Brantley v. State

610 So. 2d 1139, 1992 WL 357244
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 3, 1992
Docket90-KA-0590
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 610 So. 2d 1139 (Brantley v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brantley v. State, 610 So. 2d 1139, 1992 WL 357244 (Mich. 1992).

Opinion

610 So.2d 1139 (1992)

Henry BRANTLEY,
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 90-KA-0590.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 3, 1992.

William M. Frisbie, Inverness, for appellant.

Michael C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Charles W. Maris, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., and SULLIVAN and McRAE, JJ.

DAN M. LEE, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

This is an appeal from the Washington County Circuit Court by Henry Brantley following his conviction for the crimes of armed robbery and rape. Brantley was sentenced to twenty (20) years for armed robbery and to thirty-five (35) years for rape, the sentences to run consecutively, in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Brantley assigns as error the following:

I. The trial court erred in its oral comments/instructions to the jury after submission of the case to the jury.
II. The trial court erred when it overruled Brantley's motion during trial to ban television cameras from the courtroom.

After a review of the record and briefs in this case, we find that the lower court erred as to issue I, in its instructions to the jury, and as to issue II, in its overruling of appellant's motion to ban television cameras from the courtroom. We reverse appellant's conviction for armed robbery and rape and remand to the Washington County Circuit Court for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

FACTS

On Saturday, March 12, 1988, at approximately 10:20 a.m., P.W.[1] arrived at Remember Me Flower and Gift Shop, the florist shop which she owned and operated, in Leland, Mississippi, to open up for business. A black male entered the shop shortly thereafter wearing a heavy jacket, *1140 gloves, and a cap described by P.W. as being a "toboggan." P.W. thought this was odd as this particular March 12 was a very warm day. Without speaking a word, the man presented a pot of chrysanthemums to her for purchase. He removed one of his gloves and handed her a $20 dollar bill to pay for the purchase. When she opened the cash register, the man stuck a 12-inch knife with a taped handle against her back and nodded toward the register. P.W. then stuffed all of the bills from the register, over $700, into the pockets of the man's jacket. The man next pointed to the change remaining in the register, which P.W. put in a white paper bag for him. P.W. was then forced into the rear of the store near a bathroom area where the man ripped off her clothing and forcibly raped her. During the robbery and the rape, the man never spoke a word.

When she heard the chimes on the front door jingle, P.W. assumed that her assailant was leaving. She put her clothes back on, ran to a nearby package store, and called the police. P.W. saw her assailant on the corner as she fled her shop, but by the time the police arrived he was gone.

After being examined by a physician and a rape test was performed, P.W. viewed several books of mug shots but failed to identify her assailant. However, deafmute Henry Brantley was later arrested (and subsequently convicted and sentenced to thirty-five years in prison) for robbing a convenience store in Greenville. Because the descriptions of the robber and the knife used in the Greenville robbery were similar to those of the assailant and the knife used in the Leland rape and robbery, Leland Police officers brought P.W. mug shots of several black males, including a photograph of Brantley. P.W. identified Brantley as her assailant in both the photo line-up and in a subsequent live line-up.

On July 13, 1988, Brantley was indicted for the armed robbery of the Remember Me Flower and Gift Shop and the rape of the shop's proprietor, P.W. Brantley was arraigned March 23, 1989, and, through the services of an interpreter, pled not guilty to the charges against him.

Brantley's first trial ended in a mistrial on November 3, 1989. The second trial began on May 7, 1990, in Washington County Circuit Court. During the course of the trial the trial judge overruled Brantley's objections to the presence of television cameras in the courtroom. However he did clear the courtroom of all spectators during the victim's testimony, with the exception of Brantley's mother and the television cameras, and ordered the television crews to avoid broadcasting the victim's name, her likeness, or any of her testimony.

On Tuesday, May 8, the case was submitted to the jury for deliberations. At some unspecified time during the afternoon the jurors sent the trial judge a note saying: "We cannot reach a verdict. Our vote is 5 guilty 7 not guilty. With no one willing to change their mind." Brantley moved for a mistrial which the trial judge denied. The record does not reflect what response, if any, the trial court gave the jury at this time.

Later that afternoon, again at an unspecified time, the jury sent a second note to the trial judge, this time stating: "This jury is at an impasse. The vote has remained the same after much talk and study of the evidence. No one shows any evidence that they will change their mind or their vote. If we must continue our deliberation we would prefer to continue tomorrow." The trial judge called in the jury and told the jurors that he wasn't satisfied that they had discussed the case long enough, stating "I'm going to direct you to return to the jury room and to continue your deliberations."

The jury recessed for the night without reaching a verdict, and was sequestered. One of the jurors sent the judge a note telling him that one of the deputies who had driven her to her home to get clothing had spoken to her about Brantley. At 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 9, the judge brought the juror in and questioned her regarding what had been said to her about Brantley. The deputy reportedly told the juror, "Well, this guy here, I know him." The juror stated that she was in no way *1141 influenced by the remark "because I had already made my mind up from the evidence and testimonies. My mind's made up already, so that didn't have any effect on me. But it's just the idea that this is supposed to be, you know, confidential, secure, or whatever."

Brantley again moved for a mistrial, and again the motion was denied by the trial judge. Then Brantley's attorney stated the following:

I would ask that you bring back — that you give them an Allen charge, that you do not state to them in any manner that they must reach a verdict. I think to imply that is inviting error in the proceeding. That we'd be a lot better off if we just used an Allen charge, and if you're going to continue to —
(BY THE TRIAL JUDGE): I'm not going to give them an Allen charge ... Not at this time, anyway. I'm going to just explain to them what's gone on.

The trial judge then brought the jurors back into the courtroom, and he addressed them in the following manner:

Ladies and gentlemen, I received your communication indicating that someone had made some remark to one of the jurors. And I have spoken with that juror, and I have concluded from everything that she's told me about the matter that it was a harmless statement which has had no influence on her whatsoever. She has assured all of us of that fact. Now, she did say something during the course of our discussion that did cause me some concern and I want to review this with you. She said that she had already made her mind up. At this point I don't think anybody ought to have their mind made up because you have not reached a verdict. If all 12 of you can agree on a verdict, that's when everybody's mind ought to be made up.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
610 So. 2d 1139, 1992 WL 357244, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brantley-v-state-miss-1992.