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State v. Booker5/6/1999
The appellant, Thomas Brandon Booker, was convicted by a jury in the Hardin County Circuit Court of second degree murder. The trial court imposed a twenty-two year sentence. On appeal, the appellant raises three issues for our review: (1) the sufficiency of the convicting evidence; (2) the "inadequate deliberation" by the jury; and (3) the trial court's failure to apply a mitigating factor.
After review of the record, we affirm the appellant's conviction and sentence.
BACKGROUND
On the afternoon of December 1, 1997, the appellant; the victim, Donald Davidson; Jeremy Miller; Sam Todd; and Scotty McLain congregated at the Savannah residence of Sandy Haynes, the sister of Jeremy Miller. Davidson arrived at the residence around 4:30 p.m., followed by the appellant's arrival one hour later. That afternoon, the appellant, Davidson, and Jeremy Miller were drinking beer and peppermint schnapps and ingesting whatever prescription drugs they could find in the residence. Miller could not remember if they had used marijuana but acknowledged that "if we had it, yeah we smoked it." By early evening, Davidson had already engaged in two separate fights in which blows were exchanged.
At some point, the appellant gave Davidson money to purchase additional beer at a nearby convenience store. Upon discovering that the store was closed, the appellant asked Davidson to return his money and Davidson refused. Tension arose between the two, however, things eventually died down. Around midnight, Jerry Miller, brother of Jeremy, arrived at the residence and found the home in disarray. Davidson had spilled food on the floor and Jerry asked him and the others to clean up their mess. As a result, Davidson and Jerry became involved in a "heated argument." The appellant "stepped in and was going to take up for Jerry." Almost immediately, the appellant and Davidson began to exchange blows. Davidson hit the floor and the appellant jumped on top of him. Jeremy and Jerry broke up the fight. For a period of nearly ten minutes "the fight was over." The appellant went into the kitchen and Davidson went into another room to "cool . . . down." Shortly thereafter, the appellant emerged from the kitchen and again had "words" with Davidson saying, "Die, mother f-----, die." The two moved toward each other and the appellant began "swinging." During this encounter, the appellant produced a knife and stabbed Davidson multiple times. As the appellant left the house, he said, " hat will teach you to f--- with me."
Around 1 a.m. on December 2, 1997, Officer Timothy Kelley and Sergeant Tim Cunningham of the Savannah Police Department responded to a 911 call at the Haynes' address. While approaching the residence three to four minutes later, Officer Kelley observed a white male, later identified as the appellant, walking away from the house. Officer Kelley proceeded to the residence and Sergeant Cunningham approached the appellant. Officer Kelley followed Jeremy to where the victim, Donald Davidson, was lying on the kitchen floor with visible stab wounds. The victim had a weak pulse and was barely breathing. Blood was observed throughout the house beginning at the front door continuing through the living room door and into the kitchen. The victim was taken to the hospital where he died shortly thereafter.
After being detained, the appellant stated to Sergeant Cunningham that "he had stabbed a man down there and that we needed to get him some help down at the house." The officer noticed blood on his hands and clothing. After searching the appellant for weapons, the officer placed the appellant in the patrol car. Then, Sergeant Cunningham proceeded to the scene searching outside for
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