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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE
Assigned on Briefs November 28, 2001 STATE OF TENNESSEE v. FARON DOUGLAS PIERCE
Direct Appeal from the Criminal Court for Knox County No. 67174B Ray L. Jenkins, Judge

No. E2001-00437-CCA-R3-CD Filed April 9, 2002

Defendant appeals his conviction for robbery. Defendant contends that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction and (2) that the trial court erred in admitting testimony regarding prior inconsistent statements. We affirm the trial court judgment. Tenn. R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgment of the Criminal Court Affirmed JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOSEPH M. TIPTON and ALAN E. GLENN, JJ., joined. J. Liddell Kirk, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Faron Douglas Pierce. Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Thomas E. Williams, III, Assistant Attorney General; Randall Eugene Nichols, District Attorney General; and Robert L. Jolley, Jr., Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION On January 25, 1999, a Knox County grand jury indicted defendant Faron Douglas Pierce for aggravated robbery, a Class B felony, in violation of Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-13402. On November 15, 2000, defendant was convicted of robbery, a Class C felony. On January 4, 2001, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing and determined that defendant was a Range III persistent offender. The trial court sentenced defendant to serve fifteen years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Defendant filed a timely motion for new trial on January 16, 2001, and the trial court held a hearing on January 26, 2001. Defendant's motion was denied by the trial court. Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal on February 26, 2001.

Facts The victim, John Schober, testified that on October 22, 1998, he was working as the cashier at the Northshore Texaco in Knoxville. The victim testified that at about 7:30 p.m., defendant entered the store with another individual, co-defendant David C. McFalls. The two individuals walked to the back of the store and looked at products on the medicine aisle. One of the men held a package and addressed the clerk asking, "[d]oes this contain aspirin?" The victim put on his glasses, walked to the back of the store, and read the packet. He answered, "Yes" and returned to his position behind the counter at the front of the store. The two individuals returned to the front of the store, and the victim began to ring up their purchases. As the co-defendant stood in front of the counter, defendant came behind the counter and "sucker-punched" the victim, knocking him to the floor. Defendant tried to open the cash register but was unsuccessful because the victim locked the register just prior to the men entering the store. The victim testified that defendant stated, "[o]pen the M

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