State v. Thomas3/30/2005
FACTS
Because of the complexity of this matter, we first will give an overview of the facts. While passing through Knoxville on the morning of March 23, 1991, on their way to vacation in North Carolina, John and Yvonne Cook of Wausau, Wisconsin, exited Interstate 275 to check their map for directions. While they were stopped on the entrance ramp, an assailant shot into their van, driven by Mr. Cook, who was struck twice. The shooter, later identified as the defendant, then got into the van with them and drove to a rural area of Knox County. After demanding money from Mrs. Cook, the defendant dumped Mr. Cook's body on the side of the road and ordered Mrs. Cook out of the van. He forced her onto the ground and attempted to shoot her but had trouble reloading his weapon. A passing motorist startled the defendant, who fled the scene in the victims' van. By that time, Mr. Cook had died. The defendant was arrested nine years later; and the trial, which is the basis for this appeal, followed.
Testifying as the State's first witness at trial, Mrs. Cook said that she was asleep in a make-shift bedroll behind the front captain's chairs in the van on the morning of March 23, 1991, and awoke when her husband pulled off the interstate in Knoxville and onto a ramp. It was raining heavily. As he turned the map light on and reached to get the atlas from the dashboard, he said, "Oh, my God." She then heard an explosion, followed by another "pop," as he slumped over in the seat toward her. She knew that he was injured "because there was a lot of blood . . . coming from mostly behind his left ear." At this time, Mrs. Cook was "sitting pretty much between the two front captain seats" on the floor. The defendant began smashing out the driver's side window, trying to get into the van, saying, " ow the fuck do you get this power lock - this lock open?" He then opened the door and began pushing Mr. Cook out of the driver's seat. Mrs. Cook unlatched her husband's seatbelt, and the defendant pushed him into her arms. She got a " ull facial view" of the defendant as he got into the driver's seat because the map light was on and all of the dome lights in the van came on when he opened the door. She also noticed he was carrying a gun, which he laid across his lap with the barrel pointing at her head. Mrs. Cook testified that, at this point, the defendant was sitting " ust inches" from her, and she could have touched him if she had wanted to.
The defendant then drove back onto the interstate, headed north, the direction from which the Cooks had just traveled. She applied pressure to her husband's neck "in hopes that could do something to save his life," and begged the defendant to release them so she could get medical help for her husband. The defendant refused, saying, "Shut up, you fucking bitch. He's already dead." They continued on the interstate for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes at a " ery high rate of speed." Mrs. Cook said that after "maybe 10 minutes," her husband's heart stopped beating. When she again begged the defendant for medical help for Mr. Cook, the defendant said, "Shut the fuck up and don't look at me. I'm going to kill you, too." The defendant then exited the interstate and drove to a rural, two-lane road where he "would kind of speed up and then he would go real slow, and I thought, `Well, he's looking for a place to stop and kill me and dump us out.'" By that time, Mrs. Cook had realized that her husband was dead. The defendant pulled over to the right side of the road and demanded money from her, stating, " t better be more than a hundred dollars." She reached into her purse, pulled out her husband's wallet, and gave the defendant the cash from the wallet. The cash was
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