Anthony Spearman v. State of Mississippi

• Court: Court of Appeals of Mississippi
• Decided: February 18, 2025
• Docket: 2023-KA-01091-COA
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2023-KA-01091-COA

ANTHONY SPEARMAN APPELLANT

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 08/28/2023 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. ALAN D. LANCASTER COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: GRENADA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: ZAKIA BUTLER CHAMBERLAIN ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: KATY TAYLOR SARVER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: WILLIAM ADAM HOPPER NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 02/18/2025 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE BARNES, C.J., WESTBROOKS AND WEDDLE, JJ.

BARNES, C.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Anthony Spearman and co-defendant Jackquan Baker were convicted for aggravated

assault and sentenced to serve twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of

Corrections (MDOC). On appeal, Spearman’s appointed counsel filed a brief pursuant to

Lindsey v. State, 939 So. 2d 743 (Miss. 2005), representing that she has diligently reviewed

the record but has been unable to find any arguable issue for appellate review. This Court

issued an order allowing Spearman forty days to file a pro se supplemental brief. However,

no pro se brief was filed. After independently reviewing the briefs and the record, we affirm

Spearman’s conviction and sentence. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. On July 15, 2020, LeeKedrick Moore and a friend went to the Walmart store in

Grenada, Mississippi. Moore got out of the car and was standing next to the trunk of the car

when he heard someone call his name. He saw Spearman and Baker coming toward him

“with guns.” When Moore fired back, Spearman and Baker ran away. Moore suffered a

wound to his foot,1 and he went inside the store for help.

¶3. Spearman and Baker were charged and tried jointly for aggravated assault. At trial,

Moore testified that the defendants, whom he identified, approached him in the store’s

parking lot and began shooting. Moore had a gun and returned fire. Moore testified, “He

shot. And both started shooting. I started shooting back.” Video-surveillance evidence

corroborated Moore’s testimony. Moore was shot in his right foot in the exchange of gunfire.

¶4. On cross-examination, Moore denied being the initial aggressor. When questioned

if Moore shot himself in the foot, Moore noted that the bullet retrieved from his foot “was

a 45 [caliber]”; Moore was “shooting a 9 millimeter.” Neither Spearman nor Baker offered

any evidence at trial. The court therefore refused to give the defense’s proposed self-defense

instruction, finding no “evidence that the jury could consider that either of the defendants

were acting in self-defense.”

¶5. A Grenada County Circuit Court jury found Spearman and Baker guilty, and the trial

court sentenced both defendants to serve twenty years in MDOC’s custody. Spearman filed

1 Baker also sustained a gunshot wound before leaving the scene with Spearman.

2 a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial, in

which he argued that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence and that the trial

court erred in refusing the defense’s proposed self-defense instruction. The circuit court

denied the motion, and Spearman filed a notice of appeal.2

DISCUSSION

¶6. “Our Supreme Court has established a procedure to govern cases where appellate

counsel represents an indigent criminal defendant and does not believe his or her client’s case

presents any arguable issues on appeal.” Nobles v. State, 391 So. 3d 243, 245 (¶8) (Miss. Ct.

App. 2024). In Lindsey, the Mississippi Supreme Court instructed that in addition to filing

and serving a brief that complies with Rule 28(a)(1)-(5), (8) of the Mississippi Rules of

Appellate Procedure,

counsel must certify that there are no arguable issues supporting the client’s appeal, and he or she has reached this conclusion after scouring the record thoroughly, specifically examining: (a) the reason for the arrest and the circumstances surrounding arrest; (b) any possible violations of the client’s right to counsel; (c) the entire trial transcript; (d) all rulings of the trial court; (e) possible prosecutorial misconduct; (f) all jury instructions; (g) all exhibits, whether admitted into evidence or not; and (h) possible misapplication of the law in sentencing.

Lindsey, 939 So. 2d at 748 (¶18). “Counsel must then send a copy of the appellate brief to

the defendant, inform the client that counsel could find no arguable issues in the record, and

advise the client of his or her right to file a pro se brief.” Id. “Once briefing is complete, the

2 We affirmed Baker’s conviction and sentence in his separate appeal. See Baker v. State, No. 2023-KA-01111-COA, 2025 WL 87913 (Miss. Ct. App. Jan. 14, 2025).

3 appellate court must consider the case on its merits and render a decision.” Id.

¶7. Appellate counsel complied with the procedure set forth in Lindsey, sending Spearman

a copy of the brief and advising him that he could file a pro se supplemental brief. After

being provided forty days to file a brief, Spearman did not do so. Having independently and

thoroughly reviewed the record, we find that the State presented sufficient evidence to

support the conviction and that there was no evidence to support a self-defense instruction.

We find no arguable issues for appeal and affirm Spearman’s conviction and sentence.

¶8. AFFIRMED.

CARLTON AND WILSON, P.JJ., WESTBROOKS, McDONALD, LAWRENCE, McCARTY, EMFINGER, WEDDLE AND ST. PÉ, JJ., CONCUR.