State v. Black

1

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. LANDON HANK BLACK

No. E2022-01741-CCA-R3-CD

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, Knoxville

May 22, 2024

Session March 26, 2024

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Knox County No. 119789 Steven Wayne Sword, Judge

The Defendant, Landon Hank Black, was convicted in the Knox County Criminal Court of second degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and received an effective sentence of twenty-five years in confinement. On appeal, the Defendant contends that the State infringed on his right to remain silent; the trial court erred by allowing a State witness to give opinion testimony but then prohibiting a defense witness from doing the same; the trial court erred by allowing a State witness to testify that she had sex with the Defendant just days after the victim's death; the State was allowed to attack the integrity of the defense during the presentation of the evidence; the State's closing arguments were improper; the trial court erred by instructing the jury that the Defendant had a duty to retreat before acting in self-defense; the trial court erred by refusing to give a modified sequential jury instruction; the trial court incorrectly instructed the jury on voluntary manslaughter; and the cumulative effect of the errors requires a new trial. Based upon the oral arguments the record, and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Tenn R. App. P. 3 Appeal as of Right; Judgments of the Criminal Court Affirmed

Eric M. Lutton and Jonathan Harwell (on appeal) and Don Bosch Chloe Akers, and Ann Short (at trial), Knoxville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Landon Hank Black.

Jonathan Skrmetti, Attorney General and Reporter; Benjamin A. Ball, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Charme P. Allen, District Attorney General; and Kevin Allen and Joanie Stewart, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

JOHN W. CAMPBELL, SR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which ROBERT W. WEDEMEYER and MATTHEW J. WILSON, JJ., joined.

OPINION

JOHN W. CAMPBELL, SR., JUDGE

FACTS

This case relates to the Defendant's shooting and killing thirty-year-old Brandon Lee in the parking lot of Billiards and Brews in Knoxville on December 27, 2020. The Defendant fled the scene, and law enforcement arrested him in Los Angeles, where he resided, on January 28, 2021. In September 2021, the Knox County Grand Jury returned a superseding presentment, charging the Defendant with first degree premeditated murder and possession of a firearm after having been convicted of a violent felony, a Class B felony. The Defendant filed a motion to sever the offenses, which the trial court granted, and the Defendant went to trial on the murder charge in October 2021. At trial, the Defendant did not contest that he shot the victim but argued that he did so in self-defense because the victim approached his car with a gun. The jury convicted the Defendant of the lesser-included offense of second degree murder, and he pled guilty to possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, a Class E felony. Although the Defendant does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence, we will summarize the proof presented at trial in order to address the issues raised.

Late on the night of December 26 and into the early morning hours of December 27, 2020, Billiards and Brews sports bar was open for business despite a 10:00 p.m. curfew that the City of Knoxville had implemented due to the Covid pandemic. Three groups of people relevant to this case were drinking and socializing in the bar. The first group consisted of the Defendant; his cousin, Taylor Hodge; and Mr. Hodge's girlfriend, Carrie Phillips. The second group consisted of the victim; his two friends, Chandler Jackson and Clark Longmire; Mr. Jackson's girlfriend, Mallory Hayes; Mr Hodge's ex-girlfriend, Kelsey Murrell; and Kelsey Murrell's sister, Kaitlyn Murrell. The third group consisted of Alan Ford and two unidentified males who were with him.

Beth Tremaine, the victim's mother, testified that the victim was born and raised in Iowa. In December 2020, the victim lived in Knoxville, owned his own home, and worked as a machinist. He was left-handed and owned a Chevrolet pickup truck with "remote start," meaning he could start the engine by pushing a button on the key fob. The victim always clipped his key fob to a belt loop on the right side of his pants, and his truck's headlights and taillights would flash twice when he started his truck remotely. The victim owned a .45-caliber handgun and would put the gun on a nightstand in his bedroom at night. After the victim's death, Mrs. Tremaine found the gun on the nightstand. On crossexamination, Mrs. Tremaine testified that she also knew the victim to keep the gun in the driver's door pocket of his truck. Mrs. Tremaine identified photographs of the victim's gun, and the State introduced the photographs into evidence.

