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State v. Farner12/11/2001
The primary issue presented in this appeal is whether Tennessee law recognizes a co-perpetrator rule which bars the defendant's convictions for criminally negligent homicide on the basis that the victims were co-participants in the drag race. After fully and carefully considering the record in this case in light of the relevant authorities, we conclude that no rule of Tennessee law bars the defendant's convictions for criminally negligent homicide as a matter of law. We hold that causation in criminal cases generally is a question of fact for a properly instructed jury, that a victim's contributory negligence is not a complete defense but may be considered in determining whether or not the defendant's conduct was a proximate cause of death, and that a jury's determination of the causation issue will be reviewed on appeal under the familiar sufficiency of the evidence standard and not disturbed so long as the evidence is sufficient to support the jury's determination. Because the trial court in this case failed to provide the jury with an instruction on proximate causation, an essential element of the offense, and because the jury was erroneously provided an instruction as to criminal responsibility, a theory that the State now concedes is inapplicable, the defendant's convictions for criminally negligent homicide must be reversed.
To prevent needless litigation and to promote judicial economy, we exercise our discretion and address two other issues which will likely arise at any retrial - the propriety of Officer Farmer testifying as an expert and the admissibility of the computer animated visualization of the accident. We conclude that Officer Farmer may properly testify as an expert so long as the trial court is assured that Officer Farmer's opinions are based on relevant scientific methods, processes, and data, and not upon mere speculation. However, we further conclude that the computer animated visualization should not be admitted unless the State can establish that the visualization is based on accurate and complete information and that it fairly illustrates the expert opinion of Officer Farmer as to how the accident occurred. The convictions for criminally negligent homicide are therefore reversed; the convictions for reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, drag racing, and leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death are affirmed. The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and the case is remanded to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
Tenn. R. App. P. 11; Judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals Affirmed in Part; Reversed in Part; Case Remanded to the Trial Court
Frank F. Drowota, III, C.J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which E. Riley Anderson, Adolpho A. Birch, Jr., Janice M. Holder and William M. Barker, JJ., joined.
OPINION
Background
This case arose from a drag race between the defendant, John R. Farner, Jr., who was driving his red Chevrolet Camaro, and the victim, Landon Baker, who was driving his white Mitsubishi 3000 GT. The race, which occurred between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. on March 20, 1997, began at a Coastal Mart in the Colonial Heights neighborhood just south of Kingsport, Tennessee. From the Coastal Mart, the defendant and Baker raced northbound toward Kingsport on Fort Henry Drive, a four lane highway, for a distance of 3,432 feet, approximately six and one-half tenths of a mile. The race ended when Baker lost control of his Mitsubishi in a curve and collided with two other vehicles traveling toward Johnson City, in the southbound, oncoming lanes of Fort Henry Drive, a Chrysler minivan and a green Volvo. Baker, an
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