Opinion ID: 1057985
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: facts adduced during guilt phase

Text: Jessie Cochran testified that she met Defendant in 1990 and dated him intermittently through 1993. On November 16, 1999, Ms. Cochran returned home to find Defendant in her house, uninvited. Defendant had a sawed-off shotgun but did not threaten her with it. They spoke for about forty-five minutes. Defendant then left, requesting, Please do not call the law. After Defendant left, Ms. Cochran began checking to see if Defendant had taken anything. As she looked out one of her windows, she saw her Mercedes-Benz car being driven down the driveway. She reported the theft, and her car was subsequently located about twenty-three miles away in Ashland, Mississippi. Ms. Cochran explained that her farm was located about one and one-half miles from the Mississippi border if you went straight through the woods. After Defendant's appearance, Ms. Cochran left her home and stayed with a relative until December 11, 1999. After abandoning Ms. Cochran's car, Defendant found a Bronco kept in a locked storage building on a farm in Benton County, Mississippi, just south of Ashland, Mississippi. The keys were still in the Bronco, as well as several guns. Defendant took the Bronco and drove to Memphis. The Bronco's owner, Mr. Richard Rice, identified a photograph of the Bronco at trial. Virginia Davis, Defendant's niece, testified that Defendant came by her residence in Midtown Memphis on a Thursday evening in November 1999. Defendant was driving a Bronco. Ms. Davis identified the Bronco as the same one pictured in the photograph identified previously by Mr. Rice. Ms. Davis stated that Defendant visited with her for about forty-five minutes. He asked her if she had a car; she did not. He also asked if her father still lived in Texas, to which she replied in the affirmative. Defendant told Ms. Davis he was going to Texas to visit her father. Defendant left at about 5:00 p.m. Two days later, on a Saturday, Defendant returned to Ms. Davis' residence in Midtown Memphis, still driving the Bronco. He parked the Bronco nearby and walked to her house. She did not admit him because, in the meantime, police officers had visited her. During their visit, she learned some things about Defendant that she was not happy with. However, she advised Defendant that the law been there looking for [him]. Pursuant to the officers' instructions, Ms. Davis contacted them about Defendant's second visit. Kathryn Crane testified that, in November 1999, she was employed by Seessel's, a supermarket located in Midtown Memphis. She was the store's bookkeeper. Ms. Crane identified a cash register receipt generated by the store dated November 20, 1999, at 5:27 p.m. Ms. Crane also identified a debit card receipt for the purchase reflected by the cash register receipt. Michelle Naef testified that she was a graduate student at the University of Memphis in the fall of 1999, studying for a master's degree in philosophy. She and the victim, Ms. Hillary Johnson, were teaching assistants for the same professor and became friends. That fall, the victim lived on McLean and Linden. Ms. Naef and the victim had planned to spend time together on Sunday, November 21, 1999. The victim had agreed to call Ms. Naef that Sunday morning to confirm their plans. Ms. Naef last spoke with the victim on the morning of Saturday, November 20, 1999. When Ms. Johnson did not call the next morning as had been arranged, Ms. Naef called the victim at about 11:00 a.m. but did not receive an answer. Ms. Naef left a message. Not hearing back, Ms. Naef called again in the early afternoon and left another message. With still no return call, Ms. Naef called a third time. This time, the victim's answering machine was full and not taking additional messages. At this point, Ms. Naef became scared. Ms. Naef and all of the graduate students spent the next several days searching for Ms. Johnson in person, over the phone, and by posting signs. On Sunday, November 21, 1999, Officer Jeffrey Herbison of the Memphis Police Department found the Bronco parked near Ms. Davis' residence. He waited for someone to return to the vehicle, but no one did. After some hours, the police department towed it away. Officer Herbison identified on an aerial photograph the locations of Seessel's, Ms. Davis' apartment, the place where the Bronco was found abandoned, and the victim's residence. Officer Herbison testified that all of these places were located in Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. Nancy McPike testified that her daughter, the victim Hillary Johnson, moved from Chicago to Memphis in August 1999 to attend graduate school at the University of Memphis. After arriving in Memphis, Ms. Johnson purchased a white Hyundai automobile for $1,350. On Friday, November 19, 1999, Ms. McPike spoke with her daughter over the phone. Ms. McPike called Ms. Johnson on Sunday, November 21, 1999, but did not receive an