State of Tennessee v. David G. Jenkins, M2016-00270-CCA-R3-CD

Background

Victim Corey Matthews, an Aryan Nation member, served as a confidential informant; other members learned of his informing and planned a punishment.
On March 23, 2013, Defendant David G. Jenkins, Todd Dalton, John Cory Lanier, and Coty Holmes drove the victim to a remote cemetery, beat him, and Lanier cut an “X” over the victim’s Aryan Nation tattoo; Jenkins struck the victim multiple times with a ball-pein hammer, causing death.
Co-defendants Holmes and Lanier testified against Jenkins pursuant to plea arrangements; other witnesses placed Jenkins at events before and after the killing and recounted admissions by Jenkins about the murder.
Physical evidence: multiple blunt-force head injuries (14 lacerations; 10 potentially fatal), crossed-out tattoo, blood in Dalton’s truck, beer cans tied to the group’s movements, and cellular/tower data corroborating locations and gaps in phones.
Jenkins was convicted of first-degree premeditated murder; the trial court granted a directed verdict on felony murder. Jenkins appealed raising sufficiency, evidentiary rulings (photographs, hearsay), trial-court comments and limits on cross-examination, denial of self-representation for closing, and cumulative error.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Jenkins)	Held
Sufficiency — premeditation	Evidence (witnesses, admissions, repeated hammer blows, planning, concealment, calm/celebratory conduct) supports jury inference of premeditation	Evidence insufficient to establish premeditation — killing was not planned	Affirmed: viewed in light most favorable to State, evidence supports premeditation and first-degree murder
Admission of post-mortem photos	Photos relevant to instrument, injury pattern, and premeditation; probative value outweighs prejudice	Photos gruesome and cumulative of other testimony; prejudicial	Affirmed: trial court did not abuse discretion admitting two crime-scene photos with curative instruction
Trial judge’s on-the-record comments (jury present)	Comments were not factual findings and did not prejudice defendant	Comments improperly commented on evidence and vouched for witness credibility, warranting mistrial	Harmless error: court erred in commenting but error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt given overwhelming evidence
Limitation of cross-examination of Ms. Lotz	Limits were reasonable to prevent marginal, repetitive questioning; defendant had ample cross-exam	Curtailment violated confrontation right and denied meaningful cross-examination	Waived at trial; alternatively, no unreasonable restriction—no prejudice shown
Hearsay — admission of Dalton’s statements (Jones overhears)	Dalton unavailable; his statements against penal interest admissible under Tenn. R. Evid. 804(b)(3)	Statements were not knowingly against penal interest (not intended to be overheard) and thus unreliable hearsay	Affirmed: trial court properly admitted Dalton’s statements as statements against interest under Rule 804(b)(3)
Hearsay — exclusion of Jenkins’ own recorded interview (state-of-mind)	Jenkins sought to admit his interview to show contemporaneous state of mind/acquiescence	Statement was self-serving, recounting memory of events after the fact; not admissible under Rule 803(3)	Affirmed: excluded as self-serving and not within the state-of-mind exception
Hearsay — excluded statements of Mark Luttrell	Jenkins argued several Luttrell interview statements were admissible as statements against interest or state-of-mind	Trial court excluded portions; defense preserved only limited claim at new-trial hearing	No reversible error: most exclusions waived; the particular excluded fear-statement was irrelevant to defendant’s flight claim and properly excluded
Right to self-representation for closing	N/A (State opposed)	Jenkins requested to represent himself right before closing argument	Denied: request untimely and made after extensive trial proceedings; within trial court discretion
Cumulative error	N/A	Combined errors prejudiced the verdict	Denied: only one non-structural error found and it was harmless; no cumulative prejudice

Key Cases Cited

Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for appellate sufficiency review)
Bland v. State, 958 S.W.2d 651 (Tenn. 1997) (factors relevant to premeditation inquiry)
State v. Davidson, 121 S.W.3d 600 (Tenn. 2003) (premeditation may be inferred from circumstances)
State v. Banks, 564 S.W.2d 947 (Tenn. 1978) (framework for admitting crime-scene photographs)
State v. Kiser, 284 S.W.3d 227 (Tenn. 2009) (statement-against-interest analysis and reliability concerns)
State v. Willis, 496 S.W.3d 653 (Tenn. 2016) (photographs admissible if relevant despite gruesomeness)
State v. Rodriguez, 254 S.W.3d 361 (Tenn. 2008) (harmless-error standard for non-structural constitutional errors)
State v. Hester, 324 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2010) (requirements and timeliness for self-representation)
Lovin v. State, 286 S.W.3d 275 (Tenn. 2009) (discussion of right to counsel versus self-representation)