Opinion ID: 1057701
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 25

Heading: The Criminal Attempt to Commit First Degree Murder Conviction

Text: Mr. Banks asserts that the State presented insufficient evidence to support his conviction for criminal attempt to commit first degree murder. He argues that the shooting occurred following provocation during an argument regarding Mr. Banks having been cheated out of a large sum of money and the alleged sexual assault on his former girlfriend. He asserts that the evidence supports only an intent to cause bodily injury because he left the scene without finish[ing] the victim off. The State argues that the evidence presented was sufficient. The Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that a reasonable jury could have found that Mr. Banks acted with premeditation and intended to kill Mr. Atilebawi. We agree. The Tennessee General Assembly has defined criminal attempt as follows: (a) A person commits criminal attempt who, acting with the kind of culpability otherwise required for the offense: (1) Intentionally engages in action or causes a result that would constitute an offense, if the circumstances surrounding the conduct were as the person believes them to be; (2) Acts with intent to cause a result that is an element of the offense, and believes the conduct will cause the result without further conduct on the person's part; or (3) Acts with intent to complete a course of action or cause a result that would constitute the offense, under the circumstances surrounding the conduct as the person believes them to be, and the conduct constitutes a substantial step toward the commission of the offense. (b) Conduct does not constitute a substantial step under subdivision (a)(3), unless the person's entire course of action is corroborative of the intent to commit the offense. (c) It is no defense to prosecution for criminal attempt that the offense attempted was actually committed. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-12-101. As noted above, first degree murder includes the premeditated and intentional killing of another, Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-202(a)(1), and premeditation for purposes of first degree murder has been defined as follows: [P]remeditation is an act done after the exercise of reflection and judgment. Premeditation means that the intent to kill must have been formed prior to the act itself. It is not necessary that the purpose to kill pre-exist in the mind of the accused for any definite period of time. The mental state of the accused at the time the accused allegedly decided to kill must be carefully considered in order to determine whether the accused was sufficiently free from excitement and passion as to be capable of premeditation. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-202(d). The evidence establishes that several days before the murder Mr. Banks began quite deliberately plotting his revenge upon Mr. Atilebawi. Because the firearm that he kept in his Ford Explorer was not working, Mr. Banks obtained another firearm from Mr. Hilliard. Messrs. Hilliard and Banks discussed disposing of Mr. Atilebawi's dead body in the Wolf River. Mr. Banks shot Mr. Atilebawi four times, including twice in the head. He tried to conceal the body, but Mr. Atilebawi was too heavy to move. Mr. Banks offers no legal support for his argument that his decision to leave Mr. Atilebawi on the driveway, covered in blood and still bleeding from four different gunshot wounds, including two shots to his head, negates his intent to kill Mr. Atilebawi. Viewing the facts in a light most favorable to the State, there is sufficient evidence from which a reasonable jury could find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Banks acted with premeditation in shooting Mr. Atilebawi. D.