IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE

AT JACKSON

Assigned on Briefs May 2, 2006

JARVIS TAYLOR v. STATE OF TENNESSEE 

Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Shelby County

No. 02-08615 W. Fred Axley, Judge

No. W2005-01966-CCA-R3-CD - Filed August 4, 2006

The defendant, Jarvis Taylor, was convicted of first degree felonymurder and especially aggravated

robbery. He received a sentence of life imprisonment for his felony murder conviction and a

concurrent twenty year sentence for his especially aggravated robbery conviction. On appeal, the

defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. Following our review

of the parties’ briefs and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of the trial court. 

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

J.C. MCLIN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which THOMAS T. WOODALL and JOHN

EVERETT WILLIAMS, JJ., joined.

Tony N. Brayton, Assistant Public Defender (on appeal), Memphis, Tennessee, and Michael Johnson

and Michelle Lynn, Assistant Public Defenders (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant,

Jarvis Taylor.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Preston Shipp, Assistant Attorney General;

William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Patience Branham and Tracey Jones, Assistant

District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

FACTS

The proof at trial reflects that the victim, Carlos Shipp, was shot and robbed in the parking

lot of the Cambridge Apartments in Memphis on December 23, 2001. At trial, Dorthy Shipp

testified that her son, the victim, left her home the evening of December 22, 2001 to go back to his

apartment. At the time, he was driving a rented, white, two-door Chevrolet. Shipp stated that the

next day, police told her to come to the hospital because her son was hurt. However, when she

arrived at the hospital, her son was already dead. 
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Julie Hightower testified that she worked with the victim. On December 22, 2001, she was

at her boyfriend’s apartment located in the Cambridge Apartments. While staying at her boyfriend’s

apartment, she awoke to someone yelling and pounding on the door. Her boyfriend opened the door

and told her to call 911. While calling 911, Hightower went to the door and noticed that the victim

was shot. He appeared very pale and he had a bullet hole in his arm. Hightower and her boyfriend

helped the victim sit in a chair outside the apartment until the paramedics arrived. Hightower

observed that the victim bled on the chair. Joshua German, Julia Hightower’s boyfriend, testified

similarly. German added that the victim appeared to be struggling to breathe. German also noted

the victim bled on the front door and surrounding area of his apartment. 

Derick Pegues testified that he also lived at the Cambridge Apartments and on the night in

question, he heard gunshots. After looking out his window, he saw a person run and jump into a

white car and drive away from the apartments. Pegues noted that the person who got into the car was

a “[y]oung, African American, slender build, had on maybe dark pants, a coat.” Pegues also noted

that the car left the apartments “real fast.” After watching the car leave, Pegues saw the victim,

beating on a neighbor’s door and yelling for help. Pegues noticed that the victim’s shirt was covered

in blood and he looked frantic. Pegues stated that he called 911 but was unable to speak because he

was “in shock” and “freaked.” 

Another resident of the Cambridge Apartments, Warren Dantzler, testified that he heard a

couple of shots followed by screams. He immediately called 911. He then saw a car “trying to get

out of the apartment, the complex real fast.” According to Dantzler, the driver was a “young black

male in a small white compact car.” 

Officer Billy Smallwood of the Memphis Police Department testified that he and his partner

responded to a shooting at the Cambridge Apartments. Upon arrival, Officer Smallwood heard a lot

of screaming and yelling coming from an upstairs balcony. Officer Smallwood went upstairs and

found the victim lying on the balcony, bleeding. The victim was breathing very rapidly and appeared

scared. The victim told Officer Smallwood that he had been shot and robbed in the parking lot of

the apartment complex. The victim said that he gave his wallet to the robber and threw the rental

car keys and the robber shot him. 

