WPC |CE\  n4 @}w&H)Dž[1E 9]Oߙ]!>^D6zKd~Wg.ֶtrx#2 0WjXK(&a~h4LPu#%26q sY=Ul&O`-%cTJ>doOYPi$Y{AQ 'j8_'d"Zٛƣ}ޣa 7V8lJJ!/u@y _#Ϙ&:Y c"YҺjÉ;b]Lw0nwI^OcF Lnii.4rZVIWt b u1Z㮿S4J^S(]˸qR uۂ0VW-0ˎ 9kjC׈El쇓K#B*e& F$XtE]mbnc,U.h %b?nD 0(LU:tw4f U:z 0 0DM U:  U:t ( D3 U:            0DC B AQ 0D 0D D/C Br<6X9`(CourierX  E$XXXX `   1    Totalfinesof$60,350wereimposed. B$XقXXX `   1    Totalfinesof$60,350wereimposed.   D$XPXXX `   2    THISWHOLESECTIONCOULDBEDELETED.IDRAFTEDIT `  BECAUSETHISDEFENSEATTY.SEEMSTOHAVEACAVALIERATTITUDEABOUTT.R.A.P.NOTONLYDIDHEFILEHISNOTICEOFAPPEALAMONTHANDAHALFLATE,HELATEFILEDHISBRIEFBYFIVEMONTHSWITHOUTEVERMOVINGFOREXTENSIONSOFTIME. 3|x<6X9`(CourierXx6X@`7X@($,  AZ"Arial RegulardefEgh6eiEjkElmnEopEqrsEtuEvwDxyDz{E|}E~eDӀP9&,cAZ"Arial Regular(I(2E$  !  XXXX `   0  (#$  0  ,cAZ"Arial Regular  B$XقXXX `   2    THISWHOLESECTIONCOULDBEDELETED.IDRAFTEDIT `  BECAUSETHISDEFENSEATTY.SEEMSTOHAVEACAVALIERATTITUDEABOUTT.R.A.P.NOTONLYDIDHEFILEHISNOTICEOFAPPEALAMONTHANDAHALFLATE,HELATEFILEDHISBRIEFBYFIVEMONTHSWITHOUTEVERMOVINGFOREXTENSIONSOFTIME. ,cAZ"Arial Regular  ("  XXXXN'XX   Ad FILEDXXN'   February9,1999  CecilCrowson,Jr. XXAppellateCourtClerk """"'dxd,cAZ"Arial Regular(3$  !   d'(!)*C<< CLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5(3$  !  ($$   1  ++' dxdP Pd  !  hhhh`   TR[A'Legal3'A' Legal3'T XXXX7  XXdd7  r&<,(j 8` `@Ef ` ttx$` rߛ @ INTHECOURTOFCRIMINALAPPEALSOFTENNESSEE P  ̀@::'AThhKNOXVILLEhh 0  @#hhNOVEMBERhh1998SESSION   hh STATEOFTENNESSEE,    ) p   `     h     ) p  `   `  Appellee, h     ) p C.C.A.No.03C019710CR00454 P   `     h     )vs. `     h     ) p WashingtonCounty  0   `     h     ) ROYD.NELSON,JR.,hh h     ) p Hon.hhLynnW.Brown,hhJudge  p   `     h     ) `  `  hhAppellant.hh h     ) p hh(Burglary,AggravatedBurglary, P  `     h     ) p AggravatedArson,Possessionof @  `     h      p Marijuana)hh `     h     FORTHEAPPELLANT: h      p FORTHEAPPELLEE:  hh DONALDE.SPURRELL h hh     p JOHNKNOXWALKUP  p hh AttorneyatLaw  hh h      p AttorneyGeneral&Reporter !` hh128E.MarketSt.hhhhJohnsonCity,TN37604 h      p ELIZABETHB.MARNEY  #@  `    hh h      p hhAssistantAttorneyGeneralhhhh  `  hh   h      p 425FifthAve.N.,2dFloor  %  hh  `  hh   h      p Nashville,TN372430493 p& hh `     h      p DAVIDCROCKETT  P(!   `     h      p DistrictAttorneyGeneral @)"  `     h      p  `     h      p JOEC.CRUMLEY  +!$  `     h      p Asst.DistrictAttorneyGeneral ,"%  `     h      p P.O.Box38 `     h      p Jonesborough,TN37659 OPINIONFILED:________________AFFIRMEDJAMESCURWOODhhhhWITT,JR.,hhJUDGE  p5,/   `6-0G @qq* OPINION  `  hh `  Thedefendant,RoyD.Nelson,standsconvictedofburglary,aggravatedburglary,aggravatedarsonandpossessionofmarijuanaasaresultofhiseffortstoblowuphisexwife'shome.NelsonreceivedhisconvictionsattheconclusionofajurytrialintheWashingtonCountyCriminalCourt.ARangeIIIoffender,Nelsonispresentlyservinganeffective62yearsentenceintheDepartmentofCorrectionforhiscrimes.hhhh #  1      ׀Inthisdirectappeal,Nelsonclaimshe @  wasimproperlyconvictedofaggravatedarsonbecausehe,ratherthananotherperson,sufferedtheseriousbodilyinjuryreliedupontoelevatetheoffensefromarsontoaggravatedarson.Havingreviewedtheappellaterecord,theargumentsofthepartiesandtheapplicablelaw,weaffirmthejudgmentofthetrialcourt.@- I    `  Uponinitialreviewoftherecord,wediscoveredthatNelson'snoticeofappealwasfiledtwoandahalfmonthsafterthetrialcourtentereditsorderoverrulingthemotionfornewtrial.hhhvh #  2      Inordertobetimely,thenoticeofappealshouldhavebeenfiledandreceivedbytheclerkofthetrialcourtwithin30daysafterentryoftheorderdenyinganewtrial.Tenn.R.App.P.4(a),(c).IfadefendantfailstocomplywiththeRulesofAppellateProcedure,theappellatecourtmaywaivetimely  +!$ filingintheinterestofjustice.Tenn.R.App.P.4(a).Equally,theappellatecourtmaychoosenottoallowanuntimelyappealinacriminalcase.See,e.g.,Statev. .%( CleothaNash,No.02C019701CC00026,slipop.ati____ij3j(Tenn.Crim.App.,Jackson, 0`'* Feb.18,1998),perm.app.denied(Tenn.1998);Statev.AustinKiplingStratton, 2@), No.01C019611CC00472,slipop.atk____kl23l(Tenn.Crim.App.,Nashville,Dec.4,1997). `6-0 Ї `  Unlikemanycasesinwhichanoticeofappealisuntimelyfiled,Nelsonhasnotfiledamotiontowaivetimelyfilingofthenoticeofappealoranysimilarpleading.Typically,suchfilingwouldcontainacknowledgmentthatthenoticeofappealwasnottimelyfiledandmwoumwmdmwmlmxdxmincludemverifiedfactualand/orlegalassertionswhytheinterestsofjusticedictatethatweshouldwaivetimelyfilingofthenoticeofappeal.SeeCleothaNash,slipop.atn____no3o(appealdismissedwhereneitherrecordnor `  allegationbythedefendantprovidedsufficientbasisforwaiveroftimelyfilingofnoticeofappeal). `  DespiteNelson'sshortcominginthisregard,wesomewhatreluctantlywaivethetimelyfilingrequirementforthenoticeofappeal.TheissueNelsonhasraisedonappealisanovelone,andasbestwecantell,isanissueoffirstimpressioninTennessee.Itisbetteraddressednowondirectappeal,ratherthaninadelayedappealfollowingapostconvictioncaseinwhichdefensecounselmightbefoundineffectiveforfailingtoperfectatimelydirectappeal.Intheinterestofjustice,wewaivetherequirementoftimelyfilingofthenoticeofappeal.Tenn.R.App.P.4.Weadmonishcounselyforthisyandotherhappeallinghhappealinghparties,however,thatthisresultisnotapreordainedconclusion,andweexpectacknowledgmentandanexplanationwhencounselhasfailedtocomplywiththeRulesofAppellateProcedure.@, II  0`'*  `  Nelsonclaimshisaggravatedarsonconvictioncannotbesustainedbecausetheseriousbodilyinjuryusedtopaggravatepqelevateqthecrimefromsimplearsonwashisown,notanotherperson's.Inpertinentpart,"[a]personcommitsaggravatedarsonwhocommitsarsonasdefinedin3914301or3914303...