09/29/2020 IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE Assigned on Briefs August 19, 2020 STATE OF TENNESSEE v. NELSON YOJENI OCHOA-PUENTES Appeal from the Circuit Court for Dickson County No. 22CC-2015-CR-426 David D. Wolfe, Judge No. M2019-01627-CCA-R3-CD The defendant, Nelson Yojeni Ochoa-Puentes, appeals his Dickson County Circuit Court jury conviction of attempted second degree murder, arguing that the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction and that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of his immigration status. Discerning no error, we affirm. Tenn. R. App. P. 3; Judgment of the Circuit Court Affirmed JAMES CURWOOD WITT, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which CAMILLE R. MCMULLEN, and TIMOTHY L. EASTER, JJ., joined. William B. Lockert, III, District Public Defender (on appeal and at trial), and Josh Turnbow, Assistant District Public Defender (at trial), for the appellant, Nelson Yojeni Ochoa-Puentes. Herbert H. Slatery III, Attorney General and Reporter; David H. Findley, Assistant Attorney General; W. Ray Crouch, Jr., District Attorney General; and Carey Thompson, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee. OPINION The Dickson County Grand Jury charged the defendant with one count of attempted first degree murder. Prior to the State’s case in chief at trial, the trial court found that the language of the indictment charged attempted second degree murder despite referencing the statute for first degree murder, and the trial proceeded on the charge of attempted second degree murder. Cheatham County Sheriff’s Office Deputy William Zimmerlee testified that, on August 3, 2015, he attempted to effectuate a traffic stop on the defendant, who was driving 73 miles per hour in a 50 mile per hour zone in Cheatham County. The defendant did not stop his vehicle, and a chase ensued, crossing into Dickson County. At some point, Deputy Zimmerlee saw the defendant’s “door starting to open on the vehicle, so I exit my vehicle.” He conducted a “felony stop,” exiting his cruiser with his “weapon out, ready for anything that’s going to happen.” As Deputy Zimmerlee neared the front of his vehicle, he “heard a pop. Sounded like gunfire. And I noticed that [the defendant] had a pistol” in his left hand. “That’s when I returned fire on him.” He stated that the events occurred “[v]ery quickly,” with the shooting occurring approximately 20 minutes after the chase began. The events were recorded by Deputy Zimmerlee’s dashboard camera, and the jury viewed the video recording, which showed the defendant exiting his vehicle, holding a gun, and briefly facing Deputy Zimmerlee’s vehicle before beginning to run away. Deputy Zimmerlee stated that he initially thought that he had fired “three or four rounds” at the defendant, but he later learned that he had fired eight rounds, hitting the defendant twice, once in his left hand and once in the upper leg. He explained that the defendant had fired first, “as soon as he got out of the vehicle,” with the bullet hitting “the ground toward the angle where I’m standing.” Deputy ...
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