Donald Middlebrooks was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a kidnapping and murder of a fourteen year old boy. According to court documents Donald Middlebrooks would kidnap Kerrick Majors who would be tortured before he was murdered. Donald Middlebrooks would be sentenced to death
The State’s proof introduced at the guilt phase of the trial demonstrated that on the evening of Sunday, April 26, 1987, around 7:00 p.m., the victim, Kerrick Majors, a 14-year-old black male, was with four friends on Gallatin Road in East Nashville, Tennessee, when they saw a table with a “lot of stuff” being set up across the street as a flea market by three homeless street persons: the defendant, Donald Middlebrooks (a 24-year-old white male); his wife, 17-year-old Tammy Middlebrooks; and their companion, 16-year-old Roger Brewington. The five boys ran across Gallatin Road and were looking at the flea market when Tammy *324 Middlebrooks called out, “Hey, leave our stuff alone!” The boys started running. Donald Middlebrooks and Brewington chased them until they caught Majors. Brewington grabbed Majors in a “sleeper hold” around his neck and head. The defendant held his hand. When Majors said, “Hey man, you know me,” Brewington responded, “Shut up, you nigger.” Shannon Stewart and another of the boys, Tony Watson, saw the two men drag Majors toward the table and observed the defendant strike him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Frightened, the boys took off running. Later that evening, they reported these events to the victim’s mother, who called the police.
The next afternoon, Kerrick Majors’ nude body was discovered lying face up in a dry creek bed under a foam mattress in a heavily wooded area behind a drugstore on Gallatin Road in the area where the defendant and Brewington had caught Majors. A bloodstained T-shirt was tied around his neck. A red rope belt was tied around Majors’ left wrist, and there was a two-inch laceration in his right wrist. Abrasions, swelling, and bruising were present on the victim’s head, his left eye, his nose, his lips, and inside his mouth. An “X” with a vertical line running through it had been cut into his chest. The forensic pathologist, Dr. Charles Harlan, testified that these incisions had been made while Majors was alive. There were two deep stab wounds in the center of the body. One of these penetrated the left lung and pulmonary artery and caused the victim to bleed to death over a period of ten to thirty minutes, during part of which Majors was conscious. Investigating officers noticed a smell of urine about the face, and there were bruises and skinned areas on the back. A wooden stick with blood stains on one end was found lying close to the victim’s head.
Around 1:10 a.m. on April 28, police investigators met Brewington at a doughnut shop several miles from the Gallatin Road area. Brewington directed the officers to the location of a knife with a brass knuckle handle, which was bloodstained. Dr. Harlan testified that this knife could have inflicted the deep stab wounds on the victim’s body. Brewington also directed the police to a wooded area between Gallatin Road and Ellington Parkway in Nashville where, around 7:00 a.m. on April 28, Donald and Tammy Middlebrooks were apprehended at a small plywood shack. The defendant, who resisted the arresting officers, had a knife with him. He was arrested with the aid of police dogs, taken to the hospital for treatment of the dog bites, and later transported to police headquarters.
At 12:30 p.m. that day, Donald Middlebrooks gave a lengthy video-taped statement about his involvement in the death of Kerrick Majors. The defendant admitted participating in the beating and mistreatment of Majors, but described his role as minor and depicted Roger Brewington as the primary perpetrator of the offense. After Majors was caught, Middlebrooks said Brewington suggested they “have some fun,” and the three of them took Majors back into the woods. His hands were tied. Brewington slapped him, beat him with the knife’s brass knuckles, hit him with a stick, and urinated into his mouth. The defendant admitted striking Majors with his open hand and on the leg with a switch. Defendant said that his wife Tammy had slapped Majors and burned Majors’ nose with a cigarette lighter as Brewington urged her on. Brewington hit Majors on his testicles, threatened to cut “it” open, stuck a stick up Majors’ anus, hit him some more with the brass knuckles, wiped the victim’s blood on himself, beat his mouth and tongue with a stick, dropped the knife on him, gagged him, and slashed his wrist. Finally, when the defendant asked Brewington to stop because the victim’s crying and pleading were getting on his nerves, Brewington gave the victim “the kiss of death” on the forehead. Brewington then gave the defendant the knife and told him to stab Majors. When the defendant refused, Brewington stabbed Majors. The defendant then reluctantly stabbed the victim, according to him, “to prove to Roger that I guess I was cooler” and to put Majors out of his misery. In a previous statement, however, the defendant had said that he had stabbed Majors twice. The *325 victim’s ordeal began at 7:30 p.m. and ended at 11:00 p.m. that night with the stabbing.
The next day, Donald Middlebrooks said he and Brewington went back to where they had left the body. Brewington kicked it and made the “X” lacerations at this time. The defendant said he then covered Majors with a foam mattress. The defendant admitted that before beating and killing Majors, he and Brewington had drunk alcohol and smoked marijuana.
Donald Middlebrooks presented no proof.
Based on this evidence, the jury found the defendant guilty of first-degree murder in the perpetration of a felony and aggravated kidnapping, but not guilty of premeditated first-degree murder, armed robbery, or aggravated sexual battery.
Larry McKay and Michael Sample were sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for the murders of two store clerks during a robbery. According to court documents Larry McKay and Michael Sample would enter the L & G Sundry Store at 1069 North Watkins in Memphis when they would shoot dead the two victims, Benjamin Cooke and Steve Jones. Larry McKay and Michael Sample were arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
The petitioner, Michael Eugene Sample, and a co-defendant, Larry McKay, were convicted of felony murder and sentenced to death for the 1981 killing of two men during an armed robbery in Memphis, Tennessee. To place the issues raised in this appeal in the appropriate context, we will briefly summarize the evidence from the trial and sentencing.
Melvin Wallace, Jr., testified that on August 29, 1981, he entered the L & G Sundry Store and saw two employees, Benjamin Cooke and Steve Jones, being held at gunpoint. Wallace tried to flee, but was shot in the leg by the petitioner, Michael Sample. While lying on the floor, Wallace heard Sample demand money and threaten to kill everyone, and he saw McKay shoot Cooke. When Sample realized that Wallace was still alive, he shot him in the back; Sample then put a gun to Wallace’s head, but it misfired. Wallace and Sample engaged in a struggle, and Wallace lost consciousness when the gun fired near his head. Wallace survived the shootings, but Cooke and Jones were killed.
The day after the offenses, police officers apprehended Sample and McKay and found a .32 caliber handgun in their car. Bullets fired from this weapon matched those found in all three victims. Two days after the offenses, Wallace identified Sample and McKay from a lineup. At trial, Wallace again identified Sample and McKay as the persons who committed the offenses. A second witness, Charles Rice, testified that he fled from the scene when he saw the robbery in progress; he likewise identified Sample and McKay as the perpetrators. Both Sample and McKay were convicted of two counts of felony murder.
At a sentencing hearing to determine punishment, Sample introduced mitigating evidence that he was an “exceptionally good” and “very conscientious” employee. Several family members testified about Sample’s work history, character, and qualities as a husband, father, and son-in-law. Sample’s mother testified that he was a good son and asked the jury to spare his life. Sample testified that he did not commit these crimes and asked the jury to spare his life for the sake of his son and wife.
