v.
Taylor Satterfield
01/08/2019 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE
AT KNOXVILLE
Assigned on Briefs October 30, 2018
STATE OF TENNESSEE v. TAYLOR SATTERFIELD
Appeal from the Criminal Court for Hamilton County
No. 294056 Don W. Poole, Judge ___________________________________
No. E2017-02207-CCA-R3-CD ___________________________________
The Defendant-Appellant, Taylor Satterfield, was indicted by the Hamilton County Grand Jury for first degree premediated murder, tampering with evidence, and unlawful possession of a deadly weapon. He then filed a motion to suppress his statement to police, which was denied. After the State dismissed the tampering with evidence and weapon charges, the Defendant’s case proceeded to a jury trial on the first degree murder charge, and he was convicted of the lesser included offense of second degree murder and sentenced to twenty-two years in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant argues: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statement; (2) the evidence is insufficient to sustain his conviction; and (3) he received an excessive sentence. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed
CAMILLE R. MCMULLEN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which NORMA MCGEE OGLE and TIMOTHY L. EASTER, JJ., joined.
Steve E. Smith, District Public Defender (on appeal) and Theodore A. Engel, III (at trial and on appeal) and Coty Wamp (at trial), Assistant District Public Defenders, for the Defendant-Appellant, Taylor Satterfield.
Herbert H. Slatery, III, Attorney General and Reporter; Renee W. Turner, Senior Counsel; Neal Pinkston, District Attorney General; and Cameron Williams and Andrew Coyle, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.
OPINION
This case concerns the fatal shooting of the victim, Keiara Patton, who was the girlfriend and mother of two of the Defendant’s children. The day of the shooting, the Defendant was apprehended and charged in this case.
Suppression Hearing. On March 24, 2016, the Defendant filed a motion to suppress any and all statements he gave to police. The Defendant claimed that the police subjected him to an unlawful interrogation, used coercive techniques, failed to employ mandated procedural safeguards, and failed to stop questioning the Defendant when the law so required. The Defendant also claimed that the defective interrogation led to his providing an involuntary statement because his will was overborne by the actions of the police.
At the March 28, 2016 suppression hearing, Investigator Matthew Puglise of the Chattanooga Police Department testified that on May 13, 2014, he heard a radio dispatch that a shooting had occurred at 804 West 13th Street. When he arrived at the scene, the victim, who had sustained a gunshot wound to the head, had already been transported to Erlanger Hospital, where she later died. Investigator Puglise was informed that the Defendant, the victim’s boyfriend, was a possible suspect because he had left the scene shortly after the shooting. While at the scene, Investigator Puglise spoke to two women in the apartment complex’s leasing office, who said they heard gunshots, saw the Defendant run to a Dodge Durango parked on Grove Street, and observed the Defendant placing something on the passenger side of that vehicle.
Investigator Puglise said he and Investigator Kenny Burnette approached this Dodge Durango and searched the surrounding area. Moments later, Investigator Burnette observed a gun that had been hidden underneath a sewer drain near the Durango, and he collected this gun as evidence.
Investigator Puglise said he later learned that the Dodge Durango belonged to Breasia Hubbard. Shortly thereafter, Hubbard arrived on the scene and consented to a search of the Durango. Investigator Puglise said Hubbard told him that she had given the Defendant permission to drive her vehicle after he had dropped her off at Howard High School. Investigator Puglise said that a BOLO, or “be on the lookout” call, was placed for the Defendant and that the Defendant was later apprehended at the hospital and transported to the police station to be interviewed.
Investigator Puglise said he and Officer Kendra Adams were present during the Defendant’s interview. The Defendant was not handcuffed during the interview. Investigator Puglise read the Defendant his constitutional rights, and the Defendant initialed each line indicating that he understood each of his constitutional rights. Investigator Puglise then read the Rights Waiver Form and had the Defendant read this form. He asked the Defendant if he had any questions about the Rights Waiver Form before having the Defendant sign this form. He confirmed that the Defendant appeared to understand the Rights Waiver Form. Investigator Puglise said that the Defendant did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance during the interview. He said he did not threaten or coerce the Defendant and did not withhold any “creature comforts” during the interview.
