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State v. D'Antonio10/26/2005
The defendant, Richard Frank D'Antonio, was indicted on July 19, 2002, for: (Count One) premeditated first degree murder of Kevin Hughes and (Count Two) assault with intent to commit murder of Sammy Sadler. Both counts stemmed from events that occurred on March 9, 1989, on 16th Avenue South (Music Row) in Nashville. A jury convicted the defendant on both counts, as charged, on September 25, 2003. The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Kevin Hughes in Count One. The second count was later dismissed due to violation of the statute of limitations.
The defendant now appeals his conviction and presents nine issues for consideration on review:
1) Whether the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction for premeditated first degree murder;
2) Whether the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the indictment due to pre-accusatorial delay;
3) Whether the trial court properly denied suppression of the defendant's statements to police;
4) Whether a photograph of the victim's body at the crime scene was properly admitted;
5) Whether the trial court erred in admitting numerous hearsay statements and non-verbal hearsay by the victim under the "state of mind" exception;
6) Whether the trial court erred in admitting numerous hearsay statements and non-verbal hearsay by Chuck Dixon under the "co-conspirator" exception;
7) Whether the trial court erred in admitting testimony concerning conduct and activities by Chuck Dixon, relating to Cashbox magazine;
8) Whether the trial court erred in admitting a tape recording and transcript of two telephone conversations between the defendant and prosecution witness, Steve Daniel; and
9) Whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury on the theory of aiding and abetting.
Factual Background
At the time of his death, the victim was Chart Director for Cashbox magazine. The victim was hired for this position by the defendant in 1987. The defendant, in 1987, was the Division Manager at Cashbox but was not employed there at the time of the victim's death.
Sharon Pennington, a record promoter for Step One Records in March of 1989, testified that she and the victim were good friends. She stated that they had attended a movie on March 9, 1989, and that she dropped the victim off at his office in the early evening. She said the victim was uncharacteristically "nervous" and "fidgety" that day.
Ms. Pennington said that the Cashbox chart for independent artists was not legitimate and that the victim had been taking steps to make it legitimate and improve its image. She said that Chuck Dixon's control over the independent artists chart at Cashbox was so widely known that the magazine was often derisively called "Chuckbox" by members of the music industry. Ms. Pennington knew Chuck Dixon from her company having hired him as an independent record promoter. She knew the defendant due to his work at Cashbox and he was often with Dixon at meetings with her employers. She recalled that the defendant had a back injury at that time.
On the day of the victim's death, Ms. Pennington had received two angry phone calls from Dixon asking her to relay messages to the victim. Dixon wanted the victim to restore some stations that had been dropped from those used to compile the charts. She explained that starter or smaller radio stations have a larger play list, making it easier for a promoter to obtain play for particular songs. The victim had dropped several smaller stations in favor of stations with larger listening markets. This caused problems for Dixon in mani
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