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Blackburn v. State2/15/2005
I. Facts
On December 3, 1998, a jury convicted the Petitioner of first degree premeditated murder, first degree felony murder, and aggravated robbery. The trial court merged the murder convictions, and sentenced the Petitioner to life in prison for the murder conviction and to twenty years for the aggravated robbery conviction, to be served consecutively. This Court summarized the facts on direct appeal as follows:
At trial, the State called Coffee County Sheriff's Deputy Brian Allen. On August 14, 1996, Deputy Allen was working the midnight shift when the defendant came in around 12:15 a.m. to report a drowning at the Turkey Creek boat ramp. The defendant reported to him that he, co-defendant Tommy Dickerson, and victim David Singer were at the boat ramp that evening. According to the defendant, co-defendant Dickerson and the victim started arguing and co-defendant Dickerson hit the victim in the face, which knocked the victim into the water. He told Deputy Allen that he tried to help the victim, but that co-defendant Dickerson ordered him back into the truck, threatening him that he would be next if he did not comply. He said that the victim never resurfaced. He told Deputy Allen that they then took the victim's truck to Tullahoma. Because the Turkey Creek boat ramp is in Franklin County, Deputy Allen notified the authorities there.
The State called Deputy Earl Morse of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, who was dispatched to meet the defendant at the boat ramp, to testify. Deputy Morse observed an article of clothing in the water. He testified that the defendant told him that he, Dickerson, and the victim were hanging out around the boat dock when the victim went down on the dock. The defendant claimed that he told Dickerson that he needed to go home because he had to be up early for work. According to the defendant, Dickerson then went onto the dock and began "messing" with the victim. The two began arguing and the defendant said he saw "a motion come around," heard a "smack," and something then hit the water. The defendant said he then turned on the truck headlights.
The defendant further told Deputy Morse that Dickerson said, "He ain't come up yet," and then, "Let's go, he's dead. Get in the truck." The defendant said that when he tried to go in after the victim, Dickerson told him to get in the truck or he would be next. The two then got into the truck and went to Tullahoma. According to the defendant, he jumped out of the truck at a red light and Dickerson tried to run over him. He said that once he got to his father's house, he told him what had happened and his father told him to go to the police.
At the crime scene, the defendant identified a pair of shoes found in the parking lot as belonging to the victim. He also said that Dickerson was his cousin, but he had only met the victim a few days earlier. He further informed the deputy that Dickerson and the victim had run away from a rehab center in Shelbyville. A search of the boat dock revealed a shirt about four feet from the dock, a pair of blue jeans about ten feet from the end of the dock, and the victim's body 15'7" from the end of the dock. The victim's feet were tied with a blanket and his jeans had been pulled down over the blanket. The victim had scratches and abrasions on his face and head.
The autopsy revealed multiple superficial lacerations on the victim's forehead, linear abrasions on his right shoulder, a bruise on his right wrist, and scrapes on his knees and right forearm. The victim had a blood alcohol level of .19%. The medical examiner determined drowning was the cause of the victim's death.
The State also called Franklin County
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