After the Defendant signed the Rights Waiver Form at 11:43 a.m., Investigator Puglise and Officer Adams signed the form. Thereafter, the Defendant gave a statement that was audio/video recorded. This recording was played during the suppression hearing.
The recording of the interview shows that the Defendant initially told Investigator Puglise he did not know what happened to the victim. He said he had not come home the night before, and the victim had told him that the next time he did not come home, she was going to kick “all [his] s[--]t out.” On May 13, 2014, the Defendant went to the front door of the victim’s apartment and called her name, but she never answered. The Defendant said he walked upstairs, and when he saw the victim lying on the floor, he ran outside. As he was running down the steps, the Defendant saw Breasia Hubbard’s mother and told her something was wrong and asked her to help him and help the victim because she had been shot. He said he later called 9-1-1 from his neighbor’s phone.
The Defendant said that a short time later, his sister picked him up and took him to the hospital. He denied that he and the victim had argued that day and claimed that he had not seen or talked to the victim prior to seeing her lying on the floor.
After the Defendant gave the first part of his statement, he asked Officer Adams and Investigator Puglise about the victim’s medical condition, and Investigator Puglise told him that the victim had not passed away.
Investigator Puglise left the interview room, and when he returned a short time later, he informed the Defendant that he had just received news that the victim had died. The Defendant pulled his shirt over his face, pushed his chair back, and began crying. The Defendant then pushed himself out of his chair and began stomping his feet. Then Investigator Puglise, Officer Adams, and the Defendant had the following conversation:
Investigator Puglise: Listen man, I need you to help. You got to sit up and help me, man. We’ll get over it.
The Defendant: Oh.
Investigator Puglise: Listen, listen, the quicker we can—
The Defendant: That’s my girl.
Investigator Puglise: Listen, the quicker we can do this, the quicker we can find out who did this. Who would do this to her?
The Defendant: I don’t know the f[--]k who did it, I’m going to f[--]k everybody, though.
Investigator Puglise: Sit down.
The Defendant: I’m going to f[--]k everybody.
Investigator Puglise: Sit down. What time did you get there? Look at me.
The Defendant: I don’t know what time.
Investigator Puglise: What time did you drop your girl off at the school?
The Defendant: I don’t even know anymore.
Investigator Puglise: Come on, sit, let’s get this over with.
The Defendant: That my girl, bro, you don’t understand, bro, my girl, bro.
Officer Adams: We got to talk to you so we can find out who did this, okay?
The Defendant: Anybody can did it, I don’t know the f[--]k who, anybody, everybody did, I don’t know f[-- ]k, brother. That’s my girl, bro. Oh, Kei[a]ra, you ain’t do me like this, bro. You didn’t leave me, bro. You didn’t leave, bro. You got to be strong, bro. You got to be strong, bro.
Investigator Puglise: How many kids you got with her? How many children you have?
[The Defendant is crying] Investigator Puglise: All right. I’m going to give you some time and I’ll come back. You hear me? I’m going to give you a little bit of time, all right? But we’ve got to get—listen.
The Defendant: I rather get it out of the way, bro.
Investigator Puglise: You want to get it out of the way? All right.
Come here and sit down.
Officer Adams: And then you can vent, okay? Just talk to him and answer his questions and then you can vent.
The Defendant: Y’all don’t understand, that’s my girl. I’ve known her five years, since I was 15 years old, bro.
Investigator Puglise: Okay. We need to figure out as much information for me right now and then let you get out of here. Come on. Sit. Sit here and let’s finish this up. I know it’s hard, man, I feel for you.
Investigator Puglise continued interviewing the Defendant, and the Defendant said he was the first person to find the victim. He denied hearing any fighting or commotion prior to discovering the victim. Investigator Puglise left the interview room.