answer. She called again late Sunday night, but again received no answer. After speaking with several of her daughter's friends, Ms. McPike contacted the police. Ms. McPike identified a jacket shown to her at trial as belonging to her daughter. During the late afternoon of Saturday, November 20, 1999, Defendant carjacked Hillary Johnson as she was sitting alone in her car at a stop sign in Midtown Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee. Defendant forced Ms. Johnson into the passenger seat of her car, and he began driving. Defendant drove Ms. Johnson to a remote location in Fayette County, Tennessee. There, he stabbed her once in the back with such force that the knife blade remained embedded in her body, the handle detached. Defendant dragged Ms. Johnson about twenty yards and concealed her under a sheet of tin near an old agricultural fuel tank. Defendant left Ms. Johnson to die of the knife wound. He left the site of the killing in Ms. Johnson's car and drove out of state, still trying to avoid his apprehension. Defendant returned to southwest Tennessee several days later. He hid Ms. Johnson's car behind an old abandoned house and walked to Jessie Cochran's residence. Defendant entered her house when he found it unoccupied. Lieutenant Rick Marlar of the Mississippi Highway Patrol testified that, on November 29, 1999, he overheard a broadcast that Ms. Johnson's car had been found hidden behind an old house in Tippah County, Mississippi. He reported to the scene; he described the area at trial as very rural. Because he was already involved in the search for Defendant, he and accompanying officers proceeded to Ms. Cochran's house, which was only a short distance away. As Lt. Marlar looked through a window, he saw Defendant sitting inside the house, watching television with a 9 mm. gun laying nearby. Speaking through the window, Lt. Marlar ordered Defendant to freeze. Defendant made a move toward his gun, causing Lt. Marlar to threaten to kill him. Defendant then raised his hands. Officers broke through the door and took Defendant into custody. On Defendant's person were discovered a .22 pistol and a knife. Lt. Marlar advised Defendant of his Miranda rights immediately after arresting him. Lieutenant David Shaw of the Mississippi Highway Patrol arrived and questioned Defendant, again advising him of his Miranda rights. Defendant executed a written waiver of his rights and stated he would answer Lt. Shaw's questions. Lt. Shaw described Defendant's demeanor as calm and cooperative. Lt. Shaw took an audio recording of his interview of Defendant, which was subsequently transcribed. The audio recording was played for the jury, and the jury was further provided with copies of the transcript. During this November 29 statement, Defendant admitted to taking Ms. Cochran's car. When the police then got after him, he hit the woods and jumped out. He remained in the woods two or three days when he found the storage building in which the Bronco was located. He took the Bronco and drove to Memphis, where he visited his niece, Virginia. He then drove to Texas, looking for Virginia's father. Unsuccessful in his search, Defendant returned to Memphis. He parked the Bronco near his niece's residence and walked to her apartment. She told him that the law been there looking for [him]. He then [t]ook off running. He saw a girl at a stop sign in a white car. He jumped in the car on the passenger's side and made the driver pull over. He grabbed her around the neck and made her switch places with him. He then drove them out Highway 64. Defendant stated that he dropped the woman off on Highway 64 after taking some credit cards from her. He then drove the woman's car into Alabama and on into Florida. After several days, he returned to Ms. Cochran's residence. He left the white car off a gravel road behind an old house and walked from there to Ms. Cochran's house. Defendant denied that the driver of the white car had been with him at the old house where he left the car. He stated that he had two pistols with him when he jumped in the white car, but did not pull either on the driver. He explained that the guns had been in his boots. He stated that, when he got in the car, [s]he asked me don't hurt her. I said I ain't gone [sic] hurt you lady, all I want to do is git [sic] away. Not gone [sic] hurt you. Defendant insisted that he then put the driver out on the highway and that when he left, that girl was standing right there in that gravel road. I didn't harm that girl. Defendant acknowledged having obtained the 9 mm. pistol from the Bronco. Lieutenant Gerald Blum with the Memphis Police Department testified that he had been assigned to investigate the victim's disappearance. He initially questioned Defendant on November 30, 1999. During that interview, Defendant told Lt. Blum that he was at an address in Midtown on the street, and he approached a white car. Defendant told Lt. Blum that he got in the car and forced the female driver to drive