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State v. Monday2/12/2003
I. Factual Background
In the early morning hours of September 30, 1996, Officer Larry Murrell of the Knoxville Police Department received a call regarding "a lady lying on the floor of the fourth floor" of the Parkway Hotel on Chapman Highway. Officer Murrell immediately proceeded to the hotel and was the first police officer to arrive at the scene. Because the elevator was not working, Officer Murrell climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. When Officer Murrell stepped into the hallway, he discovered the victim lying face down in a pool of blood near apartment 401. The victim, later identified as Beverly Reichenbach, was not moving and did not respond. A trail of blood led from the victim to apartment number 400. Officer Murrell secured the scene and waited for Officer Kathy Pappas to arrive.
Following the arrival of Officer Pappas, the two officers knocked on the door of apartment 400. Jack Monday, the appellant's brother, came to the door and allowed the officers inside the apartment. Officer Murrell noted that the apartment was in disarray. Based upon the condition of the apartment and his observations of the scene, Officer Murrell placed Jack Monday under arrest. Officer Murrell did not see the appellant that morning.
Officer Dan Crenshaw was employed as an evidence technician for the Knoxville Police Department in September 1996. On September 30, Officer Crenshaw was called to the Parkway Hotel on Chapman Highway. Upon arrival, Officer Crenshaw proceeded to the fourth floor where he observed the body of a white female lying on the floor. Noticing a trail of blood from the body to apartment 400, Officer Crenshaw entered the apartment. According to Officer Crenshaw, "the room was in disarray. There were beer cans all over the place. The coffee table was askew. There was some blood in the floor, a bullet in the floor. The whole room looked like a party had been going on there." A telephone was laying in the floor.
Officer Crenshaw also observed blood on the "middle rear or back cushion" of a sofa in the apartment. He turned over the "middle seat cushion" and discovered that it also had blood on it. Officer Crenshaw photographed the scene, noting a blood smear in the doorway of the apartment and an unfired .38 caliber bullet laying on the floor. He further noted the presence of brain matter on the floor of the apartment. Officer Crenshaw photographed a weapon which was found in the hotel parking lot, directly under an open bedroom window in apartment 400. He related that the weapon was not in one piece, explaining that "the grips were, approximately five feet away, and the frame was bent." Officer Crenshaw returned to the apartment one to two hours later to ensure that no evidence had been missed. On his return trip to the apartment, Officer Crenshaw opened the sofa bed and discovered a live .38 caliber bullet and a stain that appeared to be blood. However, no testing was conducted to confirm that the substance was blood.
The next day, Officer Crenshaw went to the University of Tennessee hospital to observe the autopsy of the victim. However, he discovered that the autopsy had been completed prior to his arrival. Nevertheless, Officer Crenshaw photographed the victim's body, including the gunshot wound to the victim's head. Fingernail clippings were taken from the victim; however, no testing was conducted on the clippings. Officer Crenshaw also did "atomic absorption" testing on the hands of the appellant and Jack Monday. These tests were not sent for analysis because the subjects had washed their hands, making any results unreliable.
On September 30, 1996, Sergeant Dick Evans of the Knoxville Police Department was the "street s
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