The jury sentenced Sample to death based on three aggravating circumstances: that he created a great risk of death to two or more persons other than the victims who were murdered; that he committed the murder to avoid, interfere with or prevent a lawful arrest or prosecution; and that the murders were committed in the course of committing a felony. See Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-2404(i)(3), (6), (7) (Supp.1981).1 The convictions and sentences were upheld on direct appeal. State v. McKay, 680 S.W.2d 447 (Tenn.1984), cert. denied, 470 U.S. 1034, 105 S.Ct. 1412, 84 L.Ed.2d 795 (1985).
Terry King was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for a kidnapping and murder. According to court documents Terry King would kidnap Diana Kay Smith, shoot her in the back of the head and dumped her body in a quarry. Terry King would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
Mrs. Smith left her home on Sunday afternoon, July 31, 1983, to go to
a nearby McDonald’s to get food for her family. Her automobile, a 1979
Camaro, was found on August 4, 1983, off the road in a heavily wooded area
near Blaine, Tennessee.
On August 6, 1983, Mrs. Donna Allen went to the Asbury quarry in
Knox County to swim. She noticed a strange odor coming from a yellow
tarpaulin in the water near the bank, and reported the circumstance to the
sheriff’s office. On following-up Mrs. Allen’s report, officers found the body
of a white female in an advanced state of decomposition. The body was later
identified as being that of Mrs. Smith. Death was from one or more shots fired
into the back of Mrs. Smith’s head from a high-powered weapon.
In the course of the police investigation, the attention of the officers
was focused on Terry King and Randall Sexton when Jerry Childers, an
acquaintance of King, reported a conversation he had had with King and what
he had found when he followed up on the conversation.
Jerry Childers testified that Terry King came to his house on the
afternoon of Monday, August 1, 1983, and inquired as to whether Childers
knew anyone that wanted to buy parts from a 1979 Camaro. According to
Childers, King told Childers he had killed the woman who owned the
automobile after she threatened to charge defendant with rape. According to
Childers, defendant said he made the woman get out of the car trunk where he
had confined her and lie face down on the ground, that the woman faced the
defendant and begged him not to shoot her and offered money, and that he
ordered her to turn her head away from him. When she did, he shot her in the
back of the head. Defendant also told Childers he took forty dollars from the
woman as well as taking her automobile.
The following Friday, which was August 5, 1983, Childers related
defendant’s story to Mr. Buford Watson. On Sunday, Childers went to the
location defendant had described as the place of the killing and found
something with hair on it. Childers then gave the information he had to
Detective Herman Johnson of the Knox County Sheriff's Department and
T.B.I. agent, David Davenport. In following up the report, the officers met
Childers near Richland Creek and searched the area, finding pieces of bone,
hair, and bloodstains. A later more thorough search turned up bullet fragments
and additional bone fragments.
-2-
In the course of the police investigation, defendant and co-defendant,
Sexton, were interviewed by the officers. Both gave written statements
detailing the events of the night of July 31, 1983. Neither defendant testified
in the guilt phase of the trial, but their statements were introduced in evidence.
Both defendants testified in the sentencing phase of the trial and repeated in
substance the facts set forth in the statements given the police officers in their
statements.
The statements of King and Sexton were markedly similar for the time
the two men were together. King’s statement was the more comprehensive
since it covered the entire period of time he was with Mrs. Smith. According
to defendant, he and his cousin, Don King, picked up Mrs. Smith at the
Cherokee Dam on Sunday, July 31, 1983. Defendant drove Mrs. Smith in her
automobile to the nearby house trailer of his cousin, arriving there around 7:00
p.m. Don King drove his own automobile to the trailer. Shortly after arriving
at the trailer, defendant called Eugene Thornhill who came to the trailer and
left with defendant to obtain LSD and quaaludes. Defendant said he and Mrs.
Smith took the drugs. Thereafter, defendant, Don King, and Eugene Thornhill
had sex with Mrs. Smith.
After staying at the trailer for several hours, defendant and Mrs. Smith
left in her automobile, with defendant driving. They went to a wooded area,
where they again had sex. From there, they went to a service station for gas.
Mrs. Smith got out of the automobile and grabbed the keys. Defendant told
her to get back in the automobile and she did so. The defendant drove Mrs.
Smith back to the wooded area, where they again had sex and the defendant
took forty dollars from Mrs. Smith. According to defendant, Mrs. Smith then
asked “why did you all rape me?” Defendant stated that he knew then what he
was going to do. He told Mrs. Smith to get into the trunk of the automobile.
When she did, defendant drove to Sexton’s house and told Sexton he had a
woman in the trunk of the automobile and needed Sexton’s help. Defendant
got a rifle from Sexton and also a shovel. Defendant and Sexton then left the
Sexton home in separate automobiles. After making a stop at a Publix station
to purchase gas, defendant and Sexton drove to a wooded area near Richland
Creek in Knox County. Defendant drove the 1979 Camaro off the road and
became stuck. He then made Mrs. Smith get out of the automobile trunk and
pointed the loaded rifle at her. Defendant made Mrs. Smith lie down on the
ground, assuring her that he was not going to kill her, that others were coming
to have sex with her. Sexton left in his automobile to return a funnel to the gas
station. While he was gone, defendant shot Mrs. Smith in the back of the
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head. On Sexton’s return, and after getting the Camaro unstuck, the two went
through Mrs. Smith’s effects, burning her identification. They then attempted
to bury the body, but gave up because of the hardness of the ground. The next
morning, defendant and Sexton wrapped Mrs. Smith’s body in a tent, weighted
it with cinder blocks and dumped it in the Asburn quarry. Mrs. Smith’s
automobile was hidden near Sexton’s house.
Agent Davenport testified that after making his statement, the defendant
took him and other officers to the place where the Camaro was hidden and
defendant also showed them where he had hidden the automobile license plate
in a hollow tree. The defendant also showed the officers where he had placed
the body in the quarry and where the shooting occurred.
Tommy Heflin, a firearms examiner for the Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation [(TBI)], testified that he had examined the .30 Marlin rifle
belonging to Sexton, the metal bullet jacket, and fragments recovered from the
scene of the killing. According to Mr. Heflin, the intact metal jacket had been
fired from Sexton’s rifle and the fragments were fired from a rifle with the
same rifling characteristics as Sexton’s rifle. Mr. Heflin was of the opinion
that at least two bullets had been fired.
Dr. Joseph Parker, who performed an autopsy on the body of Mrs.
Smith, testified that death was due to an extensive head injury consistent with
gunshot wounds from a high-powered rifle.
Over objection, the State also presented evidence through Lori Eastman
Carter that defendant had attempted to kill her on October 13, 1982.
According to Mrs. Carter, King hit her with a slapstick numerous times, while
repeatedly asking her “how it felt to be dying, so that the next woman he killed
he would know how she felt.” Mrs. Carter testified that she lost
consciousness. When she came to, she was still in her automobile with her
hair rolled up in the window. She further testified that she heard defendant tell
his cousin that he had killed her and wanted James King to help him put her
in a quarry and burn her automobile.
James King disputed Mrs. Carter’s version of events, saying that
defendant came to King’s home to get him to follow defendant to St. Mary’s
Hospital as Mrs. Carter was ill and needed treatment.
