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State v. Flake8/5/2003
at was causing him to do such strange things, the defendant looked at him for ten seconds or more before replying that the opening of the new Wolfchase Galleria Mall had caused his strange behavior. Mr. Flake testified that he was "petrified" by the look in the defendant's eyes. Believing that his son had "lost his mind," Mr. Flake scheduled another appointment with Dr. Johnson for April 3, 1997. At this appointment, both Mr. Flake and Dr. Johnson tried to persuade the defendant to voluntarily commit himself, but he refused, saying "they" had never helped him before and he believed everything was okay.
Mr. Flake recalled that on the day of the shootings, the defendant left at his usual time to attend the A.A. meeting and returned home at approximately 11:00 p.m. Upon hearing him return, Mr. Flake asked if everything was alright, and the defendant responded "yes." The defendant came downstairs the next day, hugged and kissed his mother, ate breakfast, worked on his car, took his dog to the park, grilled outside with his family, and made plans to watch a movie later that night. The defendant left at approximately 5:30 p.m., and told his father that he was going to a meeting at Central Church. Mr. Flake described the defendant's demeanor as " erfectly, fine. Came downstairs, hugged and kissed his mother, that's it, just a regular day."
After receiving a telephone call at approximately 6:20 p.m. from an unknown person at the Shelby County Sheriff's Department advising him that the defendant was a suspect in a shooting, Mr. Flake looked in the defendant's room and saw what he thought could be evidence. He then returned to the kitchen without disturbing the evidence and waited for the defendant to arrive. He met the defendant outside and advised him to cooperate with the police officers and allow them to handcuff him. Mr. Flake said the defendant had a "blank look" in his eyes and on his face and was "unmoved" during the arrest - not trembling or upset.
On cross-examination Mr. Flake acknowledged that the defendant had been drinking alcohol on and off since age twelve, when his emotional problems reportedly began. When the defendant came home intoxicated at age fifteen, he attempted to strike his father, and the defendant's first sixty-day hospitalization came after this episode. At age eighteen or nineteen, the defendant physically attacked his mother and was forced to move out of the family residence for a time. Mr. Flake also acknowledged that the defendant had a gambling problem, losing approximately $1500 in a casino at one point, which resulted in Mr. Flake terminating the defendant's weekly allowance. Furthermore, Mr. Flake admitted that the defendant had not been honest about his alcohol and drug problems in the past, and he conceded that the defendant had initially lied about the stolen cigarettes, maintaining that the market clerk had given them to him. Mr. Flake said he knew the defendant had been considering purchasing a gun, but he believed the defendant had taken his advice and abandoned the idea. Mr. Flake further acknowledged that the defendant had fired guns at FBI picnics when he was very young, that the FBI teaches agents to aim for the "center of mass" - the torso or chest area of the body - when firing a weapon, and that the victims in this case were shot in that area of their bodies.
As to the defendant's mental state, Mr. Flake agreed that the defendant was "not all that depressed" on April 6, 1997, the day after these shootings, describing it as a "good day" for the defendant. Mr. Flake admitted that the defendant's treating physician at the time, Dr. Johnson, believed that he was an alcoholic and a drug addict. Mr. Flake further testified that the defen
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Tennessee DUI Attorneys
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