State of Tennessee v. Willie Joe Frazier

In 1980, the Appellant, Willie Joe Frazier, was indicted for multiple counts of armed robbery and related assaults stemming from his participation, along with two other accomplices, in the robbery of a number of employees and customers of a pharmacy in Lewisburg. However, Frazier escaped from jail before his scheduled trial and was not apprehended until 2002. In 2003, Frazier was convicted by a Marshall County jury of two counts of malicious shooting, one count of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter, one count of assault with intent to commit first degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, six counts of armed robbery, and two counts of assault with intent to commit robbery. The jury sentenced Frazier to indeterminate sentences for all the convictions except the six armed robberies, for which the jury fixed sentences of life imprisonment. The trial court grouped the thirteen convictions into three categories for purposes of consecutive sentencing, resulting in six concurrent life sentences consecutive to concurrent sentences of eight to twenty years and consecutive to a ten to twenty-five year sentence. This resulted in an effective sentence of life plus eighteen to forty-five years in the Department of Correction. On appeal, Frazier argues: (1) he was sentenced to crimes for which no guilty verdicts were returned by the jury; (2) the evidence is insufficient to support his convictions for assault with intent to commit robbery of Ollie Bagley and assault with intent to commit robbery of Goldie Crabtree; (3) the jury's sentencing verdicts reflect two sentences which were not authorized for the crimes for which he was convicted; (4) his convictions for malicious shooting must be set aside because (a) he was never indicted for these crimes, (b) they are not lesser offenses of any indicted offenses, and (c) his dual convictions for malicious shooting and assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter of Judy Watson constitute double jeopardy; and (5) the trial court erred by imposing consecutive sentences. After review, we find no error with regard to issues (1) and (5). With regard to issue (2), we conclude that the evidence is insufficient to support his two convictions of assault with intent to commit robbery; therefore, the convictions are modified to reflect convictions for aggravated assault, with the respective sentences fixed at not less than two years nor more than ten years. Issue (3) is rendered moot in view of our holding in issue (2). With regard to issue (4), we conclude that double jeopardy principles preclude dual convictions for assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter and malicious shooting. Accordingly, we merge the Appellant's conviction for assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter into his conviction for malicious shooting and remand for entry of a single judgment of conviction for malicious shooting.