-4-
Karen Greeg, Lori Carter’s sister, testified that Mrs. Carter [cannot] be
believed, even under oath.
State v. King,
, 243-45 (Tenn. 1986). The Petitioner sought post-conviction
relief on multiple grounds, including the ineffective assistance of counsel. The post-
conviction court denied relief, and this court and the supreme court affirmed. See King v.
State,
(Tenn. 1999).
The Petitioner also sought habeas corpus relief in the United States District Court for
the Eastern District of Tennessee. See Terry Lynn King v. Ricky Bell, Warden, No. 3:99-cv-
454,
2011 WL 3566843
(E.D. Tenn. Aug. 12, 2011) (order). The relevant issue raised in his
habeas corpus petition surrounded an allegation that the State “withheld exculpatory,
mitigating, and/or impeachment evidence” in violation of Brady v. Maryland,
During the federal habeas corpus proceedings, subpoenas duces tecum
were issued, and as a result, in 2000, the Petitioner’s counsel discovered certain evidence
possessed by the State at the time of the trial but unknown to the Petitioner’s trial and post-
conviction counsel. Consequently, the Petitioner asserted that the State withheld evidence
showing that only one gunshot was “associated with . . . [the] murder.”
He
alleged that “records recently obtained . . . from the TBI reveal[ed] that only one bullet was
found at the crime scene and that Ms. Smith was shot one time.”
court stated
that it “appear[ed] from the record that there was some confusion as to whether the bullet
fragment was recovered from the site where . . . Millard’s1 body was found or where Ms.
Smith was killed.”
argued the confusion stemmed from finding one metal
object where Ms. Smith was killed and two at Mr. Millard’s grave site, which were submitted
to the TBI for analysis.
concluded that the Petitioner failed to show the State
withheld evidence or deliberately presented false evidence and that because overwhelming
evidence existed of the Petitioner’s guilt, including his confession, any alleged violation was
immaterial.
The Petitioner also alleged that relative to Ms. Carter, the State
withheld photographs and hospital records that would have impeached her testimony
regarding the Petitioner’s beating her until she was unconscious. The court, though,
concluded that the Petitioner had not established a Brady violation because the evidence
nonetheless showed Ms. Carter was assaulted and received medical treatment for her injuries.
After the district court denied habeas corpus relief, the Petitioner filed a motion to
alter or amend the district court’s memorandum and judgment order, in relevant part, with
1
The Petitioner was also convicted of the first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping of
Todd Lee Millard after law enforcement questioned the Petitioner regarding Ms. Smith’s death.
David Keen was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for the sexual assault and murder of an 8 year old girl. According to court documents David Keen would sexually assault Ashley Nicole ‘Nikki’ Read the daughter of his fiancee. David Keen was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
At the time of the tragic events giving rise to this case, David Keen was living with his then-fiancée, Deborah Wilson, in a three-bedroom mobile home in Millington, Tennessee. Also living with the appellant and his fiancée were Deborah’s four children, including Ashley Nicole, her mother, and her father. During the late afternoon of March 17, 1990, the appellant and Deborah met her mother and father at the VFW Club in West Memphis, Arkansas, to eat dinner and play bingo. All of Deborah’s children were spending the night with various friends. Shortly after the appellant and Deborah arrived at the VFW Club, Deborah’s father, Jessie Wilson, expressed some concern over Nikki’s arrangements to sleep over at a friend’s house. The appellant offered to go back to Millington to check on Nikki, and Mr. Wilson allowed the appellant to borrow his car to make the short trip.
David Keen left the VFW Club at about 5:30, and he returned about two hours later. Upon returning, he told everyone that Nikki was spending the night with her friend, Shantell. The group stayed at the VFW Club until about 10:30 that evening, and on his way back home to Millington, Mr. Wilson noticed that the green blanket he usually kept in his car was missing. Mr. Wilson questioned the appellant about the blanket, but the appellant merely replied that he put the blanket in the back seat of the car because he did not want to sit on it.
The next morning, Deborah and David Keen went shopping at the local Wal Mart while Mrs. Wilson went to pick Nikki up for church. When Mrs. Wilson returned home, she told her husband that Nikki did not go to her friend’s house the previous evening, and the two of them searched around the mobile home park for Nikki. When Deborah and the appellant returned from shopping, they joined the search for Nikki. After searching all day and finding no trace of his granddaughter, Mr. Wilson told Deborah to report Nikki’s disappearance to the police. Deborah and the appellant then left on foot for the police station to file a missing persons report.
In the meantime, Mr. Wilson and his wife again searched the trailer park, and after waiting some time for Deborah and the appellant to return from the police station, they decided to drive to the police station themselves. As soon as Mrs. Wilson opened the door to get into her car, she saw a pair of panties lying on the passenger-side floorboard. Mr. Wilson told his wife not to move the panties, and they drove to the police station where they notified an officer about their discovery. When Mr. Wilson later approached the appellant about the panties in the car, the appellant was evasive and would not answer his questions.
The next day, a detective with the Millington Police Department asked David Keen and Deborah to come to the police station for questioning. Although the appellant initially denied any involvement in Nikki’s disappearance, he admitted after further questioning by the police that he “threw her in the river.” The appellant then took the detective and others officers to Memphis along the north end of Mud Island in the Wolf River, where the police found Nikki’s naked body wrapped in a green blanket. Although the police found a blue denim skirt and a pink shirt wrapped with the body, the officers found no panties.
The appellant was taken to the Memphis Police Department where he again confessed to the murder of Nikki Reed. The appellant stated that when he found Nikki, he intended to take her back with him to West Memphis because he was unsure whether she could spend the night with her friend. In his initial statement to the Millington police, the appellant stated that on the return trip to West Memphis, he and Nikki argued about something concerning her seat belt. The appellant stated that during this argument, he became very angry, grabbed Nikki’s throat, and covered her mouth until she turned blue. Although he admitted to wrapping Nikki’s body in the green blanket and throwing her into the river, he could not remember whether he struck her, took her clothes off, or raped her.
However, when questioned further in Memphis about the incident, the appellant admitted to his actions in gruesome detail:
I pulled off to the side of the road and undressed Ashley and undid my pants, and I held my hand over her throat and tried to penetrate [her]. I felt crap and I stopped, and Ashley had turned blue in the face. She wasn’t breathing. I tied a shoe lace around her neck and she still was not breathing. I untied the shoe lace, wrapped her up in a blanket, tied the blanket together and dumped her off into the river off of the old Auction Street boat Dock. Then I went back over to West Memphis and told Ashley’s mother that Ashley was spending the night at her friend, Shantell’s, house.
David Keen also stated that Nikki struggled “for a little while,” although she did not scream or holler, because he “was practically on top of her with [his] hand on her throat.” Nikki was eight years old and weighed sixty-eight pounds.
At the sentencing hearing, the State called Dr. Jerry Francisco, the Shelby County Medical Examiner, to testify as to the results of the victim’s autopsy. Dr. Francisco testified that Nikki suffered multiple scrapes and bruises to her face and neck, and that she had a deep ligature mark around the front of her neck caused by a tightly-pulled fabric cord, such as a shoelace. The medical examiner also found a bruise and scrapes around her genital area and a tear on the posterior wall of the vagina. Sperm heads were also found inside the vagina. Dr. Francisco determined that Nikki was alive while she was raped and suffered the various injuries, although he could not say with certainty that she was conscious during the entire episode.
