Brymon Hamp, Jr. v. State of Mississippi

207 So. 3d 684, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 790
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 13, 2016
DocketNO. 2014-KA-00539-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 207 So. 3d 684 (Brymon Hamp, Jr. v. State of Mississippi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brymon Hamp, Jr. v. State of Mississippi, 207 So. 3d 684, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 790 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

LEE, C.J.,

FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. In this appeal, we must decide whether the Circuit Court of Coahoma County erred in denying Brymon Hamp Jr.’s motion to suppress.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On July 29, 2010, a concerned citizen reported that something had happened to Gerald Simmons at his nearby liquor store in Friars Point, Mississippi. The chief of police of Friars Point, Tracy Vance, went to the store and found the door open, Simmons lying on the floor semi-conscious and with gashes to his head, and blood spatter throughout the store. The cash register was open, and no bills were in the cash-register di'awer. Shortly thereafter, Simmons was transported to the hospital.

¶3. While Chief Vance was at Simmons’s store, he received a phone call from an anonymous caller. The caller stated Jerry Carr and another person “supposed to been hit [sic] Simmons,” and they were driving a “black box Chevy.” Chief Vance relayed this information to the Coahoma County dispatcher and Investigator Neal Mitchell with the Coahoma County Sheriffs Department.

¶ 4. Investigator Mitchell went to the hospital, where he attempted to interview Simmons, who was in and out of consciousness. According to Investigator Mitchell, Simmons’s son was present during the interview and suggested that two individuals assaulted Simmons. Then Simmons, during a moment of consciousness, stated that possibly two young, black males had assaulted him.

¶ 5. Investigator Herbert Thomas was at the hospital while Investigator Mitchell interviewed Simmons. Investigator Thomas also received a phone call from an anonymous caller. According to Investigator Thomas, the caller stated: “The people y’all are looking for [are] BooJack, Boot-chie[,] and Yount. They’re going to be in a black faded box Chevy headed toward ... Clarksdale.” Investigator Thomas knew Bootchie and Yount were nicknames for Carr and Tyonda Tenner, respectively. At the time, Investigator Thomas did not know that BooJack was Hamp’s nickname. Investigator Thomas relayed the information to Sergeant Oliver Mitchell. And a be-on-the-lookout (“BOLO”) was issued.

¶ 6. Deputy Dewayne Harvey with the Coahoma County Sheriffs Department spotted a vehicle matching the description in the BOLO, with Carr in the passenger seat and another person driving. Deputy Harvey intended to stop the vehicle as soon as it reached a more populated area. As Deputy Harvey began following the *687 vehicle, the driver—later determined to be Hamp—increased speed. Deputy Harvey testified that the vehicle “got up to a high rate of speed[,] ... maybe 60, 65 [miles per hour,]” before he turned his blue lights on. At that point, Deputy Harvey turned on his blue lights and attempted to pull the vehicle over. A pursuit ensued, which lasted approximately ten minutes. According to Deputy Harvey, the vehicle reached speeds as high as 85 miles per hour on a two-lane road. However, Deputy Harvey did not have a radar in his vehicle. The vehicle also ran several stop signs and nearly collided with another vehicle. After Deputy Harvey called for backup, the vehicle was eventually pulled over. The officers detained Hamp and Carr and recovered $304 from Hamp and $282 from Carr. Investigator Thomas noticed a blood stain on Hamp’s shoe, so Hamp’s shoes and later his clothes were seized. In the vehicle, a bottle of vodka was on the front seat and a case of gin was on the back seat.

¶ 7. Hamp filed a pretrial motion to exclude the physical evidence that was obtained as a result of the investigatory stop on July 29. Defense counsel argued that the investigatory stop was based on information from anonymous informants, that the tips bore no indicia of reliability, and that the officers did not investigate the veracity of the information. After a hearing on the motion, the trial court found that the circumstances surrounding the investigatory stop did not warrant suppression of the items that were seized.

¶ 8. At trial, Dr. Feng Li testified that Simmons died on August 6, 2010. According to Dr. Li, Simmons’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head, and the manner of death was homicide. The items seized during the investigatory stop were then introduced into evidence. Expert testimony established that Hamp’s shoe and shorts tested positive for blood, and the blood samples matched Simmons’s DNA profile.

¶ 9. Tenner testified that Hamp lived in her apartment, and as part of them living arrangement, Hamp was responsible for paying the gas bill. Tenner testified that, on July 29, Hamp promised that he would get the money to pay the bill. Later that afternoon, Hamp and Carr returned with $900 and a case of gin. Hamp gave Tenner $300 for the gas bill. And Hamp stated that he and Carr hit Simmons in the back of the head with a gun and robbed his liquor store.

¶ 10. Hamp was convicted of Count I, capital murder, and Count II, felony fleeing. Hamp was sentenced as a habitual offender to life for Count I and five years for Count II, to run consecutively to the sentence in Count I, without the possibility of parole or probation, all in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Hamp filed a motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which was denied. Hamp appeals.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. A mixed standard of review is applied to Fourth Amendment suppression-of-evidence inquiries. Cooper v. State, 145 So.3d 1219, 1224 (¶ 15) (Miss. Ct. App. 2013).

Determinations of reasonable suspicion and probable cause should be reviewed de novo. However, this Court is restricted to a de novo review of the trial judge’s decision based on historical facts reviewed under the substantial evidence and clearly erroneous standards. Further, the Court reviews a trial court’s decision to admit or exclude evidence following a motion to suppress under the abuse-of-discretion standard.

Id. (internal quotations and citations omitted).

*688 DISCUSSION

¶ 12. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 3, Section 23 of the Mississippi Constitution protect individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. U.S. Const, amend. IV; Miss. Const, art. 3, § 23.

¶ 13. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that “before conducting an investigatory, or Terry[ 1 ] stop, officers are required to have ‘reasonable suspicion, grounded in specific and articulable facts, that a person they encounter was involved in a felony or some objective manifestation that the person stopped is[,] or is about to be[,] engaged in criminal activity.’ ” Cooper v. State, 145 So.3d 1164, 1168 (¶ 11) (Miss. 2014) (emphasis in original) (quoting Williamson v. State, 876 So.2d 353, 355 (¶ 12) (Miss. 2004)). “Reasonable suspicion can arise from an officer’s personal observations, a tip by a trusted police informant, or by anonymous tip.” Id. (citing Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266, 270-71, 120 S.Ct. 1375, 146 L.Ed.2d 254 (2000)).

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Bluebook (online)
207 So. 3d 684, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 790, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brymon-hamp-jr-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2016.