State of Tennessee v. Willis Ayers

Defendant, Willis Ayers, was indicted for first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. Defendant was tried jointly with co-defendant, Charles Curtis, and another co-defendant, David Milken, was tried separately for the charged offenses. Co-defendant Curtis’s case is not part of his appeal. Following a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty of the lesser included offenses of second degree murder and facilitation of especially aggravated robbery. The trial court sentenced Defendant as a Range I, standard offender, to twenty-two years for his second degree murder conviction, and as a Range II, multiple offender, to fourteen years for his facilitation of especially aggravated robbery conviction. The trial court ordered Defendant to serve his sentences consecutively, for an effective sentence of thirty-six years. In his appeal, Defendant argues that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; (2) the trial court erred by failing to instruct the jury that State’s witness Corey Smith was an accomplice to the charged offenses; (3) the trial court erred in denying Defendant’s motion for severance; and (4) the trial court erred in imposing consecutive sentencing. After a thorough review of the record, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.