In addition, the autopsy revealed that fluid was found in the lungs of the victim. Although Dr. Francisco stated that fluid in the lungs can be associated with either drowning or asphyxia, he testified that the left side of the heart was diluted, which “is the type of change you see in a person who is alive and submerged.” Although the medical examiner stated that the ligature strangulation was the actual cause of death, he also stated that “[i]n my opinion, she was alive at the time she was placed in the water.”
In mitigation, the defense called the appellant’s adoptive parents, Robert and Evelyn Brieschke, who adopted the appellant and his older brother when the appellant was four years old. His adoptive parents testified that the appellant was malnourished when he was first adopted, and that he was very nervous and upset, had difficulty playing and interacting with others, and had difficulty sleeping. The appellant was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder in fourth grade, and he was placed on Ritalin, which offered some improvement. The Brieschkes later learned from a psychological report completed before the appellant’s adoption that the appellant was in need of immediate help and counseling, although this information was kept from them at the time of the adoption. In high school, the appellant skipped classes, smoked marijuana, and drank alcohol. At one point, he was arrested for breaking into an automobile agency and stealing a car. In his junior year, the appellant dropped out of high school and joined the United States Navy.
The appellant’s brother and two stepsisters testified that the appellant’s natural father was physically and emotionally abusive. Because his father was wanted for theft and child neglect, he constantly moved his family to evade arrest, and during one two-year period, the family moved no less than twenty-six times. The children were beaten on a daily basis, sometimes with electrical cords and pieces of lumber. The father would also slaughter livestock in front of his children while threatening to do the same to them if they misbehaved. One of the appellant’s sisters, who admitted being the victim of sexual abuse, described their childhood as “an environment of terror.” Even after the appellant was abandoned by his natural parents, he was placed in an abusive foster home before being adopted by the Brieschkes.
The defense also called Dr. John Ciocca, a clinical psychologist, who conducted a psychological evaluation of the appellant and testified as to the results. Dr. Ciocca diagnosed the appellant as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, serious depression, and attention deficit disorder. Dr. Ciocca stated that the appellant also showed some signs of pedophilia, although he admitted that he found no indications of persistent and constant sexual interest in children, which is necessary for a proper diagnosis. One of the tests administered by Dr. Ciocca indicated that the appellant suffered from occasions “where he is not in good contact with reality,” and that another test showed the “presence of psychotic-like symptoms.”
Dr. Ciocca also interviewed the appellant and his family, and he reviewed numerous medical and psychological records, including an evaluation conducted at Winnebago State Hospital in Wisconsin. From an examination of these interviews and records, Dr. Ciocca testified that the appellant was “born into a family of crisis,” which “had fallen on hard times,” and in which “physical abuse and sexual abuse were rather rampant.” Although he was relocated to a foster home, the appellant remembered being abused and anally raped by his foster father. According to Dr. Ciocca, the absence of nurturing, along with the presence of general hostility or apathy toward the appellant significantly affected his normal childhood development. Dr. Ciocca also stated that the appellant was “extraordinarily distressed at what he’s done,” and that he “takes full responsibility for it.”
The State argued to the jury that the facts supported the presence of two aggravating circumstances: (1) that the murder was committed against a person less that twelve years of age and the defendant was eighteen years of age or older, see Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(1); and (2) that the murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death, see Tenn.Code Ann. § 39-13-204(i)(5). The appellant, on the other hand, argued that fourteen statutory and non-statutory mitigating circumstances applied and should be considered.1 The jury found that the State proved both aggravating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, and after finding that these aggravating circumstances outweighed any mitigating circumstances beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury sentenced the appellant to death. The jury made no specific findings as to which, if any, mitigating circumstances were supported by the proof.
David Jordan was sentenced to death by the State of Tennessee for multiple murders linked to a mass shooting. According to court documents David Jordan went to the workplace of his estranged wife and would open fire killing her and two other people. David Jordan would be convicted and sentenced to death.
This case arises from a shooting incident on January 11, 2005, at the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) facility in Jackson, where David Lynn Jordan (“Defendant”) killed three people: Renee Jordan, his thirty-one-year-old wife who was employed at TDOT; Jerry Hopper, an employee of the Tennessee Division of Forestry who was at the TDOT office; and David Gordon, a motorist Defendant ran off the road en route to the TDOT garage. Defendant also shot and injured two other TDOT employees, James Goff and Larry Taylor.
State’s Proof
The State’s theory at trial was that Defendant first threatened and then decided to murder his wife because he believed she was having an affair with a co-worker, Johnny Emerson, and because she told him she wanted a divorce.
Johnny Emerson testified that he was employed as a mechanic at the TDOT garage where Mrs. Jordan worked. Emerson explained that he and Mrs. Jordan were “just real good friends,” but acknowledged that their relationship had developed “[a] little bit” beyond a co-worker relationship. Physically, their relationship was limited to hugging and kissing. Emerson said that Mrs. Jordan had been talking about getting a divorce. On one occasion, Defendant telephoned Emerson at home regarding his relationship with Mrs. Jordan. Defendant told Emerson that he was “too old” for Mrs. Jordan and that he “needed [his] ass whooped.” Emerson agreed with Defendant that he “didn’t have no business doing what [he] did.” Defendant also contacted Emerson’s wife on numerous occasions. At some point prior to January 11, 2005, Emerson informed Mrs. Jordan that he was not going to divorce his wife. Emerson testified that he was not at work on January 11, 2005, because he was on medical leave.
Linda Sesson Taylor, an attorney in Jackson, testified that Mrs. Jordan hired her on December 14, 2004, to represent her in divorce proceedings against Defendant. She said she initially prepared the necessary documents for a contested divorce, and Mrs. Jordan told her she would have the money to pay her fee after the Christmas holiday. Taylor said she also prepared the paperwork to obtain a restraining order against Defendant, and Mrs. Jordan had an appointment scheduled for January 12, 2005.2 Taylor identified a page out of her phone message book indicating that Mrs. Jordan had called her office on January 11, 2005, at 9:56 a.m. wanting to know how much Taylor charged for an uncontested divorce.
Kevin Deberry, the next-door neighbor of Defendant and Mrs. Jordan, testified that Mrs. Jordan called him on the night of January 10, 2005, and was upset with Defendant. About an hour later, Defendant came to Deberry’s house and asked Deberry to take Mrs. Jordan’s dog to their house and get his house key, but Deberry refused to do so. Defendant then told Deberry if he did not take Mrs. Jordan’s dog to her, he “was gonna take it over there and shoot it in the driveway.” As Defendant turned to walk away, Deberry noticed what he believed to be a “snub-nose .38” in Defendant’s back pocket. Defendant then turned around and told Deberry that he “better watch [his] back, you never kn[o]w which way the bullets are gonna fly.” Deberry called Mrs. Jordan and told her to take her child and leave the house because Defendant was on his way over there. Mrs. Jordan told Deberry that Defendant had left some threatening voice mails on her phone. Defendant later called Deberry and apologized. The two men talked “for awhile” and Deberry offered Defendant a drink. Defendant declined but called back later and accepted Deberry’s offer of alcohol. Deberry said that he took a half-gallon bottle of vodka to Defendant’s house at about 1:00 a.m. and put it in the freezer. Although Defendant and his children were still up when he arrived, Deberry did not stay and returned home.