around the city until they traveled down Highway 64, at which time he released the driver and kept the car. When Lt. Blum asked Defendant what he should tell the victim's family, Defendant said, Tell them I'm not the one that hurt her. Defendant then paused and added, Well, if she's hurt. Also reporting to the scene where Ms. Johnson's car was found was Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent C.M. Sturgis, who began investigating the victim's disappearance when it developed into more than a missing person case. Agent Sturgis testified that no blood was found in Ms. Johnson's car. In the abandoned house behind which the victim's car was found, officers found a woman's jacket, which was subsequently identified by Ms. McPike as belonging to the victim. Found a short distance away from the house was a plastic shopping bag bearing the Seessel's supermarket logo. Frustrated at not having discovered Ms. Johnson's whereabouts by early December, Agent Sturgis traveled on December 3, 1999, to the jail in Oxford, Mississippi, where Defendant was in custody. Accompanying him was Special Agent Joseph Rinehart. The two agents spent several hours with Defendant, sitting together in the common area of the jail and watching television. Agent Sturgis testified that the three of them talked about everything under the sun and watched a football game. At one point, Agent Sturgis showed Defendant several photographs of Ms. Johnson as a child and in family settings. Agent Sturgis explained that it would be a good thing if the family could resolve her whereabouts before Christmas. Some time after this, Defendant tapped Agent Sturgis on the chest and told him he was going to give him something. Defendant took the envelope in which the photographs had been kept and drew a map on it. Defendant described an area to Agent Sturgis and told him that, next to an agricultural fuel tank in this area, under two pieces of tin, you will find what you're looking for. Agents Sturgis and Rinehart spent the next couple of hours attempting to communicate by telephone to other law enforcement officers the location of the area described to them by Defendant. Because of the difficulty in describing the exact location, the field officers were unsuccessful in finding the spot described by Defendant. Defendant offered several times to take Agents Sturgis and Rinehart to the location if they would put him in a car. Eventually, Defendant was allowed to leave the jail in Sheriff Buddy East's [2] car. Taking directions from Defendant, Sheriff East, accompanied by Agent Rinehart, traveled to a remote and rural location in Fayette County, Tennessee. Agent Sturgis and Lt. Shaw followed in a second car. Upon arriving at the location described by Defendant, and after following Defendant's directions, the men found Ms. Johnson's body under two pieces of tin next to an old agricultural fuel tank. At this point, Agent Sturgis testified, Defendant started crying. Defendant was then returned to the Oxford, Mississippi, jail by Sheriff East. Lt. Gerald Blum with the Memphis Police Department took a statement from Defendant on December 4, 1999. This statement was tape recorded and subsequently transcribed. The audio tape was played for the jury and copies of the transcript provided to it. In this statement, Defendant admitted that he was responsible for Ms. Johnson's death. He stated that Ms. Johnson had come out behind the [car] seat with a knife and that he grabbed her arm and took it away from her. This occurred [w]hen [they] got out the car up there in the woods. He stated that they fought and that he had to use force to disarm Ms. Johnson. Defendant denied having been hurt during the fight but acknowledged that Ms. Johnson got cut. He did not, however, remember stabbing her. After their fight, he put her under some tin after dragging her twenty yards. Defendant stated that the victim was tryin' to move as he dragged her, but he did not know if she was dead or alive after he placed her under the tin. Defendant stated that he decided to reveal the victim's whereabouts because he wanted her to be with her family for Christmas and get this over with. It was eating [him] up. It was eating [him] alive. Dr. O.C. Smith testified that he performed an autopsy on the victim. X-rays indicated a retained knife blade present in her left chest cavity. [3] The knife had entered the victim's upper left back and penetrated the victim's lung and aorta. The knife wound caused the victim's death within [a] matter of minutes. Dr. Smith also testified that the victim had bruises along the line of her left jaw, near her right eye, on the right side of her neck, and on the back of her right thigh. The injuries causing these bruises preceded the victim's death by an hour or two. Defendant presented no proof at the guilt phase of his trial. Upon the conclusion of proof, the jury convicted Defendant of theft under $10,000, especially aggravated kidnapping, and first degree premeditated murder.