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State v. Davis5/13/2003
FACTS
Wearing a green trench coat, gloves, a "Yogi Bear" mask, and armed with a loaded pistol, the defendant robbed the East Food Center in Hickman County on November 2, 2001. He gave the store clerks a pillowcase to put the money in. Witnesses who saw the defendant leave the store gave a description to the Hickman County Sheriff's Department of the defendant and the vehicle he was driving. Less than half a mile from the robbery, an officer spotted at Kelly's Corner Café a car matching the description of that of the defendant's. Officers found the defendant in the café eating a shrimp dinner and, after advising him of his constitutional rights, asked if they could search his vehicle, to which he agreed. Inside the trunk, officers found a loaded Ruger .357 Magnum handgun, a green trench coat, gloves, a Yogi Bear mask, and a pillowcase containing a large amount of cash and checks.
At the sentencing hearing, Detective Jimmy Barnett of the Hickman County Sheriff's Department testified that the defendant gave a written statement which stated, "The reason I did this is because I didn't have any money or food. I had a Marine Corps overcoat, a .357 Magnum pistol, a Yogi Bear mask and a wool ski mask. End of statement." Detective Barnett also testified that the defendant had taken between $1900 and $2000 from the store.
Several witnesses testified on the defendant's behalf at the sentencing hearing. Carolyn Morris, the defendant's second cousin, testified that he was an only child and his parents had been in their mid-forties when he was born. The defendant's mother was "overprotective in a way that wasn't normal." After he graduated from high school, the defendant worked in a fire tower as a lookout for several years but was laid off when his position was eliminated. His father died in 1985, leaving the defendant his house and five acres of land, as well as a sum of money. Other than doing occasional odd jobs, the defendant had not worked for the past fourteen years. His family was unaware of his dire circumstances because the defendant was the type of person, according to Ms. Morris, who would not ask anyone for anything and had been raised not to "talk about needs." She said that the defendant had never been in trouble before and that his "situation is unique . . . as far as the criminal world or the legal world."
The defendant's first cousin, Ray Overby, testified that the defendant had been "just a big, ol' kid all his life. He couldn't do nothing on his own." He said the defendant had a "real good" reputation in the community and was not an aggressive person.
Horace Litton, a neighbor and friend of the defendant, testified that the defendant had worked at a feed store, and the defendant's father always went with him. The defendant occasionally helped Litton's family haul hay, but the defendant's father also helped to justify his son getting paid. He said that the defendant was "absolutely not" a violent person and that he had been unaware of the defendant's financial situation. Litton did not believe that the defendant "had been taught to be productive and survive in the present world."
The fifty-year-old defendant testified at the hearing that he had depleted the funds his father had left him about two or three weeks before he committed the robbery. He had not eaten for three days and did not know what else to do to get food, so he robbed the store to get money. Questioned about not having a job, the defendant said he had not applied for any "public" jobs and that his last job had been for a farmer two years earlier, but he had not been able to find a job since then. He testified that he did not know about government assistance an
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