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Tuff v. State

Evidence that six different people saw the defendant strike his wife on the day or her murder was relevant to show his motive, intent and bent of mind in killing her.

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Appellant John Henry Tuff appeals his convictions for murder and related crimes, resulting in a life sentence.1 Appellant urges that the trial court committed numerous errors and asks that his convictions be reversed. Having reviewed the record, we conclude that appellant’s contentions are without merit, and we affirm. Evidence of record shows that one evening in June 2002, police were called to a Houston County liquor store because witnesses reported that appellant was struggling with his wife, Ophelia Howard, in a phone booth. Witnesses reported that appellant struck Howard, causing her to collapse. Later that same evening, officers were dispatched to the apartment of Howard’s sister, Nottingham, due to an argument that occurred there between Howard and appellant. Howard told police that appellant had struck her. Still later that night, appellant burst through the door of Nottingham’s apartment and saw Howard run into the bedroom, locking the door behind her. Appellant broke the door down and shot Howard in the head, killing her. When Nottingham attempted to telephone police, appellant kicked the phone away and shot her, too, wounding her before fleeing the scene. When the police arrived, Nottingham identified appellant as the shooter. The police went to appellant’s house and placed him in custody. An officer conducted a gunshot residue test on appellant’s hands that showed he had recently fired a gun. Subsequent testing confirmed that appellant’s shoes were stained with Nottingham’s blood.

1. Construed most favorably to the verdicts, the evidence of record was sufficient to enable rational triers of fact to find appellant guilty of the crimes for which he was convicted.2

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