L AN E. G L EN N , J ., delivere d the opinion of t h e co u rt , i n which D AVI D G. H AYES and J AM ES C UR WO OD W I TT , J R ., J J ., joined.

P. Ri char d Talley , Dandridge , Tenne ssee, f or the a ppellants, Randy

Pruitt and Anet Americ a.
Paul G. Summers, Attorney Gene ral and Reporter ; Seth P. Ke stner, Assistant A ttorney Gene ral; Al C. Schmutz er, Jr., Di s t ri ct At torney Gene ral; and James B. D unn, Assistant District Attorney Gene ral, for

the appe llee, State of Te nnessee

.
OP IN ION

F AC TS

Th is c a se aro se ou t of

a fi g ht b e tw e e n n e xt-d oo r n e ig hb or s. Th e hu sb a nda ndwi fe vic tim s, J ohnny and Joanne Shelton, and the def endants’ pa

rents, Wade a nd Edith Pruitt, wer e involved over the y e ars in a

se ri e s o f bou nd ary lin e dis pu te s tha t led to inc re a sin g ly ho sti le re la tio ns be tw e e n th e ir families. On the afte rnoon of J uly 28, 2002, a phy sical alter cation beg an betwe en Joanne Shelton and Ane t America and quickly es ca l at ed into a g ener al bra wl in which seve ral membe rs of the 1(

. . . con t i n u ed) 1

“ A nn et t e M er i ca, ” r at her t han “ A net Am er i ca. ”

-2- Shelton and Pruitt fa m i l ies, as we ll as one or two other neig hbors, took part. The Sheltons swore out warr ants ag ainst the Pruitts, and Wade and Edith Pruitt , Randy Pruitt, and Anet Americ a we re
su bs e qu e ntl y

c ha rg e d, va ri ou sly , with a ssa

ult ing Mr . an d M rs . Sh e lto n a ndthe ir daug hte r, Ki mbe rl y Shelton. Following a joint trial, the jury acquitted the e lder Pruitts of all char g es; ac quitted Randy Pruitt of the assault o f J oanne Shelton; convicte d Randy Pruitt of the assault of JohnnyShelton; acquitted Ane t America

of the a ssault of Kimb erly Shelton; and convicted Ane t America of the assault of Joanne Shelton.

At the def

endants’ trial, J ohnny

Shelton testified he ha d l i v ed at 145 Br ookfield Drive for

app ro xima te ly

thi rt y -f ive y e ars

. He sa id h e a ndhis ne xt-d oo r n e ig hb or , Wa de Pruitt, h a d h a d “ so me words” y ear s ag o over Mr . Pruitt’s encroa chment on his property with a sewe r line and a fenc e, and had eng ag ed in a series of boundary line disputes since that time. Mr. Shelton said the Pruitts erec ted

a fe nc e a s ta ll a s h is h ou se , “ sta rt e d be a tin g a ndba ng ing up [his ] ca r andstu ff

,” a ndc on tin ua lly hara ssed his family

by “dra g g ing [them] in and out of court” with fa l s e cl ai m s that they had

va nd a lize d h is f

e nc e a nd pr op e rt y

. As a re su lt, he ins ta lle d a su rv e ill a nc e c a me ra ou tsi de his ho me direc ted towar d the Pruitts’ property

.

Mr . Sh e lto n te sti fi e d h e wa s in his ba c ky ard on the a ft e rn oo n o f Jul y 28 , 2 00 2, c le a nin g his swimming pool liner that had be en st ained by some bea ns the Pruitts had thrown over the fenc e, when he hear d his wife scr eam. In response , he ran to the front y ard, w here he saw his wife and A net Americ a “locke d up toge ther” on the g round, with Ms. Americ a holding his w ife by her ha ir. As he

wa s at t em p t i n g t o s ep ar at e t h e w o m en , W ad e an d R an d y P ru i t tra n u p an d b ega n k i ck i n g, s t o m p i n g, and beating his wife while she wa s still on the g round. Mr. Shelton testified he was hit thre e times

as we ll, at least once eac h by Wade and Randy Pruitt. He said his wife was beaten unconscious and transporte d by ambulance to the hos pital, and he rec eived bruises to both sides of the fa ce and two bla c k e y e s, a ndwe nt d ir e c tly to the e me rg e nc y ro om a ft e r t akin g ou t a

wa rr a nt a g a ins t th e Pruitts.