When Investigator Puglise returned, the Defendant said that when he walked up the stairs to the victim’s apartment, he saw blood and ran out the door and fell on the ground outside. He said that his belongings were outside the victim’s apartment. He explained that the victim and Breasia Hubbard had talked and informed him that he had to pick one of them and if he did not, they were going to “kick [his] stuff out.” The Defendant denied having a gun or firing a gun that day and asserted that he did not have a gun because he had just come from court when he found the victim. The Defendant also denied that he ran back to the Dodge Durango before trying to reenter the victim’s apartment. Investigator Puglise and Officer Adams left the interview room, and the Defendant began crying again before getting his emotions under control.
When Officer Adams returned to the interview room, the Defendant had the following exchange with her: The Defendant: Can you tell me my girl alive?
Officer Adams: What?
The Defendant: Can you tell me my girl alive?
Officer Adams: I’d like to tell you that, but she’s not.
The Defendant: No.
[The Defendant begins to cry again].
The Defendant: My girl. What I supposed to do, what I supposed to do?
Officer Adams: You got to hang in there for your kids.
The Defendant: I don’t even. You don’t understand.
Officer Adams: Tell us everything you know so we can find who did it.
The Defendant: I done told you everything. I don’t know what the f[--]k happened to tell nobody, I don’t know what to tell nobody.
Officer Adams: Can’t think of anything else?
The Defendant: What to tell you? What you want me to tell you. Just tell me that, what you want me to tell you?
Officer Adams: What all you know. The truth and what all you know.
The Defendant: Well, what do you want me to know, I mean what do you want me to tell you?
Officer Adams: Everything you know, the truth.
The Defendant: Do you saying I’m lying to you?
Officer Adams: No, I’m not saying you’re lying, you just, I’m saying you just say the truth and everything you know.
The Defendant: You don’t understand. Listen to me, listen to me, I’m going to tell you the honest to God truth. If I—I’m going to tell you this, if I knew who did this, I’m going to tell you this the God honest truth, I going to tell you, I don’t know who did it, but even if I did, I wouldn’t, plus, the fact, killed my girl, bro.
I don’t know, man, I feel like I’m going crazy, I don’t f[--]king know. My girl, my momma, my homies, everybody dying. My friend, he died, all f[--]king (unintelligible), just buried him last month. My momma gone, guy I look up like my dad, like my big brother, he got killed. I done lost five people in two years and I’m the only one here. I don’t know what God trying to tell me though.
Officer Adams: Well, you got to hang in there for your kids.
The Defendant: Look at this, though, my kids, like I’m a good dad and all, but like I’m a child myself. I feel like I’m a child my dang old self. So who am I to fight, I don’t even know how to take care of my own kids. I can’t even take care of like my dang old self, (unintelligible).
[Investigator Puglise enters the interview room]
Investigator Puglise: Hey, that SUV, that brown one, it’s a Dodge, 2000 Dodge Durango.
[Investigator Puglise’s phone rings, and he leaves the interview room]
Officer Adams: You got to tell everything you know and the truth, okay? For your kids.
The Defendant: I done told everything, but I can’t tell no more.
What you want me to tell you, that what I’m asking like, you saying, like?
Officer Adams: No, I’m just telling you[,] you need to tell everything you know. If you, why would somebody want to hurt her?
The Defendant: I already just told you, somebody did that to my girl, then they coming for me, my girl don’t mess with nobody, I already said that. My girl don’t mess with nobody, so if they come for me, they were trying to kill me. I’ll say it was me. I don’t do nothing, so if they coming for me, you got to be coming for my money.
People think I got money. See how I dress? I got Jordans on, I just got, I’m flash. I never have nothing in my life, I struggled all my life, and when I got my money, I bought me whatever I want.
Officer Adams: Just tell him all that, or just answer his questions.