Kenneth Evans, Mrs. Jordan’s cousin, testified that he was aware that Defendant and Mrs. Jordan were having marital problems and, on January 10, 2005, Mrs. Jordan called and told him that “she was about to have a nervous breakdown, and she was scared of [Defendant], that he was calling threatening her.” Mrs. Jordan told Evans that Defendant “was on his way out to the house and that he said ․ it didn’t matter how many lawyers she had and how much money she had, that what he had for her wasn’t going to do her any good.” Evans advised Mrs. Jordan to leave the house and go to the police department, but she refused to do so, saying that Defendant had “had run-ins with the police department before. He would shoot me there whether the police was there or not, and he would probably shoot them, too.” Evans then told her to come to his house, which she did. After she arrived, they took Mrs. Jordan’s three-year-old daughter to Mrs. Jordan’s mother’s house. Evans later hid Mrs. Jordan’s car at a friend’s house, and they returned to Evans’ home around 10:30 p.m.
The following morning, January 11, 2005, Mrs. Jordan and Evans, a TDOT “[p]arts runner,” went to work. Mrs. Jordan worked in the office of the TDOT garage, which was commonly referred to as “the crow’s nest.” That morning, Evans was in the crow’s nest with Mrs. Jordan until approximately 11:10 a.m., when he left to go pick up some parts. Ricky Simpson and James Goff were in the office with Mrs. Jordan when he left.
Vernon L. Stockton, Sr. testified that on January 11, 2005, he was employed as an equipment mechanic at the TDOT garage which was located in the same building as the crow’s nest where Mrs. Jordan worked. He said he knew that Mrs. Jordan and Defendant were having marital problems. Between 9:30 and 10:00 a.m. on the morning of January 11, Mrs. Jordan handed Stockton her portable phone when it rang and asked him to answer it. Stockton recognized the caller’s voice as that of Defendant. Defendant asked to speak to Mrs. Jordan, but Stockton told him that she was in the restroom because she did not want to talk to him. Stockton said he later left TDOT to pick up some parts and was not present when the shooting occurred.
Sonny Grimm testified that he was riding in a Ford pickup while Paul Forsythe was driving it westbound on Lower Brownsville Road on January 11, 2005. The two men worked for Ralph’s Trailers and were on their way to pick up some starter fluid for a backhoe. A green car was traveling in front of them. As they approached Anglin Lane, Grimm saw Defendant, who was driving a red pickup truck, run a stop sign and strike the green car, knocking it off the road. Grimm wrote down the license plate number of Defendant’s vehicle; he said that Defendant continued traveling toward the TDOT garage. Grimm, Forsythe, and the driver of the green car followed Defendant to the garage. There, Grimm saw people running everywhere. Forsythe gave the driver of the green car the license plate number of the red pickup truck. Defendant came out of the garage and told the driver of the green car, “You better leave.” The driver responded, “I’m not going [any]where.” Defendant said, “yes, you are, too,” reached inside his truck, pulled out a rifle, and shot the driver.
Paul Forsythe testified that, on the morning of January 11, 2005, he and Sonny Grimm were traveling west on Lower Brownsville Road behind a green car when they saw a red Mazda pickup truck come down Anglin Lane, run a stop sign, and strike the green car, knocking it off the road. Forsythe followed the truck to get its license plate number for the driver of the green car. Because he was driving, Forsythe called out the license number to Grimm, who wrote it down. The pickup truck then ran a four-way stop and turned into the main entrance of TDOT. Forsythe called 911 and pulled into the TDOT parking lot. The green car then pulled up, the driver got out, and Forsythe gave the driver, David Gordon, the tag number of the pickup truck. As Gordon was walking back to his car, Defendant came out of the TDOT building and told Gordon to leave. When Gordon said, “I’m not going [any]where,” Defendant said, “You will” and then reached inside his truck and pulled out a long gun. Gordon threw his hands up in the air and told Defendant, “Please don’t shoot. Wait a minute.” However, Defendant started shooting, and Forsythe and Grimm fled the scene.
Randy Joe Perry, a TDOT employee, testified that on January 11, 2005, Defendant came to the TDOT garage and pushed Perry out of his way as he approached the steps leading up to the crow’s nest where Mrs. Jordan worked. David Pickard, another TDOT employee who was standing near Perry, said, “Who was that son-of-a-bitch?” Defendant, who had his right hand in his coat pocket, turned around and gave Perry and Pickard a “hard look” before going upstairs to the crow’s nest. Perry then heard three or four gunshots and, looking through the window in the crow’s nest, saw Defendant pointing a gun at Jerry Hopper who was sitting in a chair. Perry heard another gunshot and saw Hopper slump over. Hearing more gunshots, Perry ran and got behind his truck. Shortly thereafter, Defendant calmly walked outside to his vehicle. Perry next noticed a man get out of another vehicle and walk toward Defendant. Defendant reached inside his truck and retrieved a rifle. The man who had been walking toward Defendant stopped and raised his hands. A few seconds later, Defendant fired several shots at the man. Perry described the shots as coming from a “fully automatic” and so quick that he could not count them. The man Defendant shot “went out of sight down behind the vehicle.” Defendant walked over to the fallen man, shot again, “and then he turned and just calmly walked back towards his truck, put the rifle in his truck, just eased in there and drove off just as easy” toward the front gate.
David Thomas Pickard testified that he was standing near the stairs with Randy Perry and other employees when Defendant came in the garage and shoved him and Perry backwards as he walked past the group of men. Pickard responded by saying, “Who does that crazy son-of-a-bitch think he is?” Defendant, who smelled of alcohol, turned around and got in Pickard’s face “like he wanted to whoop [him].” Defendant then proceeded upstairs to the crow’s nest where Mrs. Jordan was facing the window. Pickard saw Defendant shoot Mrs. Jordan and described the shooting: “The first time it went ‘Pow’ and she went like this and come back and he went ‘Pow, Pow, Pow,’ like that.” Pickard ran out of the garage to his office located across from the garage. After instructing the employees in his office to lock the door, Pickard went back outside and saw Defendant, pistol in hand, exit the garage and go to his truck and retrieve a rifle. Pickard went back inside the office and, a few minutes later, saw Defendant leave in his truck. Pickard then went to the crow’s nest where he saw Mrs. Jordan and Jerry Hopper lying on the floor. He said he looked at Mrs. Jordan and knew she was dead, but Hopper was still alive and a man was trying to resuscitate him. Outside in the parking lot, Pickard saw another man lying on the ground. He said the man was not dead at that time, but he “was turning real yellow-looking and blood was everywhere.”
James Goff testified that he was in the crow’s nest with Mrs. Jordan, Larry Taylor, and Jerry Hopper when Defendant came in, raised his shirt, and pulled out what appeared to be a nine-millimeter pistol. Mrs. Jordan had her back to the door, and Defendant called out her name. Mrs. Jordan turned around, and Defendant started shooting. Goff stated that Defendant was about 6 feet away. Defendant shot Mrs. Jordan in the chest and fired additional shots, including what appeared to be a shot to the forehead. Defendant then shot Hopper. Taylor dove under a desk, and Defendant shot Goff in the leg, the right side of the neck, the arm, and the stomach. Although he did not see Taylor being shot, Goff heard two more shots and heard Taylor grunt. As Defendant was leaving the crow’s nest, Goff heard him mutter, “I love you, Renee.”