Mr . Sh e lto n te sti fi e d h is d a ug hte r, Ki mbe rl y , w ho wa s in the po ol w he n th e fi g ht b ro ke ou t,

came to the front in re sponse to Mrs. Shelton’s sc rea ms, a nd his daug hter’s f riend, Tina H ensley , was pr e se nt a s w e ll. He ide nti fi e d th e vid e ota pe re c or de d by his ho me ’s su rv e ill a nc e c a me ra a t th e tim e of the fig ht, subsequently admitted as an e x hibit, which contains a view of the fenc e b et we en the properties, part of the street in front of the Sheltons’ house, and a portion of the Sheltons’ drivew ay
a n d f r o n t yar d
, b u t d o e s n o t s h o w t h e a c t u a l f i g h t

. A f t e r t h e v i d e o t ap e w a s p l a ye d b e f o r e t h e j u r y, Mr. Shelton testified the object he threw ove r t h e fe n ce i n one of the last fra mes was one of the potatoes that the Pruitts had ea rlier throw n into his y ard.

On cr oss-examination, Mr. Shelton t estified his neig hbors ac ross the stree t had a surve illan ce
came ra mounted on the ir house, but he did not think the camera had been t urned on at t he time and knew nothing of his daug hter’s ha ving ha d poss es s i o n o f the videota pe. He acknow ledg ed the videotape a dmitted into evidenc e showed that he arme d himself with a stick befor e re turning to the-3-

fi g ht. Ho we ve r, he den ie d th a t hi s w if e ’s vo ic e c ou ld b e he arda ft e r the c on c lus ion of the fi g ht, te sti fying that it

wa s in ste a d th e vo ic e of

the “ lit tle de a f g ir l” fr om a c ro ss the str e e t.
Kimberly Shelto n testified Ms. Americ a wa s on top of her mother in their y ard w hen she

c a me aro un d th e ho us e

. She sa id s he wa s a tte mpt ing to p ic k h e r m oth e r u p w he n M rs . Pr uitt c a me up be hin d h e r, g ra

bb e d h e r a

ro un d th e wa ist , a ndsta

rt e d p ull ing . A c c or din g to he r te sti mon y , M s. Americ a and Wade Pruitt continued their assault on her mother during that time, with Ms. America “wildly hitting” a nd Mr. Pruitt kicking and stomping her mother. Ms. Shelton testified she re ceive d a blow on the f

ace from Ms. America a nd a kick on the hip from Wade Pruitt in the process, but her injuries wer e mild compare d to the ones her pare nts r ece ived and she did not seek me dical attention. On cr oss-examination, she testified she had no idea i f her neig hbors had a surveillance tape that showed the a ctual fig ht.

J o an n e S h el t o n t es t i fi ed t h e a l t er ca t i o n b ega n wh en M s

. Am er i cab ega n “m o u t h i n g” obscenities about the Sheltons’ de cea sed daug hter, and she ca lled in response, “ You come on dow n here
, y oung lady

. . . . . Come on down, or ar e y ou g oing to be like y our damne d old daddy and run.” She testified that Ms. Americ a, her fist fortified with steel knuc kles, responde d to the challeng e:

[Ms . Americ a] come acr oss the ditch line in on me . And she hit me. And at first I thought it was a brac elet, like I had on. And she hauled off a nd hit me, and it wasn’t a br ace let, it was a pair of ste el knucks [s ic ].

And when she hit me, I done like this, I

- - with myfist. I

sa id, “ Th is i s f

or She ila She lto n L ov e ll. ” An d I did - - e ve ry on e , I ’l l tell y ou, I did, I hit her. I hit h er

. I wa s m ad

. They had no rig ht. I

me a n, jus t ke e p y ou r m ou th s hu t on my daug hte r. Th a t’ s th e on ly

way the y c ou ld ev e r g e t me to cor re sp on d to eve n a c kn ow le dg e the m.
Mrs. Shelton testified that Randy Pruitt hi t her and Wade Pruitt kicke d her repe atedly as she lay on the g round, and ide ntified the medica l bills she incurr ed as a result of he r injuries.