When Investigator Puglise returned to the interview room, the Defendant denied owning a black Springfield .40 caliber handgun. The Defendant said that the last time he talked to the victim in person was the day before when he was at her apartment. At that point during the interview, Investigator Puglise’s cell phone rang, and he answered it. While he was on the phone, he informed the Defendant that the police had found the gun he placed behind the Dodge Durango, which was the same gun the Defendant used to shoot the victim in the head. Investigator Puglise asked the Defendant, “Do you want to say why you shot her?” The Defendant replied, “I already knew this was going to happen. I want to tell the truth.”
Investigator Puglise asked the Defendant if he shot her out of passion, and the Defendant answered, “There wasn’t no passion.” The Defendant told Investigator Puglise that he pretended that he was going to kill himself because he did not want to leave the victim’s apartment, and the victim grabbed the gun, causing it to discharge. The Defendant said that when the gun fired, the victim was trying to keep him from shooting himself. He asserted that he did not stay with the victim after she was shot because he did not want his children to see the victim. The Defendant stated that there were knives on the kitchen floor because the victim believed he was going to hurt her and was attempting to protect herself. He said he was wearing a button-up shirt at the time of the shooting because he had just been at court. At that point, Investigator Puglise left the interview room, and the Defendant acknowledged that he was responsible for killing the victim. He said that although the victim “did come at [him],” there was no reason for her to be shot. Another officer collected the white t-shirt the Defendant was wearing, and the Defendant lay down on the floor.
When Investigator Puglise returned to the interview room, the Defendant sat in his chair. Officer Adams told the Defendant to tell Investigator Puglise what he had just told her. The Defendant then gave the following statement:
When I came in the house, my girl, we was arguing, (inaudible). She basically just, I’m through, running (phonetically). F[--]k this s[--]t, man. I already had the gun in my hand, walking around, because that what I do when we were arguing. And she will say, just stay, you don’t need to be going out there like that at night. So she starts freaking out, she grabs her two knives out the drawer. I’m like, oh s[--]t. I was like, all right, I’m fixing to go, I’m fixing to go. She took my s[--]t, she throwing it out, everything out. She grabbed her key because she knew I’d grab her keys and I still got to come in.
She had the knife, she like, f[--]k this s[--]t, now get the f[--]k out, get the f[--]k out. I didn’t think she was going to stab me, though. She charged at me with the two knives and I was standing on the side of the stove, I stepped back like, dang, hold on, hold on. So I closed the door, closed, and she swung, swung, and then boom.
The Defendant said he was standing in the doorway, and he was attempting to shut the door so the victim could not leave. When the victim charged him with a knife in each hand, he “leaned back” and when the victim swiped the gun, “it went off,” even though he never had his finger on the gun’s trigger. After the gun went off, the Defendant said he “flipped out” and hoped that the bullet had “missed her.” He said he went outside, and broke down. Eventually, his brother went inside the victim’s apartment. When his brother came out, he told the Defendant to get his kids and go.
After the recording of the interview was played, Investigator Puglise resumed his testimony at the suppression hearing. He said that after the Defendant gave this statement, he charged him with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and unlawful possession of a weapon. Investigator Puglise acknowledged that the Defendant became very upset when he discovered that the victim had passed away.
On April 1, 2016, the trial court entered a written order denying the motion to suppress. In it, the court made the following findings, in pertinent part:
The Court understands the defendant to contend that, despite an initially valid waiver of rights, his statements are involuntary because post- waiver police commands effectively negated the waiver and exploited his visible distress, overbearing his will. The Court agrees that the initial waiver of rights was valid. It was voluntary, being as free from coercion as possible, and intelligent.
The Court, however, respectfully disagrees that, thereafter, the police overbore the defendant’s will. The defendant’s distress did not prevent him from denying knowledge of the shooter. Even when police became confrontational, they did not coerce him by making promises or threats. Their directions to sit and exhortations to “hang in there for your kids” were more in the nature of efforts to encourage the defendant to collect himself.
Nor does any misrepresentation about the victim’s condition or the gun render the defendant’s statement involuntary or unintelligent.