Officer Smallwood explained that during the conversation, the victim became unable to speak

and began responding to Officer Smallwood’s questions with hand gestures. Through these hand

gestures Officer Smallwood was able to determine that the robber was a black male between eighteen

and twenty years old, stood between five feet, four inches and five feet, seven inches tall, weighed

approximately 150 pounds, and wore a white t-shirt, black leather jacket, and ball cap. Officer

Smallwood stated that his conversation with the victim ended after the paramedics arrived. Officer

Smallwood noted that when the victim started losing consciousness, it became clear to him that the

victim had additional serious injuries other than a gunshot wound to the arm. 

Officer Kay Turnmire of the Memphis Police Department testified that she arrived at the

crime scene to collect evidence. She recovered the victim’s keys and ball cap. She also found blood
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on the stairs and handrail leading up to German’s apartment. Officer Shan Tracy of the Memphis

Police Department testified that he processed and photographed the victim’s vehicle. He identified

the car as a 2002 white Cavalier belonging to Enterprise Corporation, a rental car company. Officer

Tracynoted that the inside rearview mirror and license plate were missing from the Cavalier. Officer

Tracy stated that no fingerprints were recovered from the Cavalier. 

Officer Robert Shemwell of the Memphis Police Department testified that he led the

investigation of the victim’s homicide. Officer Shemwell stated he learned that the white car stolen

from the victim was found abandoned behind a Captain D’s restaurant. The car had been “wiped

clean.” Officer Shemwell stated that sometime in March 2002, he received a tip from Crime

Stoppers, which led him to look for a juvenile, Antonio Watkins, at Hillwood High School. After

talking to Watkins on the phone, Officer Shemwell learned that the defendant had bragged to

Watkins about killing the victim. According to Officer Shemwell, Watkins gave a formal statement

to police and he identified the defendant as the man who killed the victim. Based upon this

information, the defendant was eventually located, arrested and charged with murder. Officer

Shemwell also stated that he received information that the defendant drove the victim’s car on

Christmas Day and used the victim’s credit card at a convenience store called Out Fitter’s located

in Mississippi. On cross-examination, Officer Shemwell acknowledged that he did not pursue

investigation of the other charges to the victim’s credit card at other convenience stores. 

Antonio Watkins testified that he and the defendant lived in the same apartment complex.

According to Watkins, the defendant told him that he robbed the victim. During the robbery, the

victim pushed the defendant to the ground and scratched his back. At this time, the defendant shot

the victim. While the victim was crawling away, the defendant got into a car and left. Watkins

identified the car as a white Chevy Cavalier. Watkins stated that he rode in the Cavalier with the

defendant a couple of days in December. Watkins noted that the keys to the car had a Rent-A-Car

tag attached to them. Watkins also watched the defendant remove the rearview mirror off the

Cavalier to ensure no fingerprints could be lifted from it. Watkins observed the defendant throw the

rearview mirror into the woods. 

Watkins testified that he saw a fresh, bleeding scar on the defendant’s back where the victim

had scratched. Watkins said the defendant borrowed some blue jeans from him. Later, when

Watkins saw the defendant wearing the blue jeans, he noticed there was blood on them. Watkins

stated that the defendant drove the Cavalier for about a week or two. Watkins admitted that he

helped the defendant wipe down the carso no fingerprints could be found. He further admitted that

he smoked marijuana every day and received $6000 from Crime Stoppers for his information. He

also acknowledged that he got into a fight with the defendant a few days before prom. 

Michael Bond testified that he lived in the same apartment complex as the defendant. On

December 25, 2001, he, the defendant and some other people went to church in Mississippi. At this

time, the defendant was driving a white, two-door Chevrolet. After church, the entire group stopped

at a service station in Mississippi to get something to eat. Bond stated that he saw a “deep cut” on
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the defendant’s lower back. The cut was bleeding, so some people put peroxide and band-aids on

the cut. 

Bond testified that he also rode around with the defendant and Watkins in the victim’s car.

However, after hearing news that the car was connected to a robbery, Bond stopped riding in the car.

