Find Laws Find Lawyers Free Legal Forms USA State Laws
Laws-info.com » Cases » Tennessee » Court of Criminal Appeals » 2013 » State of Tennessee v. Carl Bond
State of Tennessee v. Carl Bond
State: Tennessee
Court: Court of Appeals
Docket No: W2011-02518-CCA-R3-CD
Case Date: 02/27/2013
Plaintiff: State of Tennessee
Defendant: Carl Bond
Preview:IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON
Assigned on Briefs October 2, 2012

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. CARL BOND
Appeal from the Criminal Court of Shelby County No. 1001325 Chris Craft, Judge

No. W2011-02518-CCA-R3-CD - Filed February 27, 2013

Carl Bond ("the Defendant") was convicted after a jury trial of aggravated robbery. Following a sentencing hearing, the trial court sentenced the Defendant as a Range II offender to seventeen years, to be served in confinement at 100%. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the evidence is not sufficient to support his conviction, that the trial court erred in its ruling on the admissibility of a prior conviction for impeachment purposes, and that the trial court imposed an excessive sentence. Upon our thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgment of the trial court. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed J EFFREY S. B IVINS, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which J AMES C URWOOD W ITT, J R., and R OGER A. P AGE, JJ., joined. Phyllis Aluco (on appeal) and Jim Hale (at trial), Assistant Public Defenders, Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Carl Bond. Robert E. Cooper, Jr., Attorney General and Reporter; Clarence E. Lutz, Assistant Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Christopher West, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION Factual and Procedural Background The Defendant was indicted on one count of aggravated robbery which occurred on September 14, 2009. He proceeded to a jury trial on the indicted offense in August 2011, and the following proof was adduced:

Tracey Steele, the victim, testified that on September 12, 2009, she was at the "Southern Heritage Classic"1 in Memphis, Tennessee, and met the Defendant, whom she previously had not known, that evening at approximately 5:00 p.m. On cross-examination, she clarified that she "met him while [she] was riding" and that their vehicles were "side by side[.]" She and the Defendant exchanged numbers, and the Defendant told her his name was "Suave." After meeting the Defendant, Steele "[w]ent to the game." Later that night, after the game, the Defendant called Steele while she was on her way downtown to Beale Street.2 Steele learned that Beale Street had closed early because of a shooting, so she and the Defendant arranged to meet at the Exxon on Poplar Avenue and Danny Thomas Boulevard. However, "the lot was so crowded" at the Exxon that the Defendant instead told Steele to meet him at the BP on Poplar Avenue and Dunlap Street, which was approximately one block away. Steele met the Defendant at the BP between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. According to Steele, she and the Defendant "sat in the car and talked for like forty-five minutes or an hour, getting to know each other." They parted ways after their conversation and made plans to call each other later. Steele and the Defendant talked again on the phone on Sunday, September 13th. On cross-examination, Steele testified that the Defendant called her from a different phone number that day. He told her that he was calling her from a different phone number because his cell phone was a prepaid phone "run by minutes." Later that evening at approximately 6:00 p.m., Steele and her sisters went to a casino. They returned between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. Steele called the Defendant Monday morning, September 14th, and told him what she won at the casino Sunday night.3 She also talked to the Defendant throughout the course of the day. The Defendant and Steele made plans to go out to eat at Applebee's and then watch a movie at the "Paradiso on Poplar" later that evening. On cross-examination, Steele explained that she and the Defendant first planned "to go to [the Defendant's] grandma's house . . . so he could park his truck and get in the car with [her]." However, because she

The "Southern Heritage Classic" is an annual event in Memphis involving a college football game between Tennessee State University and Jackson State University and other activities. On cross-examination, defense counsel presented Steele with her cell phone records, which previously had been entered as an exhibit pursuant to a stipulation. Defense counsel pointed out that the first call made was from Steele's cell phone to the Defendant's cell phone. Steele did not testify at trial to the actual amount that she won at the casino or to the amount that she told the Defendant she won at the casino.
3 2