Trial. At the July 19-22, 2016 trial, Officer Jeff Kirk with the Chattanooga Police Department testified that on May 13, 2014, he received a radio dispatch that shots had been fired in an apartment in the College Hill Courts complex at 803 West 13th Street Court. When he arrived at this address, Officer Kirk observed a stack of clothes outside the back door. He walked up the stairs, and when he entered the apartment, he saw the victim lying on the kitchen floor with EMS attending to her. The victim was lying in an “L-shaped, fetal position” with her face and knees toward the front door. Although the victim was alive, she was bleeding profusely and was attempting to breathe. He noticed two knives on the floor near the front door of the apartment and saw that the stove had been moved out of place. Officer Kirk said he never saw the Defendant inside the victim’s apartment.
Huguette Ciza, a student at Sewanee, testified that she had heard of the victim, who lived in the apartment next door, but did not know her personally. Although Ciza did not know the Defendant, she had seen him living in the apartment with the victim.
Ciza said that on the morning of May 13, 2014, she was reading in her living room when she heard the Defendant and the victim having an argument, which lasted approximately five minutes. She was unable to hear exactly what they said, but she could tell that their voices were raised, and the argument ended when she heard a single - 10 -
“popping sound.” Because she had never heard a gunshot before, she did not know whether the sound was a gun being discharged or a firecracker being set off. After hearing this sound, Ciza looked out her window and saw the Defendant, who was holding a small gun and “looked very worried.” The Defendant was repeatedly screaming, “My girl, my girl.”
When Ciza saw the Defendant with the gun, she knew that something bad had happened. She opened her door slightly and could see that the victim’s door was open and that there was a substantial amount of blood inside the victim’s apartment. When the Defendant began screaming, people began to gather outside to help, and Ciza ran downstairs to allow them to come inside the building. After Ciza opened the door to let these people in, the Defendant ran upstairs to the victim’s apartment to see what was going on and then ran back down the stairs, and Ciza never saw him again. Ciza then called 9-1-1.
Sherill Jones, the leasing representative for the College Hill Courts apartments, testified that on the morning of May 13, 2014, she observed a young African-American male with shoulder-length dreadlocks running back and forth from the center of West 13th Street toward Grove Street. The first time she saw this man run past, he was wearing a plaid or checked button-front shirt; however, when he ran past her a second time, he was wearing only a white sleeveless undershirt. She saw this man run to the passenger side of a tan or bronze Dodge Durango SUV, but she was unable to see what he was doing. Jones said she became aware that something bad had happened because just after she saw the young African-American man run by, she heard people screaming that someone had been shot, and individuals began calling and coming into the leasing office. Later, Jones suggested that the police look for evidence in the sewer drain on the passenger side of the Dodge Durango because this was the area in which the young African-American man had gone.
Kimberly Bell, who worked at the College Hill Courts apartments, said that she did not know the victim but knew the Defendant because he was a distant relative. On May 13, 2014, Bell became aware that something had happened at one of the apartments because she heard people screaming and thought she heard that someone had been shot in the leg. Bell and Kevin Stubblefield, another apartment employee, went to check on what had happened, and as they were walking to the scene of the disruption, they ran into the Defendant. The Defendant was screaming and crying and repeatedly saying that someone had shot his girl. She described the Defendant as “extremely hysterical.”
Bell asked the Defendant what happened, and the Defendant said, “Well, d[--]n, they shot my bitch.” She asked where the victim was, and the Defendant pointed toward the victim’s apartment. Stubblefield headed up the stairs to the victim’s apartment, and - 11 -
Bell followed behind him. As Bell began climbing the stairs, Stubblefield immediately turned around and walked back down. When Bell asked him what had happened, Stubblefield told her he was not going inside the victim’s apartment.