When approached by police, Bond told them what he knew and identified the defendant from a

photographic lineup. Bond also stated that on prior occasions, while hanging out, he had seen the

defendant with two different guns, a .38 and a 380. On cross-examination, Bond stated that the

defendant paid cash for his food at the convenience store in Mississippi and they did not stop

anywhere else.

Dr. Teresa Campbell, a forensic pathologist, testified that the victim died of a gunshot wound

to his chest. According to Dr. Campbell, the bullet passed through the victim’s left upper arm and

entered his chest cavity, striking segments of his heart and lungs. Dr. Campbell stated that the soot

around the gunshot wound indicated that the shooter was within a foot when he shot the victim. 

Based upon the evidence presented, the jury found the defendant guilty of first degree felony

murder and especiallyaggravated robbery. The trial court sentenced the defendant to a total effective

sentence of life imprisonment.

ANALYSIS

On appeal, the defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions.

Upon review of this issue, we reiterate the well-established rule that once a jury finds a defendant

guilty, his or her presumption of innocence is removed and replaced with a presumption of guilt.

State v. Evans, 838 S.W.2d 185, 191 (Tenn. 1992). Therefore, on appeal, the convicted defendant

has the burden of demonstrating to this court why the evidence will not support the jury’s verdict.

State v. Carruthers, 35 S.W.3d 516, 557-58 (Tenn. 2000); State v. Tuggle, 639 S.W.2d 913, 914

(Tenn. 1982). To meet this burden, the defendant must establish that no “rational trier of fact” could

have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia, 443

U.S. 307, 319 (1979); State v. Evans, 108 S.W.3d 231, 236 (Tenn. 2003); Tenn. R. App. P. 13(e).

In contrast, the jury’s verdict approved by the trial judge accredits the state’s witnesses and resolves

all conflicts in favor of the state. State v. Harris, 839 S.W.2d 54, 75 (Tenn. 1992). The state is

entitled to the strongest legitimate view of the evidence and all reasonable inferences which may be

drawn from that evidence. Carruthers, 35 S.W.3d at 558. Questions concerning the credibility of

the witnesses, conflicts in trial testimony, the weight and value to be given the evidence, and all

factual issues raised by the evidence are resolved by the trier of fact and not this court. State v.

Bland, 958 S.W.2d 651, 659 (Tenn. 1997). We do not attempt to re-weigh or re-evaluate the

evidence. State v. Reid, 91 S.W.3d 247, 277 (Tenn. 2002). Likewise, we do not replace the jury’s

inferences drawn from the circumstantial evidence with our own inferences. Id.

Robbery is the “intentional or knowing theft of property from the person of another by

violence or putting the person in fear.” Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-401(a). To obtain a conviction
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for first degree felony murder in this case, the state had to prove the defendant killed the victim in

the perpetration of or attempted perpetration of a robbery. Id. § 39-13-202(a)(2). To convict for

especially aggravated robbery, the state had to prove the defendant robbed the victim with a deadly

weapon and the victim suffered serious bodily injury. Id. § 39-13-403(a).

Viewing the evidence in a light most favorable to the state, we conclude that the evidence

was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to convict the defendant of first degree felony murder and

especially aggravated robbery. At trial, Watkins testified that the defendant confessed to him that

he shot and robbed the victim. The defendant then drove away in the victim’s rented Chevrolet

Cavalier. Watkins testified that the defendant removed and discarded the interior rearview mirror

to eliminate fingerprint evidence. Watkins also testified that he helped the defendant wipe the

victim’s car so no fingerprints could be found. Watkins explained that he saw the injuries the

defendant sustained during the robbery of the victim. Other witness’ testimony, including that of

Officer Shemwell and Michael Bond, corroborated much of Watkin’s testimony. As such, the

evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the defendant’s convictions.

CONCLUSION

Following our review of parties’ briefs and the applicable law, we affirm the judgments of

the trial court. 

___________________________________ 

J.C. McLIN, JUDGE