State v. Hinton

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. ANTOINE HINTON

No. W2018-01931-CCA-R3-CD

COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT JACKSON

August 7, 2019 Session

March 19, 2020

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Shelby County

No. 16-06788

John Wheeler Campbell, Judge

A Shelby County Criminal Court Jury convicted the Appellant, Antoine Hinton, of first degree felony murder; especially aggravated kidnapping, a Class A felony; aggravated kidnapping, a Class B felony; employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, a Class C felony; and reckless aggravated assault, a Class D felony, and he received an effective sentence of life plus twenty-eight years in confinement. On appeal, the Appellant contends that the trial court committed reversible error by failing to instruct the jury as provided by State v. White, 362 S.W.3d 559 (Tenn. 2012), and that the evidence is insufficient to support his murder conviction because the underlying felony was complete at the time of the victim's death. Based upon the oral arguments, the record, and the parties' briefs, we affirm the Appellant's convictions and his total effective sentence of life plus twenty-eight years but remand the case to the trial court for amendment of the judgments to reflect that the Appellant's conviction of aggravated kidnapping in count three is merged into his conviction of especially aggravated kidnapping in count two and for correction of the judgments regarding concurrent and consecutive sentencing.

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

NORMA MCGEE OGLE, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS, P.J., and CAMILLE R. MCMULLEN, J., joined.

Claiborne H. Ferguson (on appeal) and John Dolan and James Marty (at trial), Memphis, Tennessee, for the appellant, Antoine Hinton.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Brent C. Cherry, Senior Assistant Attorney General; Amy P. Weirich, District Attorney General; and Danielle McCollum and Theresa McCusker, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

I. Factual Background

In December 2016, the Shelby County Grand Jury indicted the Appellant for first degree felony murder in the perpetration of kidnapping in count one, especially aggravated kidnapping with a deadly weapon in count two, aggravated kidnapping involving bodily injury in count three, and aggravated assault by strangulation in count four. Jeremy Lampkin was the named victim in count one, and Kaili Taylor was the named victim in counts two through four. The grand jury also indicted the Appellant for employing a firearm during the commission of aggravated kidnapping in count five.

At trial, Kay Campbell, Mr. Lampkin's aunt, testified that she and Mr. Lampkin had a "close" relationship and that he worked nights at FedEx. Mr. Lampkin attended Lane College for one year and transferred to the University of Memphis. He also took some classes at Southwest Tennessee Community College. Mr. Lampkin was not taking any classes at the time of his death but had about two and one-half years of college and wanted to be a sports physical therapist.

Kaili Taylor testified that in August 2015, she and the Appellant were in a "very serious" relationship and were talking about marriage. Ms. Taylor knew Mr. Lampkin from middle school. They exchanged text messages "every now and then" and were "just friends." Mr. Lampkin had told Ms. Taylor that he had a "crush" on her, but he knew she was dating the Appellant. Ms. Taylor said Mr. Lampkin was "very respectful" and never tried to have a romantic relationship with her.

Ms. Taylor testified that on the morning of August 16, the Appellant came to her apartment on Patterson Street. They had sex and planned to go to his apartment to wash clothes. While the Appellant was using Ms. Taylor's cellular telephone, Ms. Taylor received a text message from Mr. Lampkin. The Appellant read the message and wanted to know about Mr. Lampkin's and Ms. Taylor's relationship. Ms. Taylor told the Appellant that Mr. Lampkin was a friend from middle school. The Appellant got upset and asked if Ms. Taylor was having sex with Mr. Lampkin. The Appellant took Ms. Taylor's purse, which contained her keys and her Glock 19 handgun, out of her car. The gun was in a "brown cow-hide holster," and Ms. Taylor had a handgun carry permit for the weapon. The Appellant put Ms. Taylor's keys into one of his pockets and her gun into his other pocket. The Appellant had his own handgun, a forty-five-caliber firearm, in a holster on his side. The Appellant told Ms. Taylor to sit on the couch in her living room and looked in her telephone for information. Ms. Taylor said that the Appellantwas very upset and aggressive, that he accused her of lying, and that she was scared and "unsure about what was going to happen next."

Ms. Taylor testified that the Appellant started hitting her face, head, and body. She fell onto the floor a couple of times, and the Appellant kicked her stomach and chest. Ms. Taylor said she did not fight back because she was "scared . . . it would be worse abuse." She had bruises and a "busted" lip and told the Appellant that she needed to go to a hospital, but he refused to take her.