O n c r o s s

- e x a m i n a t i o n , M r s

. S h e l t o n d e n i e d s h e h a d e v e r v a n d a l i z e d t h e P ru i t t s ’ p r o p e r t y. She fu rt h er d en i ed she had eve r had pr oblems with any other ne ighbor s or with the elec tric meter

rea ders. She a dmitted, however , that her me ter wa s now locate d i n s o meone e lse’s y ard. She acknow ledg ed the obsc ene w ords she attributed to Ms. America a re not au d ible on the videotape
, while she c an be he ard y elling obs cenities at Ms. America and asking if she has a ny “tater s and be a ns ,” imm e diate ly

a ft e r M s. Am e ri c a is h e ardc a lli ng fo r h e r d a ug hte r, wh o h a d ridd e n h e r b ic y c le down the stree t. Mrs. Shelton ex plained that Ms. Americ a “mutter[ed]” the obscenities a bout her dece ased daug hter a nd that the “tate rs and be ans” que stion wa s a ref ere nce to the mixed produce the Pruitts had earlier

thrown over

the fe nce into her

y ard.-4-

Tina Hensley
, who said she was not involved in the fig ht and was the one who ca l l ed the po lic e , te sti fi e d s he a nd Mr s. She lto n w e re ta lki ng in the She lto ns ’ dri ve way wh e n s he no tic e d M s. Americ a standing “in a ditch line.” She said “ther e . . . were w ords exchang ed,” and “the ne x t thing [she] kn[e] w” Ms. America wa lked over to Mrs. Shelton and the two beg an to fig ht. Although the women beg an the fig ht in the Sheltons’ y ard, they soon rolled out into the street, wher e a numbe r of oth e r p e op le qu ic kly

joi ne d in . M s. He ns le y

de sc ri be d th e c ha oti c sc e ne :

A. Okay . And then I

was trying to separ ate J oanne and Anet, a nd I was - - J oanne w as try ing to stand up. A nd the next thi ng I know - - and I didn’t even know any

body was there at the time e x cept f or the three of us. Randy ran and tackled J oanne as she wa s try ing to stand up. And . . .

Q. “ Ra nd y ” be ing the De fe nd a nt, Ra nd y Pruitt?

A. Ye s.
Q. O k a y.

A. And he tac kled J oanne, and she wa s lay ing on the g round ag ain, and he rolled off

of her . And then that’s whe n I turned a round

a ndsa w e ve ry

bo dy . I me a n, th ere wa s li ke nu me ro us pe op le ou t in the stree t hi tting and sc rea ming, a nd every body was in eve ry

body ’s fac e.
Bill Campbell, the Sheltons’ neig hbor from acr oss the road, testified the fig ht beg an whe n Mrs. Shelton, who was swe eping potatoes out of her driveway , y elled at Ms. America that she had better stop her children from throwing potatoes in he r y ard. He sa id that Ms. America responde d by jumping on Mrs. Shelton in her driveway and slapping h er

. I n rapid succession, Ms. Americ a’s br oth e r, fathe r, a ndmothe r r a n to joi n th e fi g ht:

And her e come Wade’s boy . He come down the r oad running , like,

ou t th e re , a ndkn oc ke d Joa nn e ou t in the ro a d, be a ting h er wi th h is fi st. An d h e re c ome Wad e kic kin g a t he r. An d h e re c ome s mo m. Th ey all on that one woman out ther e, that one w oman, beating he r up . A ndI

a in’ t - - I ’v e be e n h it b y

him

.

Mr . Ca mpb e ll t e sti fi e d Wa de Pruit t “ str uc k [hi m] a

lic k w ith a

pa ir of kn uc ks ” wh e n h e we nt a c ro ss the stree t to find out what was g oing on. Although he described pre vious confrontations he had had wi th b othWad e a nd Ra nd y Pruit t a nd te sti fi e d he ha d a su rv e ill a nc e c a me ra dir e c te d a t th e Pruitts’ house in an e ffort to catch the individuals who had been va ndalizing his property , he denie d he we nt

acr oss the street to join the fight or that he c ut Wade Pruitt wit h his pocketknife during the melee.-5-

