Opinion ID: 1859644
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: sufficiency of the evidence

Text: The defendant contends that the record establishes a killing premised on anger, passion, and alcohol rather than a premeditated and deliberate murder. His is a two-part argument: first, he claims that the passion and anger aroused by his fight with his wife had not subsided when he killed her; second, he claims that his intoxication rendered him unable to form the mental state necessary for first degree murder. When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, the standard for review by an appellate court is whether, after considering the evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. See Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307, 318-19, 99 S.Ct. 2781, 61 L.Ed.2d 560 (1979); State v. Burns, 979 S.W.2d 276, 286-87 (Tenn.1998); Tenn. R.App. P. 13(e). On appeal, the State is entitled to the strongest legitimate view of the evidence and to all reasonable and legitimate inferences that may be drawn therefrom. See State v. Cabbage, 571 S.W.2d 832, 835 (Tenn.1978). In determining the sufficiency of the evidence, this Court does not reweigh the evidence, see id., or substitute its inferences for those drawn by the trier of fact, see Liakas v. State, 199 Tenn. 298, 286 S.W.2d 856, 859 (1956). A guilty verdict rendered by the jury and approved by the trial judge accredits the testimony of the witnesses for the State, and a presumption of guilt replaces the presumption of innocence. See Burns, 979 S.W.2d at 287; State v. Grace, 493 S.W.2d 474, 476 (Tenn.1973). On appeal, the appellant bears the burden of proving that the evidence is insufficient to support the jury verdict. See State v. Pike, 978 S.W.2d 904, 914 (Tenn.1998); State v. Tuggle, 639 S.W.2d 913, 914 (Tenn.1982). At the time of this homicide, the Code defined first degree murder as [a]n intentional, premeditated and deliberate killing of another. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-202(a)(1) (1991). A homicide, once proven, is presumed to be second degree murder, and the State has the burden of proving the elements of premeditation and deliberation to raise the offense to first degree murder. State v. Nesbit, 978 S.W.2d 872, 898 (Tenn.1998). Intentional is defined as the conscious objective or desire to engage in the conduct or cause the result. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-11-106(a)(18) (1991). Proving premeditation requires evidence of a previously formed design or intent to kill, Nesbit, 978 S.W.2d at 898; State v. West, 844 S.W.2d 144, 147 (Tenn.1992), and the exercise of reflection and judgment. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-201(b)(2) (1991) (repealed 1995). Proving deliberation requires evidence of a cool purpose formed in the absence of passion or provocation. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-201(b)(1) (1991) (repealed 1995) & Sentencing Commission Comments; State v. Brown, 836 S.W.2d 530, 539-40 (Tenn.1992) (citations and internal quotations omitted). Deliberation also requires some period of reflection during which the mind is free from the influence of excitement. Brown, 836 S.W.2d at 540. A killing committed during a state of passion, however, may still rise to the level of first degree murder if the State can prove that premeditation and deliberation preceded the struggle. See Franks v. State, 187 Tenn. 174, 213 S.W.2d 105, 107 (1948); Leonard v. State, 155 Tenn. 325, 292 S.W. 849 (1927). The evidence in this case, when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, demonstrates the following. The defendant contacted Mrs. Hall on the day of the murder to arrange for a meeting. Although the defendant arranged the meeting under the guise of delivering a child-support check, he actually wanted to meet with Mrs. Hall to attempt to persuade her to reconcile. As the defendant later told fellow prisoner Dutton, if Mrs. Hall were unwilling to reconcile, he intended to make her feel as he did. He wanted her to suffer as he did, feel the helplessness that he was feeling because she took his world away from him. Prior to entering the house, the defendant disconnected the telephone lines to prevent Mrs. Hall from calling for help. At some point either before or during his attack, the defendant told Mrs. Hall that she would never live to graduate. Finally, during the attack, the defendant told the children that he would kill their mother if they went for help. The evidence of planning, the expression of defendant's intent to kill or hurt Mrs. Hall, the severity of the beating, and the manner of death establish the existence of premeditation and deliberation and support a conviction for first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Our Code provides that while voluntary intoxication is not a defense to prosecution for an offense, evidence of such intoxication may be admitted to negate a culpable mental state. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-11-503(a) (1991); see also State v. Phipps, 883 S.W.2d 138, 148 (Tenn.Crim.App.1994). The defendant's argument that his intoxication rendered him unable to form the mental state necessary for first degree murder, however, is not persuasive. The defendant's own statements to Dutton and Dr. Zager constitute the only evidence of intoxication. No witness described the defendant as drunk or intoxicated. Furthermore, the defendant's conduct in traveling to Mrs. Hall's house, disconnecting the telephone, barricading the bedroom door, and completing his escape after the killing belies the claim that he was incapable of premeditation and deliberation. Having reviewed the entire record, we conclude that a rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of premeditated and deliberate first degree murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Tenn.R.App. P. 13(e). This issue, therefore, is without merit.