Ms. Taylor testified that the Appellant started texting Mr. Lampkin with her telephone and that the Appellant pretended to be Ms. Taylor in the texts. The Appellant told Ms. Taylor that he was going to get Mr. Lampkin to come to Ms. Taylor's apartment so that he could ask Mr. Lampkin questions. The Appellant also told Ms. Taylor that he was going to "put [Mr. Lampkin] at gunpoint," force Mr. Lampkin to "strip," and make Mr. Lampkin tell the truth about Mr. Lampkin's relationship with Ms. Taylor. Ms. Taylor said that the Appellant hit her on the left side of her head above her eyebrow, which created a gash and caused blood to run down her face. The Appellant made Ms. Taylor sit on the couch, and blood from Ms. Taylor's face got onto a pillow that was on the couch. Ms. Taylor identified a photograph of the blood-stained pillow for the jury.

Ms. Taylor testified that the Appellant continued sending text messages to Mr. Lampkin, trying to get Mr. Lampkin to come to Ms. Taylor's apartment. The Appellant then told Ms. Taylor that they were going to his apartment in Cordova, and they walked outside to his car. Ms. Taylor said that she was "really weak and dazed" and that she did not try to run from him because she was afraid he would "catch" her. The drive to the Appellant's apartment took about fifteen minutes. During the drive, the Appellant used Ms. Taylor's telephone to call Mr. Lampkin. The Appellant put the call on speaker phone so he could hear Ms. Taylor's and Mr. Lampkin's conversation. When Mr. Lampkin answered, Ms. Taylor asked him, "'What are you doing?'" Mr. Lampkin said he had "just woke up," and the Appellant hung up on Mr. Lampkin because he thought Ms. Taylor was trying to alert Mr. Lampkin. The Appellant continued to hit Ms. Taylor's face while he was driving.

Ms. Taylor testified that when they arrived at the Appellant's apartment, the Appellant had her sit on the couch. The Appellant sat in a chair across from her and continued to look for information in her telephone. The Appellant also continued texting Mr. Lampkin, trying to get Mr. Lampkin to go to Ms. Taylor's apartment. The Appellant again told Ms. Taylor that he was going to make Mr. Lampkin "strip" and make Mr. Lampkin tell the truth about their relationship. Ms. Taylor told the Appellant that "nothing was going on" with Mr. Lampkin and that she was being truthful. However, the Appellant accused her of lying and kept hitting her face. At some point, Ms. Taylor fellonto the floor, and the Appellant kicked her stomach, chest, and face. The Appellant told Ms. Taylor to sit on the couch, wrapped a belt around her neck, and pulled the belt tight. The Appellant dragged Ms. Taylor onto the floor and pulled the belt tighter, and Ms. Taylor screamed that she could not breathe. When she was almost unconscious, the Appellant unwrapped the belt from her neck. Ms. Taylor crawled away, and the Appellant hit her back with the belt.

Ms. Taylor testified that her lip was swollen and bleeding, so the Appellant told her to put some ice on it. He also told her that Mr. Lampkin had texted back that Mr. Lampkin was going to Ms. Taylor's apartment. The Appellant wanted to get to Ms. Taylor's apartment before Mr. Lampkin, so the Appellant and Ms. Taylor got back into the Appellant's car. Ms. Taylor said that she was scared and that she did not think she had any choice but to go with the Appellant. The Appellant told Ms. Taylor that he was going to kill her and Mr. Lampkin if she was lying to him about their relationship.

Ms. Taylor testified that when she and the Appellant arrived at her apartment, he continued to hit her. Blood was all over Ms. Taylor, so the Appellant told her to go into the bathroom and clean up. The Appellant came into the bathroom and told Ms. Taylor that if she was going to act like a "'Ho,'" he was going to treat her like one. The Appellant ripped off Ms. Taylor's shirt and pulled off her pants, leaving her wearing only her bra and underwear. The Appellant hit Ms. Taylor, and she fell into the bathtub. The Appellant pushed Ms. Taylor out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, made her sit on the floor, and told her to put on a shirt.

Ms. Taylor testified that the Appellant unlocked the front door, went into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. He told Ms. Taylor that he had texted to Mr. Lampkin that Ms. Taylor was in the shower and to come into the apartment. When Mr. Lampkin arrived, he went into Ms. Taylor's living room and sat on the couch. The Appellant dragged Ms. Taylor into the living room, told her to sit on the floor, and pointed a gun at Mr. Lampkin. The Appellant told Mr. Lampkin not to move, ordered him to "strip," and demanded his telephone. The Appellant told Mr....