Opinion ID: 1057584
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: (13): Mutilation of Body

Text: The jury found as a fifth and final aggravating circumstance that Defendant knowingly mutilated the body of Mrs. Jordan after her death. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(13). In support of this aggravator, the State relied on Defendant's return to the crow's nest after killing Mrs. Jordan to shoot her body repeatedly with the SKS assault rifle. This Court has not previously addressed in detail the use of this aggravating circumstance to impose the death penalty. [16] In at least two cases, however, our Court of Criminal Appeals considered its use in the imposition of a sentence of life without parole. See State v. Thompson, 43 S.W.3d 516, 525-26 (Tenn.Crim.App.2000), perm. appeal denied (Tenn. Mar. 5, 2001); State v. Price, 46 S.W.3d 785, 827-28 (Tenn. Crim.App.2000), perm. appeal denied (Tenn. Feb. 26, 2001). In both cases, the court noted that mutilation is not statutorily defined and so turned to the dictionary definition of mutilation as `to cut up or alter radically so as to make imperfect.' Thompson, 43 S.W.3d at 525 (quoting Webster's Third New International Dictionary, 1493 (1993)); Price, 46 S.W.3d at 827 (same). The court also noted in both cases that the legislative intent underlying mutilation as an aggravating circumstance must be `that the General Assembly ... meant to discourage corpse desecration.' Thompson, 43 S.W.3d at 525-26 (quoting Price, 46 S.W.3d at 828). In Thompson, the court concluded that the proof supported this aggravating circumstance where, after the victim's death, the defendant stabbed him four times in the back with a knife, slit his throat, cut his forehead and legs, and fractured both of his legs by exerting great pressure from behind. 43 S.W.3d at 526. In Price, the court concluded that the defendant's post-mortem infliction of flash burns on his murder victim's face satisfied the definition of mutilation. 46 S.W.3d at 828. We recognize that the term mutilation is most frequently used to describe activities that are more obviously disfiguring to a victim's body than multiple gunshot wounds. See, e.g., Terry v. State, 46 S.W.3d 147, 161, 166 (Tenn.2001) (referring to defendant's actions in cutting off victim's head and right forearm after killing him and burning the body as mutilation in discussion of (i)(5) aggravator); State v. Harris, 989 S.W.2d 307, 311 (Tenn.1999) (victim's body mutilat[ed] where body parts severed and heart removed; (i)(5) aggravator alleged). Nevertheless, we hold that the circumstances of this case are sufficient to support the jury's finding of this aggravating factor. During his initial assault on his wife, Defendant shot two bullets into Mrs. Jordan's head. Medical proof established that each of these wounds was fatal, and Mr. Goff and Mr. Taylor both testified that Mrs. Jordan appeared dead at the time they were still in the crow's nest. Certainly it is reasonable to infer that Defendant thought she was dead. After murdering his wife, Defendant left the crow's nest and walked to his truck. There, he murdered another person. Unfinished, Defendant carried his assault rifle back to the crow's nest. He had a brief conversation with Mr. Taylor. Only after Mr. Taylor had left the crow's nest, descended the steps, and turned the corner did Defendant open fire on Mrs. Jordan's body. These circumstances support the inference that Defendant was intent on desecrating Mrs. Jordan's corpse. He did so by firing several high-powered bullets into her body. Although these bullets did not succeed in severing any of Mrs. Jordan's body parts, they caused a great deal of damage. Fred die Ellison described Mrs. Jordan as being shot all to pieces. Dr. Turner described the assault rifle gunshot wounds to Mrs. Jordan's ribs, right lung, diaphragm, liver, kidney, spinal column, and back muscles. We hold that the multiple gunshot wounds that Defendant inflicted after Mrs. Jordan's death alter[ed] radically so as to make imperfect her body. The proof is sufficient to support the jury's application of this aggravating factor. 2. Jerry Hopper With respect to Defendant's first degree murder of Jerry Hopper, the jury found four aggravating circumstances. We will address in turn the sufficiency of the proof supporting each factor. (i)(3): Risk of Death to Two or More Others As it did with Defendant's murder of Mrs. Jordan, the jury determined that Defendant knowingly created a great risk of death to two (2) or more persons, other than the victim murdered, during the act of murder[ing] Mr. Hopper. Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(3). While Defendant was murdering Mr. Hopper, he was also shooting Mr. Goff and Mr. Taylor. The evidence is therefore sufficient to support this aggravating circumstance.