Offic er Tony

Whit ten of the Cocke CountySheriff’ s Depa rtment test ified there wer e approximately

thirty people in the y ard w hen he r esponded to the Sheltons’ re sidence . He sa id he spoke to Mr

. Shelton in an eff ort to determine w hat had ha ppened, and observe d that he had a knot on his right e y e and red marks on the l eft side of hi s fac e. Howeve r, he did not char g e any one at the

sc e ne . O ff

ic e r Jos h H olt of the Da nd ri dg e Pol ic e De pa rt me nt t e sti fi e d th e fi g ht w a s o ve r andMr s. Shelton, who appea

red to ha ve bee n beate n, was ly ing in the y ar d wh en he a rrived. H e said ther e
we re po ta toe s in the y ard and dr ive way a ndwh a t app e are d to be be a ns in the sw imm ing po ol. Although he did not charg e any one at the sc ene, he advised those pr esent of the ir rig hts and the proce dure f

or obtaining a wa

rra nt from a mag istrate.

Anet America testified her family had experience d ong oing problems with the Sheltons over the y e ars . A mon g he r cl a ims wa s tha t the She lto ns ha d s ho t th e ir e lde rl y famil y do g , f ir e d g un sh ots throug h her be droom wall and he r truck, repe atedly cut down the line her family had strung betwee n the survey or’s stake s while they wer e in the proce ss of building their bounda ry line fenc e, thrown food items and tra sh over the fenc e into their y ard, vandalized her father’s truc k, and hung a chic ken leg over the fenc e. I n addition, she said that Mrs. Shelton had spray painted their y ard a nd spat at her a nd called he r name s when she tried to mow her pa rents’ la wn.

Ms. America

testified t he J uly 28, 2002, fig ht beg an after she went outside to call her eleve ny ear -old daug hter, Mariah, and Ma riah’s co u s i n , Riley , home to lunch, and Mrs. Shelton beg an cursing her. She said she di d not reply
, but instead st epped out into the roa dway in order to se e the children, w ho had ridde n their bicy cles pa st the Sheltons’ home. When she di d so, she saw Ma riah, wh o w a s c rying , s hake he r h e a d to indicat e sh e wa s n ot g oin g to r e turn h ome pa st the She lto ns ’ ho us e . M s. Am e ri c a

te sti fi e d s he wa s w a lki ng do wn the str e e t pas t the She lto ns ’ h ou se , w ith the so le intention of bring ing thechildren sa fely home, when Mr s. Shelton suddenly punched he r in the mouth. She insi sted she wa s never in the Sheltons’ y ard, sa id no t h i n g to Mrs. Shelton, and was minding her

own business when attacked.

I n Ms. America ’s ac count, it was she, rathe r than Mrs. Shelton, who ended up on the g round

un de r atta c k b y

mul tip le ind ivi du a ls:

I knew M[r]s. S helton had put her fist in my mouth. But then, afte r t hat, Iwas on the g round not long afte r that. The de af g irl that Mr. Shelton was talking about was to my rig ht, at my hands, pulling my ha nd s a ndhit tin g me un de r the arm . A ndI kn ow thi s f or the fa c t: She had a pa ir of pi nk shorts on with a pink pair of panties on. And I pulled them off of

her. I just re tch up (sic) and I just pulled them off of her , just try

to ge t her a way

from me.

J ohnny Shelton was down at m y rig ht foot, kicking and hitting and pulling my

leg . M[r] s. Shelton was to the lef t leg pulling and hitting and c oming up a nd down, hitting me. Just hi tting me. And-6- their daug hter was to the l eft, my left arm, doing the same, like they

wer e try ing to pull me to the y ard.

Ms. Am e ri c a

te sti fi e d M s. He ns le y

wa s in iti a lly

inv olv e d in the fi g ht a s w e ll, bu t late r l e ft

. She said her br other, Randy , first came to her assistance, followed by her father and later her mother
, but she was una war e of w hat happe ned betwe en them and the Sheltons because she wa s
c on c e ntr a tin g on try ing to g e t to he r f e e t. Af te r the fi g ht w a s o ve r, sh e a ndhe r f a mil y wa lke d h ome and her sister took her to the e merg ency room for tre atment of the injuries she had sustained, which included a bloody

mouth, scratche d elbows and kne es, and m ar k s ar ound her ne ck. He r sister stopped en route to the hospital in an eff ort to take out war

rants against the S heltons, but was re fused by the mag istrate.