1

-2-

did not know the area where the Defendant told her that his grandmother lived, the Defendant instead was supposed to meet her at the Exxon. Steele also testified that on Monday she and the Defendant "had been looking for us some weed all that day, and he was looking for it, and I was looking for it." Once Steele "finally found some," she sent the Defendant a text message and told him. Steele bought enough for "two blunts," "just a little baggie."4 Steele then left to meet the Defendant at the Exxon where they previously had arranged to meet, and she called him to tell him that she was on her way. On cross-examination, Steele described that while she was on her way to the Exxon, the Defendant continually called her, asking, "You coming? You made it yet? You made it?" When Steele arrived at the Exxon, she called the Defendant, but the Defendant told her he left "because some officers pulled on the lot, and he didn't have any license." The Defendant told Steele to meet him at "some apartments off Highland," and the Defendant gave Steele directions to the location. Steele described these "apartments" as "duplex housing" ("duplex apartments") and said that they "look like a regular neighborhood." When Steele arrived at the duplex apartments, she did not see the Defendant's truck and tried to call him, but he did not answer. Thus, Steele drove to the end of the road and made a U-turn at the stop sign to leave. After she made the U-turn, she saw the Defendant's truck "coming like out of the driveway" of one of the duplex apartments, and "he was going back around the way that [she] came in." The Defendant then called her asking where she was, and she told him that she was right behind him. He stopped on the street and told her that "he fixing [sic] to go to his grandma's house and he'll get in the car with" her there. Steele then followed the Defendant to one of the duplex apartments which she believed to be his grandmother's. The Defendant pulled into the driveway, but he parked his truck at the end of the driveway, close to the road. There was not enough space for Steele also to park her car in the driveway, so she parked on the side of the street to wait for the Defendant to get into her car. According to Steele, when the Defendant got into the passenger seat of her car, he was on his cell phone, and she heard him say, "Yeah, you know I'm Carlos. You know my name Carlos." When the Defendant got into Steele's car, he told her to "back up and pull in the driveway" across the street from his grandmother's house while "he rolled the blunt." She complied. Once the Defendant ended his phone call, Steele stated that he started "to roll the

On cross-examination, Steele described that she "couldn't find . . . regular weed, so [she] ended up finding some kush." She agreed that "kush" is considered a "very high grade . . . marijuana" and that it is "[p]retty expensive."

4

-3-

blunt up." On cross-examination, Steele explained that the "kush" had been in her purse before she gave it to the Defendant. Steele testified that, while waiting for the Defendant to get into her car, she saw two "boys" "at that stop sign [she] had made a U-turn at," but she "didn't think nothing [sic] of it." The stop sign was "roughly about eight houses down the street" from the Defendant's alleged grandmother's house, which was located in the middle of that street of duplex apartments. Steele testified that "not even a minute" after pulling into the driveway across the street from the Defendant's alleged grandmother's house, the cohorts "had made it right past [her] car." They were on the opposite side of the street, and they were approximately one house away from the driveway in which she was parked. According to Steele, the Defendant said, "`Robert, it's you?' He was like . . . , `Yeah, that's me,' and the two [cohorts] start[ed] coming across the street."
5

The cohorts then approached the passenger side of the car, where the Defendant was seated. The three of them "shook hands, started talking, and . . . [one of the cohorts] was asking [the Defendant] where he was fixing to go." The Defendant responded that they were "fixing to go out." Then, Cohort One said, "Damn, she pretty." The Defendant told him to "[g]o around and holler at her." Steele testified, "Before I can even look to the left, [towards the driver's side window,] it was a gun at my head. [Cohort One] had my hair and my ponytail pulling me out of my car." Steele stated that she saw the gun because Cohort One "hit [her] on the forehead with it." Steele then described how Cohort One pulled her out of her car: It was like he came through the window[, which was open,] and grabbed me by my hair, and he opened up the door
Download bondcopn.pdf

Tennessee Law

Tennessee State Laws
Tennessee Tax
Tennessee Labor Laws

Comments

Tips