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State v. King4/30/1999
The defendants, Debiasi Sirnard King and Dewayne King, appeal from their convictions of the second degree murder of Fernandos Hawkins. The Kings, who are brothers, were indicted and tried jointly for the crime of first degree murder along with their younger brother, Devon King. A Hamilton County jury found Debiasi and Dewayne guilty of the lesser included offense of second degree murder and found Devon guilty of the lesser included offense of voluntary manslaughter. Debiasi is presently serving a 25-year sentence in the Department of Correction, and Dewayne is serving his sentence of fifteen years. In this appeal, Debiasi and Dewayne raise numerous issues for our consideration:
Joint issues
1. Whether they were denied a fair trial by the method employed in jury selection.
2. Whether the trial court erred in holding court on Sunday.
3. Whether the trial court erred in ruling during trial that Dewayne King would be severed from the case unless his counsel recovered from illness by the following day.
4. Whether the trial court erred in excluding Antoine Coe's testimony regarding Darrius Malone's prior conduct.
5. Whether the trial court erred in admitting a letter containing apparent gang references which was found in the vehicle in which the Kings were riding during the relevant events.
6. Whether a separation of the sequestered jury deprived the defendants of a fair trial.
Debiasi King's individual issue:
1. Whether the sentence imposed is excessive.
Dewayne King's individual issues:
1. Whether the evidence sufficiently supports his conviction.
2. Whether the trial court erroneously instructed the jury by interjecting information outside the pattern instructions which was favorable to the state.
3. Whether the trial court erroneously excluded evidence about Greg Kelsey's prior conviction of a crime involving use of a gun.
Having reviewed the briefs, heard oral arguments, and considered the law, we reverse the defendants' convictions and remand the case for a new trial.
This case is the result of the senseless confrontation between two groups of young men on the streets of Chattanooga. Although those involved denied gang affiliation, there was evidence that the two groups were members of the rival "Bloods" and "Crips" gangs and that the entire incident began over the exchange of disrespectful hand signs used by gang members.
By all accounts, a Nissan Maxima driven by Greg Kelsey and occupied by Darius Malone, Johnny White and Fernandos Hawkins was parked off the road at the intersection of Tunnel and Wilcox on June 25, 1995, when Debiasi, Dewayne and Devon King drove by in a distinctive white Lincoln convertible. The evidence is conflicting whether Greg Dixon was in the Maxima. Likewise, there is conflicting evidence whether Ragounda Peyton, Dewayne King's girlfriend, was in the Lincoln. According to surviving occupants of the Maxima, occupants of the Lincoln threw up Crip hand signs at them. Occupants of the Maxima testified they did not respond with Blood signs. In contrast, the Kings' evidence was that the individuals in the Maxima threw up Blood hand signs, but the Kings did not respond with Crip signs.
A short time after this first encounter, the two groups came upon each other in another location. Although the accounts of what occurred greatly diverge, the essential points are that the state's witnesses claimed that Dewayne and Debiasi King opened fire on the Maxima with .380 handgun and an AK-47, respectively, and the Kings maintained that they shot in self-defens
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