Ms. Americ a acknowledg ed on cross-e x amination that she did not see who hung the chicke n leg on the fe nce, vandalized her father ’s truck, shot her dog , or fire d g unshots through he r truck a nd bedroom a nd admitted she had not, there fore , taken out any war rants ag ainst the Sheltons based on those incidents. She denied she spoke to Mrs. Shelton before the fig ht and testified that the va rious g e stu re s sh e c a n b e se e n ma kin g in the vid e ota

pe oc c ur re d wh e n sh e pla c e d he r ha ndto h e r e ar i n an attempt to g et Mariah to talk to her, and w hen she motioned for the c hildren to come towa rd her

. She said she did not see he r father, mother, or brother hit any one.
Randy Pruitt’s daug hter, ten-y ear -old Riley Pruitt, testified she a nd Mariah r efuse d to return home when Ms. Ame rica called the m b ec ause Mr s. Shelton had been “ swing ing a stick” in her dr ive way a s th e y ro de the ir

bic y c le s p a st h e r h ou se , a ndthe y we re a fr a id s he wo uldhit the m on the ir

re turn trip. Whe n M s. Am e ri c a sta rt e d d ow n th e ro a d a ft e r the m, M rs . Sh e lto n “ jumpe d ou t a ndhit [Ms. A me r ic a ] in th e mo u th w ith h e r f is t. ” A f te r th a t, s h e s a w “ s e v e n p e o p le o n [M s . Americ a] beat i ng her.” Riley

testified that the fig ht occur red in the r oad. On c ross-examination, she stated that she did not know whethe r the stick in Mrs. Shelton’s hands could ha ve bee n a broom.
Randy Pruitt t estified he w as upstairs in his pare nts’ house ch an gi ng his clothes when he he ard a c omm oti on ou tsi de a nd re a lize d a fi g ht wa s in pr oc e ss. With ou t st op pin g to p ut o n h is s ho e s, he ra n o ut t o f

ind Ms. Am e ri c a ly ing on he r ba c k on the str e e t in f ro nt o f the She lto ns ’ h ou se , w ith Mr . Sh e lto n an d th e de a f g ir l ho ldi ng he r d ow n a ndMr s. She lto n “ raisi ng up a nddo wn wi th h e r f ist
, a-hitting her.” The witness testified the crow d scatter ed as he ran throug h it
, an d M r. S helton jumpe d o n h is b a c k. He sa id h e turne d aro un d, hit Mr . Sh e lto n, a ndthe n tu rn e d b a c k to se e that Mr s. Shelton had his sist er by

her hair. Next, his fathe r came up and both he and the Sheltons’ daug hter, Kimberly
, b ega n telling Mrs. Shelton to turn Ms. Americ a loose. “ Ex cept f or some fussing ,” the alterc ation essentially

ended at that point. On cross-e x amination, the witness acknow ledg ed he ha d a prior a rre st for assault.

Edith Pruitt denied she hit Kimberly Shelton or any one else and testified the f ight wa s over by the time she re ache d the sce ne.-7- AN AL YSI S

Th e so le iss ue the de fe nd a nts ra ise on app e a l is wh e the r the e vid e nc e wa s su ff ic ie nt t o s us ta in their convic tions for a ssault. When the sufficienc y of the c onvicting e vidence is challeng ed on appea l, the rele vant question of the r eviewing court is “whe ther, a fter viewing the evidenc e in the light most favor able to t h e prose cution, any rational trier of fa ct could have found the e ssential

e le me nts of

the c ri me be y on d a

re a so na ble do ub t.” Jac ks on v. Vi rg ini a , 4 43 U. S. 3 07
, 319, 99 S. Ct. 2781, 2789, 61 L . Ed. 2d 560, 573 (1979); see also State v. Evans, 838 S

