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State v. Legg12/20/1999
COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS
REVERSED AND REMANDED
We granted the appeal in this case to address whether the State of Tennessee has territorial jurisdiction pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-11-103(b)(1) to prosecute a charge of aggravated kidnapping that was commenced in Alabama. For the reasons stated herein, we hold that section 39-11-103(b)(1) permits the exercise of territorial jurisdiction over a continuing offense where any essential element of the offense is continued and committed in Tennessee. We also hold that the General Assembly intended that the offense of aggravated kidnapping to sanction a continuing course of conduct, and that at least one element of that crime was proven to have occurred in Tennessee. Finally, we hold that the appellee was not entitled to a jury instruction on assault or aggravated assault because the evidence was legally insufficient to support a conviction in Tennessee. Therefore, this case is remanded to the Giles County Circuit Court for reinstatement of the appellee's conviction and sentence for aggravated kidnapping.
BACKGROUND
The appellee, Jimmy Legg, married Martha Legg for a second time in July of 1990. Three years later in October of 1993, the couple separated, and Ms. Legg went to live in nearby Athens, Alabama. About a week after the separation, the appellee traveled from his home in Giles County, Tennessee to see his wife in Alabama. When the appellee found his wife, he told her that his sister had been in an automobile accident and that he needed to talk to someone. Although Ms. Legg testified that she was concerned that the appellee might be violent, she agreed to get into the truck with him after he assured her that nothing was going to happen. Ms. Legg also insisted that their daughter get into the appellee's truck with her.
After the appellee drove a short distance, he stopped and asked his daughter to get out of the truck to deliver a message to her brother. As the daughter stepped out of the truck, Ms. Legg also tried to get out of the truck. However, the appellee pulled Ms. Legg back into the truck, locked the doors, and sped away. While driving in Alabama, the appellee repeatedly questioned Ms. Legg about why she left him and with whom she had been. Every time Ms. Legg tried to answer the appellee's questions, he would hit her in the face around the eyes. Ms. Legg also testified that the appellee hit her with a pistol and that on several occasions, he held the pistol to her head while threatening to shoot her.
The appellee finally stopped later that afternoon at the Sands Motel in Giles County, Tennessee and rented a room for the night. Shortly thereafter, two police officers came to the defendant's room after being dispatched on a "welfare check." One of the officers talked to the appellee while the other officer went inside the room to talk to Ms. Legg, who had shut herself in the bathroom. When the officer questioned Ms. Legg about her injuries, she replied that she and the appellee were involved in an automobile accident. Although the officer offered to take her to the hospital, Ms. Legg refused to go, and she requested several times for the officers to leave. Ms. Legg later testified that she was afraid to leave the motel room because her husband told her that he would shoot her.
The next morning, the appellee left the hotel room to pay lodging for another night. Ms. Legg testified that as he left, the appellee stated that he was "going to finish what he started" when he returned. Believing this statement to mean that the appellee would return to "beat some more," Ms. Legg ran out of the motel room and asked a nearby guest of the motel for h
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