State of Tennessee v. Bryan Keith Thomas

Syllabus

The Defendant, Ryan Kevin Thomas, was indicted for first degree premeditated murder first degree felony murder and theft of property valued at more than $500 but less than $1000 a Class E felony. See Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-13-202, -14-103, -14-105 (2010). Following a jury trial, the Defendant was convicted of the lesser-included offense of second degree murder, a Class A felony, and of the charged offenses of first degree felony murder and theft. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-13-210 (2010). The trial court later merged the second degree murder conviction into the first degree felony murder conviction and imposed a total effective sentence of life. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence was insufficient to sustain the Defendant's convictions for first degree felony murder and second degree murder (2) the trial court erred in admitting an autopsy photograph (3) the trial court erred in excluding hearsay testimony from a proposed witness for the defense and (4) the trial court erred in approving the jury's verdict as the thirteenth juror.1 Following our review, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.