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State v. Durham7/26/1999
later identified as a rifle. By this time, Mrs. Durham and Ms. Coffey had returned to the front counter. The appellant pointed the rifle toward the two women. Mrs. Durham and Ms. Coffey then fled toward the back of the store.
Investigator Brown testified that the police quickly determined that the appellant was a suspect and issued a "BOLO" or "be on the lookout" for the appellant. When the police apprehended the appellant, the officers recovered the following items: a Marlin .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle with eight live rounds in the magazine and a single shot twelve gauge shotgun with a spent shell casing in the chamber. Investigator Brown testified that the Marlin rifle has a tube magazine that runs along the base of the barrel. The gun is "spring loaded," i.e., once a bullet is fired from the gun, a mechanism forces another bullet from the magazine into the chamber of the rifle. Investigator Brown observed that, in order to fire eight rounds from the rifle, a person would need to pull the trigger eight times.
Bob Odom, an officer with the Johnson City Police Department, also testified that, on October 1, 1996, a little after 9:00 p.m., he was dispatched to the United gas station and convenience store. Soon thereafter, he began to search the surrounding area for the appellant, who had been identified as a suspect. As he was driving past the tobacco warehouses lining Main Street in Johnson City, he observed a parked car matching the description of the appellant's blue Ford Mustang. A man was sitting inside the vehicle. After communicating with the dispatcher, Officer Odom activated a spot light and directed it toward the appellant's car. By this time, the appellant was standing outside his car, with his back to the officer. The officer got out of his vehicle and drew his weapon. However, when he asked the appellant to raise his hands and turn around, the appellant fell to the ground, landing on his stomach. Upon the arrival of additional officers, they attempted to handcuff the appellant. They then discovered a bullet wound in the appellant's chest and called for medical assistance. An ambulance transported the appellant to Johnson City Medical Center. Meanwhile, the officers located the .22 caliber Marlin rifle in the back seat of the appellant's car. The shotgun was lying on the ground in front of the appellant's car.
Robert Royce, a forensic scientist with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation specializing in firearms identification, testified that the .22 caliber long rifle casings recovered from the scene of the murder had been fired from the Marlin rifle recovered from the appellant's blue Ford Mustang. Additionally, eight bullets recovered from Mrs. Durham's body possessed the same class characteristics and similar individual characteristics as test bullets fired from the rifle. Finally, Agent Royce demonstrated to the jury the steps required in loading the Marlin rifle:
"Starting with it empty, you pull up the magazine tube and expose the loading port right here. You then drop the live cartridges in one at a time, replace the [magazine tube]. At that point, you'd have to . . . just cycle [the slide] one time in order to chamber the first live cartridge."
Mona Gretel Harlan, a forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy on the victim, Joyce Durham. She determined that the victim died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds. Mrs. Durham suffered eight gunshot wounds. Six of the eight bullets damaged major organs, including Mrs. Durham's heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, stomach, spleen, and large intestine. Each of these six gunshot wounds was potentially fatal. Dr. Harlan testified that an unusually high percentage of the gunshot wounds were potent
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