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State v. Willis6/30/2003
othesis except that of guilt. Tharpe, 726 S.W.2d at 900. In addition, "it must establish such a certainty of guilt of the accused as to convince the mind beyond a reasonable doubt that [the defendant] is the one who committed the crime." Id. (quoting Pruitt v. State, 460 S.W.2d 385, 390 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1970)).
While following the above guidelines, this court must remember that the jury decides the weight to be given to circumstantial evidence, and " he inferences to be drawn from such evidence, and the extent to which the circumstances are consistent with guilt and inconsistent with innocence are questions primarily for the jury." Marable v. State, 313 S.W.2d 451, 457 (Tenn. 1958); see also Gregory, 862 S.W.2d at 577; State v. Coury, 697 S.W.2d 373, 377 (Tenn. Crim. App. 1985); Pruitt, 460 S.W.2d at 391.
Second degree murder was defined at the time of this offense as (1) A knowing killing of another; or (2) A killing of another which results from the unlawful distribution of any Schedule I or Schedule II drug when such drug is the proximate cause of the death of the user. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-210(a). This case was decided based on circumstantial evidence. The evidence introduced at trial was lengthy, yet we need to examine it at some length to discern if a rational jury could have convicted the defendant based upon it. Relevant testimony was as follows.
Trial Evidence
David Riggins, Director of Planning with the Clarksville Montgomery County Planning Commission, prepared and introduced a map of the Montgomery County/Robertson County line area. The map included the Port Royal area, Joe B's bar in downtown Clarksville, the Golden Jukebox and Greenfield Trucking Company. He said the county line followed the center of the Red River and the center of Sulphur Fork Creek and then runs due south from that point. He testified that it would take approximately "twenty minutes or so" to get from downtown to the park (Port Royal), utilizing either of what he described as the couple of routes to take. On cross-examination, he stated that based on the condition of the roadway, one of the possible routes could take longer.
William Alley was a part-time farmer in 1990 near the Robertson/Montgomery county line in the Port Royal area. He said he owned property in both Montgomery and Robertson County. Occasionally, he said that there would be some graffiti on his barn. He said he was in the habit of checking the farming fields "just about every day." He said that in September of 1990, "they" were building a new road and bridge across Sulphur Fork Creek, but on the Sunday morning in question, that road was not officially open yet. He identified Greenfield Trucking Company as doing the paving work. He said there were some barricades on the road and some equipment parked on the bridge, and he noticed some "tracks" in the field. He recollected it was rainy around that time. He said he noticed the entrance tracks were very "normal," very shallow, with no skids and spins, and they stopped about twenty yards from the Greenfield equipment. He estimated the tracks to be about forty to fifty yards off the road. Mr. Alley testified to the presence of a different set of tracks than the entrance tracks and described these as deeper and not straight, but "zig zag." He testified that the tracks were not there the day before. He said the width of the tracks "seemed to be from a full-size (Chevrolet type) vehicle."
Mr. Alley testified that he began to smell something on that Tuesday, but he thought it was a deer or something of that nature. On Wednesday, the smell was still there, and he found the victim's body about ten or twelve feet off the road, down in a depression. He
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