Bell proceeded up the stairs to the victim’s apartment. When she entered the victim’s kitchen, Bell saw the victim lying on the floor with a set of keys clenched in her hands. Bell immediately stopped because she could see that the victim, who had been shot in the head, was taking heavy breaths. Bell observed that the refrigerator had been moved into a “catty-corner” position and that the stove had been pulled out from the wall. She knew that the victim was not going to live because her brains were no longer inside her head.
Bell vaguely recalled seeing a knife but did not think it was out of place because she and the victim were in the kitchen. She said an older lady was standing in the kitchen when she arrived. Bell asked this lady if there were children in the apartment, and the lady replied that the children’s father had taken them out of the apartment. Shortly thereafter, the older lady left, and an EMT arrived and told Bell to leave the apartment. Bell admitted that she did not initially tell the police about the victim clutching the set of keys; however, she said she discussed this particular fact with the people in the leasing office and later told the police that the victim had keys in her hand. Bell said, “[W]hat stood out the most in my mind [wa]s the fact this girl had keys clenched in her hands, like whatever had transpired, you was not getting her keys.”
Breasia Hubbard testified that the Defendant was the father of her three-year-old child. Hubbard said she had known the Defendant for four years and knew the victim because the Defendant and the victim had two children together. She was familiar with the College Hill Courts apartments because her mother lived in that complex.
Hubbard said that the Defendant spent the night of May 12, 2014, at her house and rode with her to her high school around 9:30 a.m. the morning of May 13, 2014. Once they arrived at her school, the Defendant told Hubbard that he was going home to his residence at 12th and Holly Street in Highland Park and drove away in her Dodge Durango. Hubbard said that a short while later, her mother called to check on her because she had heard that someone had been shot at the victim’s apartment and had seen Hubbard’s Dodge Durango parked near the victim’s apartment. Upon hearing this news, Hubbard left school and rode with her aunt to the victim’s apartment, where she saw her Dodge Durango parked near the College Hill Courts apartments. When she arrived at the scene, the police questioned her about the shooting. Approximately three hours later, the police gave her permission to take her SUV, and she used her spare key to drive it home. Hubbard said that after the Defendant drove off in her car from the high school, she did not see him again until he was arrested.
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Hubbard stated that she talked to the victim on Mother’s Day, which was a couple of days before the shooting. That night, Hubbard texted the Defendant’s phone, and the victim replied to the text, and Hubbard realized that the Defendant was with the victim. After she and the victim texted back and forth several times, Hubbard called the victim. During this phone conversation, Hubbard and the victim argued and then finally discussed the fact that they were tired of the Defendant dating them both. Hubbard said the victim told her that she had bought two knives and that she was going to stab the Defendant “so maybe he’ll act right.” The victim said she hid these knives under her mattress; however, Hubbard did not believe the victim would actually stab the Defendant.
Hubbard said that a detective interviewed her at the College Hill Courts apartments because her vehicle was involved in the case. At the time, she knew that the victim had been shot but did not know that the Defendant was a suspect. Hubbard lied to the police when she told them that she and the Defendant were not romantically involved and that the Defendant had not spent the night of May 12, 2014 with her. She also lied to the police when she told them that she and the victim had talked on Sunday night and that they had discussed positive things, including what the victim and the Defendant had done with the kids on Valentine’s Day. Hubbard said she never informed the police that the victim had told her she was buying knives so she could stab the Defendant. She said she lied to the police because she did not want to be involved in the shooting.
Joseph Montijo, a crime scene investigator with the Chattanooga Police Department, testified that he went to the hospital to photograph and document the victim’s injuries. Upon arriving there, he observed that the victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the right side of her head, which caused the victim’s brain matter to come out of her skull. The victim had been placed on a breathing apparatus, and the bedsheet around her was soaked in blood. He also noticed that blood was coming out of the victim’s nose and mouth. Investigator Montijo took pictures of the victim’s injuries, collected her blood-soaked clothes, and collected gunshot residue samples from her hands. After the Defendant was taken into custody, Investigator Montijo photographed and fingerprinted him, took a buccal swab for DNA testing, collected the Defendant’s white t-shirt, and collected gunshot residue samples from the Defendant’s hands. He said that the photographs he took showed that the Defendant did not have any visible injuries.
