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State v. Blake6/21/2005
Roadway Express Company has a terminal located in Memphis near the intersection of Neely Road and Winchester/Mitchell Road. Ingress and egress to the terminal are controlled, and all traffic must clear a security booth with a draw gate. Robert Moore was in charge of the security booth on October 22, 2002. Early that morning, at approximately 5:00 a.m., Mr. Moore exchanged pleasantries with the victim, Jessie Collier. Mr. Collier worked for Roadway Express as the "clean up" employee , and as part of his normal routine, Mr. Collier would clean up around the trash containers in front of the security booth.
Mr. Moore testified that Mr. Collier passed by the booth with his clean-up cart. Mr. Moore was watching the terminal parking lot with his back toward Mr. Collier. Mr. Moore said that he "heard a vehicle coming in at a rather high speed[,] and felt a crash[,] and heard a crash and felt it." When Mr. Moore turned toward the source of the crash, he saw that a sport utility vehicle (SUV) had crashed into the trash bins. Mr. Moore ran to the vehicle and saw that Mr. Collier was pinned between the SUV and the trash bins. Mr. Collier appeared to be in pain and was beating on the trash bins. Mr. Moore called E-911 to summon help.
Mr. Moore identified the defendant as the driver of the SUV and described him as a "bit hysterical" and "pretty dazed." According to Mr. Moore, the defendant placed the SUV in reverse, freeing Mr. Collier's body. The defendant then drove into the terminal parking lot through the outbound side of the security booth, turned around in the parking lot, and attempted to leave. To stop the defendant, Mr. Moore placed a spike strip on the ground, and the defendant blew out his tires as he drove over it. Even so, the defendant had to be forced to stop the vehicle, and when the defendant finally exited his SUV, Mr. Moore testified that the defendant "just stagger around the parking lot . . . mumbling . . . out of his head . . . drunk."
Mr. Collier was transported by ambulance to a local trauma center; his injuries proved fatal, and he died sometime after 6:00 a.m. that morning. Teresa Campbell, the Shelby County Assistant Medical Examiner, performed the autopsy of Mr. Collier. She testified and itemized the multiple injuries to Mr. Collier's chest, abdomen, and extremities that led to his death.
Two eyewitnesses who worked as drivers for Roadway Express testified at trial. Kenneth Bradley and Jeff Sword were returning to the terminal in a truck at approximately 5:00 a.m. Mr. Bradley, who was driving the truck, testified that as he was preparing to make a left turn into the terminal, he saw the defendant's Ford Explorer run through a stop sign and crash through barriers protecting the guard shack. When Mr. Bradley pulled his truck into the yard, he saw that a person was pinned between the Explorer and the garbage cans outside the guard booth. Mr. Bradley explained that the garbage cans sat in an elevated metal cage so that the incoming truck drivers could empty their trash before entering the terminal.
The defendant backed his Explorer into Mr. Bradley's truck, and Mr. Bradley saw the person who had been pinned fall. Mr. Bradley went to assist the victim, and the defendant then drove into the yard. The defendant's escape from the terminal was thwarted by Mr. Moore, who laid out a spike strip, and by another employee, who broke out the glass on the driver's side window, snatched away the ignition keys, and physically subdued the defendant. Mr. Bradley explained that his attention was primarily focused on the victim, not the defendant. Mr. Bradley was never close enough to the defendant to detect any odor of alcohol, but Mr. Bradley did
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