State of Tennessee v. Corey Allen Harris
Syllabus
The Defendant, Corey Allen Harris, was convicted after a jury trial of attempted second degree murder, aggravated assault, and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and he received an effective eighteen-year sentence. The Defendant filed a motion for a new trial asserting that the evidence was insufficient and that the prosecutor's argument was so improper as to constitute plain error. On appeal, the Defendant renews the challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence and the prosecutor's closing argument, and he asks for relief based on the omission from the jury instructions of the statutory definition of attempt. Because the jury was not properly instructed on the elements of the offense of attempted second degree murder, we reverse the convictions for attempted second degree murder and employment of a firearm during the commission of attempted second degree murder, and we remand for further proceedings. The aggravated assault conviction is affirmed.
How courts have described this case
Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.
- affirming murder conviction where defendant withdrew his son from solid food while observing resulting starvation
- prior conduct with victim admissible \to paint a picture of the events preceding [the victim's] death\
- jury instructed on third prong malice where defendant deprived child of solid food while observing his resulting starvation
- “Determinations of the relevance, probative value, and prejudice of such evidence are left to the sound discretion of the judge, whose decision to admit such evidence will be upheld absent clear error”
- “If we are to protect a defendant’s autonomy to make decisions relating to his defense, the exercise of that autonomy cannot alone be grounds to doubt his competency.” (citation omitted)
- prior bad act evidence admissible and relevant to motive and state of mind
Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).
Judges: Presiding Judge John Everett Williams
Read full opinion on CourtListenerSourced from CourtListener / Free Law Project (CC0).
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