Gregory Mardis, a crime scene investigator with the Chattanooga Police Department, testified that on May 13, 2014, he photographed the crime scene after the victim had been transported to the hospital. He specifically took photographs of two kitchen knives, a bullet fragment, and a set of keys that were on the kitchen floor. He noted that the kitchen knives had blood spatter on the handles. Investigator Mardis said that only one shell casing was found, and this casing was jammed into the ejection port for the Springfield .40 caliber handgun recovered. He stated that after photographing and - 13 - collecting the evidence at the crime scene, he went to the medical examiner’s office to collect a projectile that was recovered from the victim’s body, as well as jewelry, biological samples, a DNA sample, scalp hair, and fingernail clippings from the victim.
James Kenneth Metcalfe, M.D., the Hamilton County chief medical examiner and an expert in forensic pathology, testified that he performed the victim’s autopsy. Dr. Metcalfe opined that the victim’s probable cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head and that the victim’s manner of death was homicide. Dr. Metcalfe said he compared the photographs where the TBI had conducted test patterns of the suspect firearm with the photographs from the victim’s autopsy and opined that the muzzle of this handgun was approximately two feet from the victim’s gunshot wound. He also stated that because of the similarity between the droplets of blood on the knives and the droplets of blood on the floor at the crime scene, he believed that the two knives were already lying on the floor at the time the victim was shot. Dr. Metcalfe opined that blood got underneath one of the knives when someone, either the EMS workers or the victim, pressed down on the knife, which made it come in contact with blood that was on the floor.
Officer Adams testified that she was one of the first two officers to arrive at the scene before the EMS workers arrived. When she entered the victim’s apartment, she observed the victim lying on the kitchen floor. The victim had blood in her face and hair, and blood was pooled around her body. Later, Officer Adams was told to go to Erlanger Hospital because a large crowd of individuals had gathered there to be close to the victim. She then was told that the Defendant was a suspect in the victim’s murder and that she needed to locate him. Officer Adams drove to the hospital, and when the Defendant arrived there, she told him that he needed to come with her and that while he was not under arrest, she needed to place him in handcuffs for her safety and for his own safety. She said the Defendant was cooperative and upset and seemed very concerned about the victim. She transported him to the police station to meet with Investigator Puglise. Officer Adams said she was present when the Defendant gave his statement to Investigator Puglise and acknowledged that the Defendant was upset and crying during the interview. She noted that while the Defendant was hysterical at certain times during the interview, at other times he was calm. Officer Adams also recalled the Defendant lying on the floor on one occasion and then standing up during the interview.
Investigator Puglise provided testimony at trial that was similar to his testimony at the suppression hearing. He stated that when he got to the crime scene, it had been secured, and the victim had been transported to the hospital. He approached the front door of the victim’s apartment and observed two large pools of blood. He said it appeared that there had been some kind of struggle in the kitchen because the stove had been pulled out and the refrigerator had been moved. He next talked to two witnesses at the scene, Sherill Jones and Kimberly Bell. Jones informed him that she had seen the - 14 -
Defendant running back and forth to a Dodge Durango that was parked on Grove Street. Jones added that if the Defendant had hidden a gun anywhere, it was probably behind the Durango.
Investigator Puglise walked over to the Durango and noticed the sewer drain. Moments later, Investigator Burnette spotted a Springfield .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun in the drain, and this gun was collected as evidence. While Investigator Puglise was on the scene, he discovered that the Defendant and the victim had been arguing that morning and that the Defendant had been seen outside the victim’s apartment holding a handgun.