[w]henany @8.2 person,includingfirefightersandlawenforcementofficials,suffersseriousbodily  :04 injuryasaresultofthefireorexplosion."Tenn.CodeAnn.3914302(a)(2)(1997)(emphasisadded)."'Person'includesthesingularandpluralandmeansandincludesanyindividual,firm,partnership,copartnership,association,corporation,governmentalsubdivisionoragency,orotherorganizationorotherlegalentity,oranyagentorservantthereof[.]"Tenn.CodeAnn.3911106(a)(27)(1997). `  Theaggravatedarsonstatuteisanomalous.Elsewhereinthecriminalcode,offenseswhichareaggravatedorespeciallyaggravatedbytheinflictionofbodilyinjuryorseriousbodilyinjuryarewordeddifferently.SeeTenn.CodeAnn. ` 3913102(a)(1)(A)(1997)(aggravatedassault)("seriousbodilyinjurytoanother");Tenn.CodeAnn.3913304(a)(4)(1997)(aggravatedkidnapping)("victimsuffersbodilyinjury");Tenn.CodeAnn.3913305(a)(4)(1997)(especiallyaggravatedkidnapping)("victimsuffersseriousbodilyinjury");Tenn.CodeAnn.3913402(a)(2)(1997)(aggravatedrobbery)("victimsuffersseriousbodilyinjury");Tenn.CodeAnn.3913403(a)(1997)(especiallyaggravatedrobbery)("victimsuffersseriousbodilyinjury");Tenn.CodeAnn.3913502(a)(2)(1997)(aggravatedrape)("defendantcausesbodilyinjurytothevictim");Tenn.CodeAnn.3913504(a)(2)(1997)(aggravatedsexualbattery)("defendantcausesbodilyinjurytothevictim");Tenn.CodeAnn.3914404(a)(2)(1997)(especiallyaggravatedburglary)("victimsuffersseriousbodilyinjury").Theaggravatedarsonstatutestandsalonesinrbasingtheaggravarsraisingthepossibilityofadefendant'sconvictionoftheaggravatedoffensebaseduponhisownseriousbodilyinjury. `  Inexaminingthecriminalcode,wefindnoindicationtthtutjtuvatvweshoulddepartfromtheplainmeaningofthedefinitionof"person"andthecommon,ordinaryusageoftheword"any."Thus,webelieve"anyperson"whosuffersseriousbodilyinjuryincludesthedefendant.Wearefurtherpersuadedbythe  :04 wordingoftheaggravatedarsonstatuteitself,whichprovidesthat"aperson"isguiltyofthecrimeifcertainelementsaremet,includingthat"anyperson"(not"any @  otherperson")suffersseriousbodilyinjury.UnlikecYthestatutesforYLothercrimLNesNcdotherdecrimiefeaefgnalgdcodeprovisionsd,   theaggravatedarsonstatutedoesnotrequireinjurytoa"victim"or"another"asanelementofthecrime.Furthermore,thisresultisconsistentwiththeuniquecharacterofthecrimeofarson.Moresothantheotheroffensesinthecriminalcodewhichareaggravatedbysomelevelofbodilyinjury,arsonasageneralpropositioncreatesadangerousexigencywhichhasthepotentialtoendangerthecriminalhimself,inadditiontoanytargetedindividual,membersofthepublic,andrescuepersonnel. `  Thus,wefindnoflawwiththedefendant'sconvictionofaggravatedarsonbaseduponhisownseriousbodilyinjuryfromtheexplosionhecreated.Thejudgmentofthetrialcourtisaffirmed. ` hh    h     hh________________________________hh `     h     hhJAMESCURWOODhhhhWITT,JR.,hhJUDGE{zONCz{|CON|}|U|}~CUR:~hh_______________________________hhhhDAVIDH.WELLES,JUDGEhhhh_______________________________hhhhL.T.LAFFERTY,SPECIALhhJUDGE̜