. W

. 2 d 1 8 5, 190-92 (T e nn . 1 99 2) ; State v. An de rs on , 8 35 S.W. 2d 60 0, 60 4 (T e nn . Crim . App . 199 2) ; Ten n. R. A pp . P. 13(e) (“F indings of g uilt in criminal ac tions whether by the trial court or jury

shall be set aside if the

e vid e nc e is i ns uf

fi c ie nt t o su pp ort the fi nd ing s b y the tr ie r o f f

a c t of g uil t be y on d a

re a so na ble doubt.”). All questions involvi ng the cr edibilityof witnesses, the w eig ht and value to be g iven the evidenc e, an d all fac tual issues are resolved by the trier of

fac t. See State v. Pappas, 754 S.W.2d 620, 623 (T en n

. C rim. App. 1987). “A g uiltyverdic t by the jury , approve d by

the trial judg e,
acc redits the testimony

of the witnesse s for the State and resolves all conflicts in f avor of the theory of the State.” State v. Gr ac e, 4 9 3 S

. W

. 2 d 474, 476 (Tenn. 1973) . Our supre me court stated the rationale for this rule:

This well -settled rule rests on a sound f oundation. The trial judge and the jury

see the witnesses face to face , hear their testimony and obser ve their de meanor on t h e stand. Thus the trial judg e and jury are the primary

instrumentality

of justice to determine the weig ht and cr edibilityto be g iven to the testimony of witnesses. I n the trial forum alone is there human atmosphere a nd the totality of the

e vid e nc e c a nn ot b e re pr od uc e d w ith a writt e n r e c or d in thi s Co urt.

Bolin v. State, 219 Tenn. 4, 11, 405 S.W .2d 768, 771 (1966) ( citing Ca rroll v. State, 212 Tenn. 464, 370 S.W .2d 523 (1963)) . A jury conviction re moves the pre sumptio n o f i nnocenc e with which a defe ndant is initially cloake d and repla ces it with one of g uilt, so that on appea l, a convicted defe ndant has the bur den of de monstrating that the evidenc e is insufficient. See State v. Tug g le, 639 S.W .2d 913, 914 (Tenn. 1982)

.
Both defe ndants contend the proof at trial shows that Mrs. Shelton wa s the ag g ressor and that Ms. America

acte d in self-de fense and Randy Pruitt in defe nse of Ms. Americ a. The State responds by arg uing that the jury was entitl ed to resolve the conflicting testimony in favor of the State a nd that th e e v id e n c e , v ie w e d in th a t l ig h t, w a s s u f f ic ie n t f o r it to f in d b o th d e f

e n d a n ts g u il ty o f a s s a u lt

. We ag ree with the State.

Th is w a s a

c la ssi c c a se inv olv ing the c re dib ili ty of wi tne sse s. B e fo re re a c hin g its ve rd ic ts, the jury hear d the conf

licting testimony

about who had done what to whom in the past, who initiated the fig ht on J uly

28, wher e the f

ight b ega n , and what occur red during the fig ht. I t also rec eived ins truc tio ns fr om the tr ia l cou rt on se lf -d e fe ns e a ndde fe ns e of

thi rdpe rs on s. Ho we ve r, by its g uil ty verdic ts, the jury

obviouslyacc redited the State’s wi t nesses ove r the witnesse s for the de fense , or-8-

at least that portion of their testimonyconce rning who initiated the phy sical alter cation and w hether An e t A me ri c a

a nd Ra nd y Pruit t we re jus tif ie d in the ir

us e of fo rc e a g a ins t th e vic tim s. Th is w a s it s pr e ro g a tiv e a s the tr ie r o f f a c t, andwe wi ll n ot d istur b it s f ind ing s. Pr oo f w a s p re se nte d th a t Ms

. Americ a initiated the fig ht by entering the Sheltons’ pr operty and attacking Mrs. Shelton, causing bodily injury to he r, and that Randy

Pruitt caused bodily

injury to Mr. Shelton by

striking him in the fa c e wh e n h e ra n to joi n th e fi g ht. We, the re fo re , c on c lud e that the e vid e nc e is s uf fi c ie nt t o s us ta in the def endants’ c onvictions for assault.

CO NC LU SION

After a thoroug h revie w of the r ecor d and the parties’ briefs, we conclude t hat t he evide nce is sufficient to sustain the def endants’ c onvictions. Accor dingly , we a ffirm the judg ments of the trial court.

___________________________________ ALAN E. GL

ENN, JUDGE