Investigator Puglise stated that the Defendant’s interview began at 11:43 a.m. Although the Defendant was initially handcuffed, Investigator Puglise told Officer Kendra Adams to remove the handcuffs for the interview. Investigator Puglise read the Defendant his constitutional rights from the Chattanooga Police Department’s Miranda Waiver Form, and then he gave the Defendant the opportunity to read these rights. He told the Defendant that if he had any questions, he could ask them. He said the Defendant appeared to understand his rights and initialed each sentence indicating that he understood each of his rights. Investigator Puglise said the Defendant also appeared to understand the last section of the form, which was the waiver of rights. At the time of the interview, the Defendant did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or any other substance. Investigator Puglise said the Defendant verbally agreed to waive his rights before signing the waiver form. Thereafter, Investigator Puglise and Officer Adams signed this form. The audio/video recording of the Defendant’s interview was played for the jury. During the interview, the Defendant provided several different explanations as to what happened to the victim. Investigator Puglise acknowledged that the Defendant got visibly upset at different points during the interview.
Alex Broadhag, a special agent with the TBI and an expert in firearms, testified that the bullet retrieved from the victim’s body during the autopsy had been fired through the barrel of the Springfield .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun that was found at the crime scene. He stated that he examined the Springfield handgun and observed that a fired cartridge case, which should have been ejected from the weapon, was lodged in the ejection port causing a condition known as “stovepipe.” He said that this “stovepipe” condition could occur if the handgun was dirty, which prevented the slide from coming back fully, or if the shooter did not hold his hand in a rigid manner when shooting, or if there was bad ammunition, or if the weapon had not been properly lubricated .
Agent Broadhag said that the Springfield .40 caliber handgun had three safeties—a trigger safety, a firing pin safety, and a grip safety. He said that in order to fire this handgun, the trigger safety and the grip safety had to be deactivated at the same time, - 15 - which meant that the operator would have to press down on the grip safety and pull the trigger fully to the rear in order to fire the gun. He also said that the gun had a firing pin safety, which prevented the gun from firing unless the trigger was pulled. Agent Broadhag explained that a gun with a hair trigger takes less than one pound of pressure to fire and that the Springfield .40 caliber handgun did not have a hair trigger because it required 5.75 pounds of pressure to be applied to the trigger in order for it to fire. He said that he test-fired the Springfield .40 caliber handgun and that it operated properly. He also asserted that there was nothing wrong with the handgun’s safety features.
Quanmesha Satterfield, the Defendant’s sister, testified that on May 13, 2014, she drove to the College Hill Courts apartments after someone notified her that something had happened to her brother. When she arrived, she saw the Defendant sitting in the middle of a field and crying. Ms. Satterfield1 could not recall what the Defendant was wearing at the time, but she stated that he did not have a gun. As she put the Defendant’s two children in the car, the Defendant kept saying, “[M]y girl, my girl.” A short time later, the Defendant asked Ms. Satterfield to drive him to the hospital. During their car ride, the Defendant was “distraught, just crying” and finally told her that the victim had been injured and that he needed to go to the emergency room to make sure she was okay.
Ms. Satterfield said that a few days before the shooting, she saw the victim, who explained her frustration with the Defendant dating her and Breasia Hubbard. During this conversation, the victim said that the Defendant needed to choose who he was going to be with and that she was going to stab him if he didn’t choose her.
The Defendant testified in his own behalf. Although he admitted that he had shot the victim, he denied murdering her. He stated that at the time of the shooting, he was a high school graduate and was twenty years old. The Defendant said he and the victim had been dating for five-and-a-half years and had two children together at the time of the shooting. The Defendant said he began dating Breasia Hubbard in 2012 while he was still dating the victim. Hubbard became pregnant with his child the first month they started dating, and Hubbard later discovered that he was also dating the victim. Approximately five or six months into Hubbard’s pregnancy, the victim realized that he was dating Hubbard, and neither the victim nor Hubbard were happy with this situation.
On Mother’s Day, May 11, 2014, the Defendant spent the first part of the day with Hubbard and the rest of the day with the victim. He also spent the night of May 11, 2014, with the victim. The next day, May 12, 2014, the Defendant and the victim discussed