State v. McDowell

STATE OF TENNESSEE v. JUSTIN ANTONIO McDOWELL

No. E2020-01641-CCA-R3-CD

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, Knoxville

April 14, 2022

Session January 25, 2022

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Knox County No. 115569 Steven W Sword, Judge

The Defendant, Justin Antonio McDowell, was convicted by a Knox County Criminal Court jury of two counts of possession of more than 0.5 gram of cocaine with the intent to sell or deliver within a drug-free zone, a Class A felony; possession of more than twenty-six grams of methamphetamine with the intent to sell, deliver, or manufacture within a drug-free zone, a Class A felony; unlawful possession of a firearm by a person previously convicted of a violent felony, a Class B felony; and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony, a Class D felony. See T.C.A §§ 39-17-417(a), (c), (i) (possession of cocaine or methamphetamine) (2018) (subsequently amended); 39-17-1307(b)(1) (possession of a firearm after previously having been convicted of a violent felony); 39-17-1324(a) (possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony) (2018) (subsequently amended); 37-17-1324(g)(2) (increasing the penalty for unlawful possession of a firearm with the intent to go armed during the commission of a dangerous felony, if the defendant had a prior felony conviction at the time of the present offense). The trial court merged two of the firearm convictions and imposed an effective thirty-year sentence, to be served at 100%. On appeal, the Defendant contends that (1) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions, (2) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained after his unlawful detention and a warrantless search of his car and motel room, (3) the trial court erred in admitting drug evidence because an unbroken chain of custody was not established, and (4) he is entitled to a sentence reduction due to post-sentencing changes to the drug-free zone sentence enhancement statute. We affirm the judgments of the trial court.

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

Chelsea C. Moore, Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Appellant, Justin Antonio McDowell.

Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; Edwin Alan Groves, Jr., Assistant Attorney General; Charme P. Allen, District Attorney General; Phillip Morton and Ta Kisha Fitzgerald, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

Robert H. Montgomery, Jr., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which James Curwood Witt, Jr., and D. Kelly Thomas, Jr., JJ, joined.

OPINION

ROBERT H. MONTGOMERY, JR., JUDGE

The Defendant's convictions resulted from events which occurred after police responded to a report of a man with a gun threatening another person in a motel parking lot. After officers arrived, they detained the Defendant and searched a car and the Defendant's motel room. Drugs, cash, and firearms were found during the searches.

Suppression Hearing

The Defendant filed two pretrial motions to suppress the evidence obtained after he was detained by officers and a car and his motel room were searched. The first motion alleged that the officers detained the Defendant without a warrant and without reasonable suspicion or probable cause and that the evidence obtained during the warrantless search of a car must be suppressed. The second motion alleged that the Defendant's motel room was searched without a warrant and without his consent and that the evidence obtained must be suppressed.

At the suppression hearing, the State argued that the Defendant lacked standing to challenge the searches of the car and the motel room. The Defendant testified relative to the question of standing that the car, a gold Impala, belonged to his girlfriend, Takale Andrews. He said that she had been at the motel on the night of January 24, 2019, but that she had been at her grandmother's house when the police were present. He acknowledged that he did not have "primary possession" of the car that night but said he had a key to the car in the motel room he had rented with Ms. Andrews. He agreed that he was a "frequent rider" in the car, that he had a key to the motel room, and that he "spent the night" in the room. He said that he and Ms. Andrews had stayed at the motel for about one month, that he rented the room in his name, and that he paid for the room weekly. He said Ms. Andrews had "probably some clothes or something" in the room when the police searched it. He said he had clothing and shoes in the room when the police searched it. He agreed that he and Ms. Andrews were the only people who stayed in or had access to the room. He thought they both had keys to the room.

The Defendant testified that he had driven the car a couple of days before January 24, 2019. He later said he had driven the car on the morning of January 24. He said that the "car was on flats" on January 24, that Ms. Andrews had "flat" the tires, and that the tires were not flat when the police officers were present. He said that when the officers asked for permission to search the car, he did not give them permission and that he told them, "[T]he car is not mine for you to search."

The trial court stated that it "tentatively" found the Defendant had standing to challenge the search of the car. The court found that the Defendant had standing to challenge the search of the motel room. Thus, the court allowed the hearing to proceed.

Knoxville Police Department (KPD) Officer Dylan Williams testified that he was on patrol on January 24, 2019, when he received a report that a black man had retrieved a handgun from a gold Chevrolet Impala, waved it in the air, and threatened someone. Officer Williams said that when he arrived at the motel, he saw an unoccupied gold Impala and parked next to it. He said a motel employee approached him, pointed to the Defendant, who stood on a second-floor balcony, and "indicated that's the guy that he had called on." Officer Williams agreed that the employee had said he did not see a gun but that the employee said he heard someone threaten to get a gun, and that the employee said the Defendant "had reached and [waved] something around."

Officer Williams testified that he asked the Defendant to come downstairs to speak to him and that the Defendant complied. Officer Williams said he patted down the Defendant to ensure the Defendant did not have weapons. Officer Williams said, "I was trying to ask [the Defendant] about what happened and . . . the circumstances why someone would say that he was [waving] a gun around and if there had been an argument or anything." Officer Williams said the Defendant stated that "his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend had attempted to slash the tires, and that's what the fights throughout the day were about."

Officer Williams testified that he asked for consent to search the car. Officer Williams said the Defendant said "yes" and "didn't protest at all when Officer Williams opened the driver's door. Officer Williams said he saw a "corner baggie of what appeared to be crack cocaine" in the door pocket. Officer Williams said he had wanted to search the car for a weapon and acknowledged that no gun was found in the car. Officer Williams said he and other officers took the Defendant into custody after Officer Williams found the suspected crack cocaine. Officer Williams said that the Defendant, who had been sitting on a sidewalk, tried to stand and pull his arms away and that the officers had to push the Defendant onto a car in order to place him in handcuffs.

Officer Williams testified that the motel maintenance employee told him the Defendant and a woman had been involved in two incidents on January 24, 2019. Officer Williams said the man stated that an earlier incident had involved a knife "when she was trying to slash the tires" and that the tire slashing incident had been separate from the later events which caused the man to call the police. Officer Williams said the employee stated that the motel's management wanted the Defendant's room "cleared out" due to danger to employees and guests from the Defendant's and the woman's presence. Officer Williams said that other officers went with the employee "to change . . . the room key so no one could access" the room.

Officer Williams testified that his police car was equipped with recording equipment and that he had recording equipment attached to his uniform. He agreed that KPD policy required an officer to activate the recording equipment when "interacting with the public." The recording from his in-car equipment was played for the trial court. The recording captured the sound of interactions between the Defendant and Officer Williams shortly after Officer Williams' arrival, but their images are not captured in the camera's view. Officer Williams can be heard asking a person to come talk to him, although the people are not shown on the video. Officer Williams can also be heard talking to a person who we infer was the motel employee who called 9-1-1. The person reported that he saw the Defendant standing by a car, heard the Defendant say he had a gun, and saw the Defendant go to a car and bring a gun out of the car. Officer Williams asked if a weapon or "anything we need to worry about" was in the car, and a voice we infer was the Defendant's said, "Nah." Officer Williams asked, "Do you mind if we check real quick?" The Defendant responded, "Nah." Arguing or yelling occurred and lasted several seconds. An officer asked "Kenny" to go with "him" to a motel room and stated, "We really want to find that gun in there." The time which elapsed from Officer Williams'...