State v. Hammock10/12/2001
Assigned on Briefs June 19, 2001
After a trial, Defendant, Martin Stuart Hammock, was found guilty by a Davidson County jury of murder first degree. In accordance with the jury's verdict, the trial court imposed a sentence of life imprisonment with parole. Also accused of murder first degree was a co-Defendant, Brent Rollins, with Angela Watson being indicted for Accessory After the Fact to murder first degree. The co-Defendants were severed prior to trial. In this direct appeal, Defendant contends that: (1) the trial court erred in denying introduction of testimony from the victim's neighbor, David Thompson, regarding the victim's past violent behavior; and (2) the verdict was contrary to the evidence and law in that the proof was insufficient to support a verdict of guilty. After reviewing the record, we reverse, modify and remand the trial court's judgment.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Criminal Court is Reversed, Modified and Remanded.
L. Terry Lafferty, Sr. J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which David G. Hayes, J., and Thomas T. Woodall, J., joined.
OPINION
At trial, Virgie Soapes, sister of Gary Jackson, testified that the victim was 49 years old at the time of his death in February 1998. The victim was employed at the S & S Tire Company. She stated that her brother had a drinking problem for 21 years. When she went to his apartment, she was unable to find his wallet, nor any identification that he usually carried.
On February 16, 1998, about 8:00 a.m., a co-worker, Dewey Alan Brooks testified that he and Tim Southerland stopped by the victim's apartment to take him to work. When there was no answer to his knock, he looked in the window, saw the television on and the victim laying by a couch between the kitchen and living room. Southerland went through a window and opened the front door then ran across the street to call the police. When Brooks went inside the apartment, he saw blood all over the victim, the floor, the wall and, "it was a total mess."
Tim Southerland testified that he and Alan Brooks stopped by the victim's home to take him to work. Southerland looked through a window and saw blood all over. He went through the window and reached for a phone, but it had been ripped out. He ran across the street to call the police.
Officer Steve Underwood of the Metropolitan Police Department, stated that he received a call to 3812-B Old Hickory Boulevard in Nashville, Tennessee. Some co-workers found a friend inside the house with a lot of blood around him. Upon entry, Officer Underwood found the victim face down on the floor. He backed out of the apartment and secured the scene for the homicide detectives.
Officer Raymond T. Rader, Jr., a Metropolitan Police Department Crime Scene Technician, testified that he took photographs of the crime scene, made measurements for a diagram and lifted several latent prints for possible fingerprint identification.
Stanley Shoemaker testified that on the night of February 15, 1998, at 9:15 p.m., he picked the victim up from Alan Brooks' home then took him home. The victim had been drinking quite a bit.
David Thompson testified that he lived at 3116-A Old Hickory Boulevard in February of 1998. The victim lived next door. On February 15, 1998, about 9:30 p.m., Thompson saw a truck pull up and the victim got out. He heard some doors slamming from next door. About 10:15 p.m., Thompson heard the loud voices of two men from next door. One voice said, "Get the f-k out of my house." Another voice said "no." Thompson walked into his kitchen and heard some rumbling, some banging against the wall and glass breakin
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