After Defendant left the room, Goff got up and asked Taylor about his condition. He saw Hopper lying on the floor “in bad shape” and Mrs. Jordan was dead. Goff was then able to make his way to the main office for help. He said he was hospitalized for three days as a result of his injuries.
Larry Taylor testified that he was ending a telephone call inside the crow’s nest when Defendant entered the room, stood there “for a moment or so,” pulled his coat back, brandished a weapon, and took a “police stance.” Defendant then called Mrs. Jordan by name and, when she turned to face him, shot her. One gunshot struck her in the stomach area. She fell back in a chair, and Defendant fired two additional shots, with the second shot striking her torso “a little higher up” and the third shot striking her in the head. Mrs. Jordan fell to the floor, and Taylor could tell that she was dead. Taylor dove under a desk for protection, heard more gunshots, and saw Goff fall. He then heard more gunshots and felt pain in his legs. Taylor heard the door close, and Goff asked him if he was all right before leaving the room. Taylor then got up and saw Hopper on the floor on his knees with his face in his hands and saw Mrs. Jordan on the floor with her face in a pool of blood. He called 911 and was trying to assist Hopper when he heard the door open and saw Defendant with “a rifle-type gun.” Taylor looked Defendant “square in the eye” and stood back up, holding both his hands in front of him. He asked Defendant if he could leave, and, after a brief pause, Defendant said, “Yeah, you can go out now.” After Taylor got downstairs, he heard gunshots in rapid succession and hurriedly went out the door. He saw Goff, who was “kind of delirious” and holding a towel to his neck, and told another employee, Alvin Harris, to drive Goff to the hospital in the parts truck. Taylor then got in his car and drove himself to the hospital where he was treated for the gunshot wounds to his legs.
Freddie Ellison, a reserve sheriff’s deputy and a mechanic at TDOT, testified that when he returned to the garage from his lunch break around 11:30 a.m., people were running out of the garage. He then observed Defendant, whom he had known for approximately twenty years, walk out the roll-up doors of the garage. Ellison asked Defendant what he was doing. Defendant raised his right hand and Ellison saw two semi-automatic handguns. Defendant said, “Go on. Back off. Just go on. Back off.” Defendant had his hand on one of the guns. Ellison retreated to the back of the building where he observed David Gordon pull up in a green car. Gordon announced that “[t]he guy in the red pickup truck has run over me,” and Ellison advised Gordon to “back off” because Defendant had a gun. Gordon refused, stating that he had the police on the way. Ellison then heard “automatic” gunfire and called the Madison County Sheriff’s Department for assistance. He and Willie Martin left TDOT and went “out on 223.” He saw Defendant leave in his red pickup truck, driving normally and headed toward Jackson.
Shortly thereafter, Ellison observed an unmarked police unit and advised dispatch to instruct the unit to follow Defendant. Ellison then returned to the TDOT garage and saw David Gordon on the ground. Gordon had been shot multiple times. Inside the crow’s nest, Ellison discovered “blood all over the floor” and saw Mrs. Jordan lying on the floor with multiple gunshot wounds. He described Mrs. Jordan as being “shot all to pieces,” including being shot in the forehead. Jerry Hopper had been shot several times in the chest.
Alvin Harris, a “store clerk” at TDOT who picked up and delivered parts, testified that he heard gunshots and went to the garage where he encountered Goff who was holding his throat and bleeding. He also saw Taylor who was “real panicky” and pointed to his legs when Harris asked him if he was hurt. Taylor told Harris that Defendant had shot Mrs. Jordan and that she was “gone.” Because Goff was losing a lot of blood and Harris feared death was imminent, Harris decided to drive Goff to the hospital rather than wait for the ambulance.
Darrell Vaulx, a TDOT mechanic, testified that as he was leaving the shop on January 11, 2005, he saw Defendant, Mrs. Jordan, Hopper, and Taylor through the glass window in the crow’s nest. Defendant pointed a gun at Mrs. Jordan, and she fell. Vaulx heard two more gunshots and saw Defendant turn toward the men in the crow’s nest. Vaulx said he and other employees ran outside to the parking lot where Vaulx saw Defendant’s red Mazda pickup truck. Vaulx then saw Defendant come outside and calmly walk to his truck. Thinking that Defendant was leaving, Vaulx ran inside to the crow’s nest where he found Mrs. Jordan on the floor with three gunshot wounds to the head. Someone yelled, “He’s coming back,” and Vaulx ran back outside to the parking lot and noticed that Defendant’s truck was still there. He then heard a noise that sounded like an airgun or a rifle. After someone said Defendant was getting in his truck and leaving, Vaulx went back inside and found Hopper who was “breathing just a little bit” and “[s]quirming” like he was in pain. Vaulx administered CPR to Hopper until the paramedics arrived.
George Washington Bond, a TDOT employee who worked in the car wash room in the garage, testified that he heard “three pops,” looked out the window in the garage door, and saw Defendant standing over “the victim.” Defendant then looked at Bond and shook his head, which Bond interpreted to mean “[d]on’t get involved.” Bond saw what appeared to be the grip of a gun in Defendant’s hand. Defendant then walked into the garage and went to the crow’s nest. Bond saw Defendant pointing a long gun toward where Mrs. Jordan sat. Bond then ran to another building and did not return to the garage. On cross-examination, Bond acknowledged that he did not see Defendant shoot “the victim.”3
Barbara Surratt, Mrs. Jordan’s mother-in-law from a previous marriage, testified that, even after Mrs. Jordan and her son divorced, she remained “very close” with Mrs. Jordan. During the early part of 2005, Mrs. Jordan was staying with Surratt at her home on Old Pinson Road. On January 11, 2005, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Surratt received a telephone call from Defendant. Defendant told her that he knew Mrs. Jordan was not there and asked her to tell Mrs. Jordan “happy birthday” the next time she saw her. Surratt stated that Mrs. Jordan’s birthday was not until February. Around 11:30 a.m., Surratt telephoned Mrs. Jordan at work and, during their conversation, heard an “ungodly racket, loud noises” and a sound like “a chair go across the room.” She screamed Mrs. Jordan’s name, but got no answer. After it became quiet, Surratt heard Defendant say, “Renee. Renee. I hate you.”
Jackson Police Sergeant Mike Thomas testified that he was on patrol in an unmarked cruiser on Vann Drive when he received a call about the shooting at the TDOT garage. En route to the scene, Sergeant Thomas was advised that the suspect had a machine gun. Before reaching the TDOT garage, he observed a red Mazda pickup truck matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle and began pursuit of the truck. The truck ran a stop sign. Shortly thereafter, a marked patrol unit, driven by Sergeant Sain, passed the truck on Anglin Lane. Sergeant Sain turned his cruiser around and joined the pursuit. Another unmarked unit, driven by Captain Priddy, joined the pursuit after the suspect’s vehicle forced Captain Priddy’s vehicle off the road. Officer Maxwell placed his patrol cruiser in position to do a partial roadblock. The suspect’s vehicle hit Officer Maxwell’s car, and Sergeant Thomas pulled in behind it to block it from leaving. The suspect, identified as Defendant, was taken into custody. A search of Defendant’s person revealed a loaded .45 caliber pistol and a loaded nine-millimeter pistol. Inside Defendant’s truck, the officers discovered a rifle and a shotgun.