Neil Tremaine, the victim's stepfather and Mrs. Tremaine's husband, testified that he was present when his wife found the victim's .45-caliber handgun. A "fully loaded" magazine was in the gun; a round of ammunition was not in the gun's chamber. A gun case also was on the nightstand. The gun case was designed to carry the victim's handgun and two magazines, but the Tremaines found only the magazine that was in the gun.

Investigator Thomas Thurman of the Knoxville Police Department (KPD) testified that in the early morning hours of December 27, 2020, he was alerted to a shooting in the Billiards and Brews parking lot and went to the scene. By the time he arrived, the victim had been transported to a hospital. The shooter was not present, and witnesses did not know the shooter's name. Some of the witnesses "seemed reluctant" to give Investigator Thurman information. He obtained video of the parking lot from cameras on adjacent buildings, and the video appeared to show the male occupant of a silver Ford Fusion shoot the victim and drive away. The Fusion was distinctive because it had stickers on the rear window and damage to the passenger side of the rear bumper.

Investigator Thurman testified that he also reviewed video from cameras inside the bar and spoke with bartenders. One of the bartenders identified a woman in the video as Kelsey Murrell. From speaking with Kelsey,^[1] Investigator Thurman learned the names of two men in the video: Taylor Hodge and the Defendant. Mr. Hodge lived in Pennsylvania, and the Defendant lived in California. However, both of them were in Knoxville for the Christmas holidays. Mr. Hodge owned a silver Ford Fusion, but video of the parking lot showed him standing outside the bar at the time of the shooting. On January 5, 2021, Investigator Thurman traveled to Pennsylvania to speak with Mr. Hodge and to inspect his car. Mr. Hodge's Fusion matched the car in the video, and Mr. Hodge told Investigator Thurman that the Defendant had been driving the car on the night of the shooting. Based on that information, Investigator Thurman sought an arrest warrant for the Defendant for first degree murder. The next day, as Investigator Thurman was driving back to Knoxville, he learned that the Defendant had not been located and that the Defendant's cellular telephone had been "shut off."

The State played video showing what occurred inside the bar while Investigator Thurman narrated the video for the jury. Investigator Thurman testified as follows: About 1:20 a.m., Kelsey and the victim were together near the dartboards. They then walked to the "barkeep area," and "[t]here appear[ed] to be . . . some intimate contact" between them. The Defendant, Mr. Hodge, and Ms. Phillips were standing nearby. At 1:30 a.m., Kelsey "kind of points her finger over towards Mr. Hodge," and the victim turned his head to look in Mr. Hodge's direction. Kelsey and the victim then returned to the dartboards. By 2:06 a.m., Kelsey and the victim were back in the barkeep area, and the victim and Mr. Hodge were standing "back to back." At 2:07 a.m., the Defendant, who had been sitting at a table, got up from the table and walked over to the victim and Kelsey. The Defendant stood between them and Mr. Hodge. About forty seconds later, there was "an interaction" between Kelsey and Ms. Phillips. Kelsey's sister, Kaitlyn, came into view and "trie[d] to get ahold" of Kelsey. The victim left the barkeep area and returned to the dartboards, but Kelsey remained in the barkeep area with the Defendant, Mr. Hodge, and Ms. Phillips. At 2:10 a.m., Kelsey had "physical contact" with the Defendant.^[2] Alan Ford "appear[ed] to take notice of what's going on" between Kelsey and the Defendant, moved toward them, and had a "face to face" confrontation with the Defendant. There also was "physical contact" between Mr. Ford and the Defendant. At 2:11 a.m., Kelsey and Kaitlyn exited the bar through the front door. Meanwhile, a bartender intervened in the altercation between the Defendant and Mr. Ford and separated them. At 2:13 a.m., Mr. Ford exited the bar through the front door, and the Defendant exited the bar through an emergency exit. Twenty seconds later, Mr. Jackson and Ms. Hayes left through the front door, followed by the victim. Mr. Hodge exited the front door at 2:14 a.m.

Next the State played video showing the parking lot as everyone was leaving the bar, and Investigator Thurman testified as follows: Mr. Ford's group exited the front door and stopped in the parking lot while the Defendant exited a separate door and walked out of view. The victim's group exited the front door, walked past Mr. Ford's group, and walked toward the victim's pickup truck. The victim appeared to turn around and walk briefly toward Mr. Ford but then turned back around and continued walking...