Officer Ted Maxwell of the Jackson Police Department testified that he responded to a call concerning the shooting at the TDOT garage. En route to the scene, he encountered Defendant, driving a red pickup truck, followed by two police units. Officer Maxwell said he was traveling north on Anglin Lane, and Defendant was traveling south. Ultimately, Maxwell managed to stop Defendant by ramming the front of his vehicle. Defendant got out of his vehicle, and Maxwell noticed a gun in the small of his back under his belt. Sergeants Sain and Thomas placed Defendant on the ground and removed two handguns from him that Maxwell identified as an Intra Arm Star .45-caliber semi-automatic with a clip containing six live rounds and one live round inside the chamber, and an Intra Arm Star nine-millimeter semi-automatic with a clip containing two live rounds and one live round in the chamber. Maxwell said that eight .45-caliber and nineteen nine-millimeter rounds were recovered from Defendant’s pockets.
Tennessee Highway Patrol Sergeant Johnny Briley testified that he initially received a call regarding a hit-and-run accident on Lower Brownsville Road at Anglin Lane involving a red Mazda pickup truck. While proceeding to that location, he received another call about the shooting at the TDOT garage. He received information that there were multiple victims involved. Before he reached the TDOT garage, he observed that the suspect vehicle had been pulled over by Jackson police officers. He stopped at the scene. Sergeant Briley said that he had known Mrs. Jordan and her family for thirty years and also knew Defendant. As Defendant stood up, he told Sergeant Briley, “She fucked me over, Johnny.” Sergeant Briley responded, “No, she didn’t, David.” Sergeant Briley, who was standing within a foot of Defendant, detected an odor of alcohol on Defendant’s person. Defendant was subsequently placed in the backseat of a police car.
Jackson Police Officer Rodney Anderson testified that, en route to the scene of the shooting, he received a call that the suspect was headed down Anglin Lane. Officer Anderson turned onto Anglin Lane where he observed a vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle between two patrol cars. The driver of the vehicle, Defendant, was taken into custody and placed in the backseat of Officer Greer’s marked police unit. As Officers Greer and Anderson were transporting Defendant to the Criminal Justice Complex, Defendant spontaneously told them that:
he could have cut the police in half with his weapon, that he had full auto. He stated that his wife’s dead and she’s full of holes. He stated she drove him crazy ․ by fucking around on him, and he advised that he shot her with her brother’s gun. He also stated that he feels sorry for his daughters, and that Mrs. Jordan wouldn’t be fucking around on anybody else.
Defendant also said that the other people “just got in the way” and asked how many people were hurt. Defendant also said that his wife “hurt him and tore his heart out” and that he had been “going crazy” for a month. Officer Anderson said that Defendant smelled of alcohol.
Investigator Jeff Shepherd of the Jackson Police Department testified that, as part of his investigation, he retrieved and recorded voice mail messages left on Mrs. Jordan’s cell phone. The audiotape of the messages was entered into evidence and played for the jury; a transcript of the messages was also provided. The messages included one left at 10:48 p.m. on January 10, 2005, stating “You’re the only asshole on the face of this earth that I truly hate”; one left at 2:11 a.m. on January 11, 2005, stating “I’ll see you at work, bitch”; one left at 2:17 a.m. on January 11, 2005, stating “I hope you go to work tomorrow, bitch, ‘cause you’ll be there one day. It may not be tomorrow, but I will catch up with your raggedy ass. Your day is coming.”; and one left at 2:19 a.m. on January 11, 2005, stating “You home wreckin’, low life, sorry mother fuckin’ bitch. Your ass is gonna pay.” Additionally, Investigator Shepherd was involved in the booking process of Defendant, during which Defendant asked him if Mrs. Jordan was “real bad messed up.” Defendant started crying and told Shepherd that most people probably thought he was crazy, but he was not crazy, he was “driven to crazy.” Defendant also said that the assault rifle he used in the shooting belonged to his brother-in-law, Dale Robinson.4
Trent Harris, a paramedic at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, testified that he and Corey Shumate, an emergency medical technician, responded to the scene at the TDOT garage, arriving at 11:39 a.m. They first attended David Gordon, who was lying on his back in the parking lot and appeared to have gunshot wounds to the upper right and upper left portion of his abdomen. Gordon was not breathing but had a faint pulse. Harris intubated Gordon and immediately began transportation to the hospital. En route, Gordon lost a pulse and CPR was initiated. Upon their arrival at the hospital, Gordon’s care was transferred to the hospital’s trauma team.
Dr. Herbert Lee Sutton, a trauma surgeon at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital, testified that he tried to save David Gordon’s life once he arrived at the hospital. Dr. Sutton was able to regain a heartbeat on Gordon and performed surgery to try to stop the bleeding in his abdomen and perineum. Dr. Sutton described what he saw when he surgically opened Gordon’s abdomen: “[T]he blast injury from what he was shot with had almost morselized his intestines. It was like soup. And I’m quite sure even if I had stopped him from bleeding and he had regained everything, he probably wouldn’t have had any small intestine left from what I could see.” Despite all of Dr. Sutton’s lifesaving procedures, Gordon died at 12:47 p.m.
Dr. Sutton testified that he also treated James Goff on January 11, 2005, for multiple gunshot wounds which he described as wounds to the left arm, abdomen, left thigh, and neck. The gunshot wound to the neck “went anterior to the trachea and the carotid vessels which are the main vessels that go[ ] to his brain.” The bullet did not hit any major arteries or veins. Dr. Sutton stated that Goff remained hospitalized until January 13, 2005.
Eric Leath, a paramedic with the Medical Center EMS, testified that he was also dispatched to the TDOT garage. Upon his arrival, he was directed inside to an office where he observed a man lying on the floor on his back and a woman lying inside the door to the left. The woman had “a massive ․ injury to her head that had blood tissue lying all around, pooled around her head” and had no signs of life. The other victim, Jerry Hopper, was very pale and had “some gasping or ․ agona[l], gasping-type breaths, just very shallow, slow.” Hopper had a faint carotid pulse. Leath inserted a breathing tube, but Hopper was unresponsive. A Jackson police officer offered assistance to Leath and began CPR. Hopper was then moved to an ambulance and transported to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital, Hopper exhibited no signs of life.
Dr. David James testified that he treated Jerry Hopper, who had two gunshot wounds to his abdomen. Upon Hopper’s arrival at the hospital, he was not breathing and all attempts at resuscitation were unsuccessful. Hopper was pronounced dead at 12:34 p.m. Dr. James also treated Larry Taylor at the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital. Taylor had suffered gunshot wounds to both of his upper legs.
Dr. Tony R. Emison, the medical examiner and coroner for Madison County, testified that he requested autopsies on the bodies of the three deceased victims. The bodies were sent to the state medical examiner’s office in Nashville.
Dr. Staci Turner testified that she performed the autopsy on Mrs. Jordan. Dr. Turner found that Mrs. Jordan had been shot eleven times, resulting in wounds to the head, torso, and right leg. Dr. Turner found injuries to the scalp, the skull, the bones of the face, the brain, multiple ribs, the right lung, the diaphragm, the liver, the right kidney, the stomach, the small intestine, the urinary bladder, and the uterus. Dr. Turner recovered multiple bullets, bullet jackets, bullet cores and white plastic disk fragments during the autopsy. The gunshot wound to Mrs. Jordan’s forehead was fired from a handgun within a foot of the body.
Dr. Turner discovered a visible bullet in a partial exit wound in the back of Mrs. Jordan’s head. She recovered the bullet and the jacket that had separated from the bullet. The bullet was identified as a Black Talon-type bullet, one fired from a handgun. She described the bullet as having a bullet core and a jacket, “and when it enters the body, the jacket usually opens and forms sharp points that look like talons.” Other fragments discovered in Mrs. Jordan’s body were identified as coming from a high-powered assault rifle. Dr. Turner described the wounds associated with the bullets fired from the assault rifle: “They went through multiple ribs on the right side of the body, through the right lung, through the diaphragm ․ , through the liver and the kidney and into the spinal column and then lodged in the muscle of the back with some fragments scattered throughout the organs.” Two notes were found in the victim’s clothing, both addressed to Mrs. Jordan. One note was signed, “Your faithful faithful worried David.” The second note was signed, “Your forgiving husband, David Lynn Jordan.” Dr. Turner concluded that the cause of Mrs. Jordan’s death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Dr. Amy R. McMaster testified that she performed the autopsy on Jerry Hopper. Hopper had suffered multiple gunshot wounds and had multiple abrasions and lacerations resulting from these wounds. Dr. McMaster discovered a gunshot wound to the right wrist and two gunshot wounds to the right side of his abdomen. She recovered two projectiles from Hopper’s body. The projectiles were large caliber deformed hollow point bullets, which were consistent with those fired from a nine-millimeter weapon. Dr. McMaster concluded that the cause of Jerry Hopper’s death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Dr. McMaster testified that she also performed the autopsy on David Gordon. Gordon had multiple gunshot wounds and injuries associated with the wounds. Although no exact number of wounds could be determined, Gordon had been shot at least thirteen times. He had wounds to his right thigh, right forearm, right lower abdomen, right and left sides of the torso, buttocks, and left hip. The projectiles recovered from these wounds were consistent with a 7.62 millimeter round. Dr. McMaster concluded that the cause of Gordon’s death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Sergeant Mike Turner of the Jackson Police Department testified that he collected evidence from the red Mazda pickup truck. Among the items he recovered were: a loaded Norinco SKS 7.62 assault rifle with twenty-six rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber; a black bag containing a large quantity of assorted ammunition; a loaded Mossberg twelve-gauge shotgun with two rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber; loose ammunition; a 7.62 magazine with fourteen rounds of ammunition; two spent 7.62 casings; and a .38 special caliber Winchester spent casing.
Agent Cathy Ferguson of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) testified that, on January 11, 2005, she was employed as a violent crimes investigator with the Jackson Police Department. She said she responded to the scene at the TDOT garage and was directed to the crow’s nest area where she found Mrs. Jordan lying in a large pool of blood that contained brain matter. Realizing that she could not help Mrs. Jordan, Ferguson assisted with the CPR on Jerry Hopper. Ferguson subsequently recovered evidence found inside the crow’s nest and outside the garage, including nine-millimeter and 7.62 shell casings, bullet fragments, and a note on which Grimm had written Defendant’s license tag number. She said that fifteen 7.62 shell casings were recovered from the exterior crime scene and four from inside the crow’s nest. Nine nine-millimeter shell casings and one live nine-millimeter round were found inside the crow’s nest.
TBI Agent Scott Lott testified that he and other agents executed a search warrant at Defendant’s house on January 11, 2005. Among the items recovered were: a Thompson Center Firearms .50 caliber muzzle loader, a Montgomery Ward 30/30 rifle, a Remington 20-gauge pump shotgun, a Remington 30.06 rifle, a Remington Caliber .243 rifle, a Ruger .22-caliber rifle, a Savage Firearms .22-caliber rifle, a Ruger .44 magnum rifle, a Springfield .410-gauge shotgun, a Pioneer 750 .22-caliber rifle, a Bauer Firearms .25-caliber automatic handgun, a .38 Special revolver, five live rounds of Winchester .38 Special ammunition, and a trigger group assembly.
TBI Agent Shelly Betts, accepted by the trial court as an expert in ballistics, testified that she examined evidence collected in this matter, including a 12-gauge shotgun, a Norinco SKS rifle, a Star .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol, and an Inter Arms Star nine-millimeter semi-automatic pistol. She said that the safety feature functions on the SKS rifle had been converted to fire in fully automatic mode, rather than the semi-automatic mode, which was how it had been manufactured to function. She explained that several modifications had been made to the rifle’s trigger housing assembly, causing the weapon to fire continuously once the trigger was pulled. Agent Betts tested several cartridge cases recovered from the crime scene and determined that they had been fired from the SKS rifle. Additionally, she tested nine-millimeter cartridge cases recovered from the interior crime scene and determined that they had been fired from the Star nine-millimeter pistol. She examined bullet fragments recovered from David Gordon’s right thigh and determined that one had “conclusively been fired through the barrel of the SKS rifle.” Agent Betts further determined that some of the fragments recovered from Gordon’s right hip and abdomen had been fired through the barrel of the SKS rifle. She also examined nine-millimeter projectiles recovered from Jerry Hopper’s back and pelvis and determined they had been fired from the Star nine-millimeter pistol. Her examination of the nine-millimeter projectiles recovered from Renee Jordan’s leg and uterus revealed they had been fired from the Star nine-millimeter pistol. Agent Betts said that the nine-millimeter projectile recovered from Mrs. Jordan’s brain had “probably” been fired from the Star pistol. Fragments recovered from Mrs. Jordan’s liver and chest were conclusively identified to the SKS rifle. Agent Betts explained that the 7.62 rounds found in the bodies of Mrs. Jordan and David Gordon were hollow point bullets, meaning that as soon as they struck the skin they fragmented into numerous pieces. She examined the 7.62 magazine found inside Defendant’s truck and described it as “an SKS-type detachable magazine that would function in this SKS rifle, and it holds approximately 31 rounds.”
Madison County Sheriff’s Department Sergeant Chad Lowery testified that, shortly after Defendant was apprehended, he went to Defendant’s home to check on the welfare of any children who may have been at the home, but no children were present when he arrived. Sergeant Lowery discovered a loaded pistol on top of the refrigerator and saw several other weapons in the home. On the kitchen counter, Sergeant Lowery observed a handwritten note, which stated: “Renee got what she deserved. Bitch. I’m sorry. I love you. Thanks for being so good to me. Love you Shelby, Sydney, Deanna. Thanks, Mom and Dad. You did all you could.” On cross-examination, Sergeant Lowery acknowledged that, during Defendant’s apprehension, he “smelled alcohol, or what [he] thought to be alcohol” on Defendant.
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