Courtney R. Logan v. State of Mississippi

192 So. 3d 1012, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 429, 2015 WL 4927676
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 18, 2015
Docket2012-KA-01963-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 192 So. 3d 1012 (Courtney R. Logan 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
Courtney R. Logan v. State of Mississippi, 192 So. 3d 1012, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 429, 2015 WL 4927676 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinions

LEE, C.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. This appeal proceeds from a judgment of conviction following a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Leflore County, where the jury found Courtney Logan guilty on five counts of kidnapping, one count of aiding escape, and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.1 Logan was sentenced, as a habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-19-83 (Supp.2014), to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole! Finding no error, we affirm.

EACTS AND PROCEDURAL, HISTORY

¶ 2. On June 25, 2009, transportation sergeants Chrissy Flowers, Perry Jones, and Leander Robertson transported two inmates of the Delta Correctional Facility for an eye examination at The Eye Station (the Clinic) in Greenwood, Mississippi. Joseph L. Jackson, one of the inmates, was serving a life sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) at .the time.

¶ 3. The officers and the two inmates arrived at the Clinic approximately ten minutes before the clinic opened at 8 a.m. The officers parked in the back of the building and checked the perimeter of the building. One officer entered the clinic and checked with Ashley Bowlin, an employee of the Clinic, to see if it ivas okay to bring in the inmates. Officer Robertson then escorted Jackson through the back door, and Officer Jones escorted the other inmate. Officer Flowers; armed with a silver service-weapon revolver, followed behind them and remained at the back door. Jackson- was bound in full restraints, which included handcuffs; a waist chain, a black box, and leg irons. After a brief wait, Jackson was called for his exam. Officer Robertson escorted Jackson to an exam room, and he stood by the door to observe Jackson.

¶ 4. Moments later, Courtney Logan, a cousin of Jackson, entered the Clinic through the back door. Logan, carrying a duffel bag and armed with a black handgun, fired a shot in the air and ordered everyone to get on the floor. Officer Robertson lay down and slid into one of the back exam rooms. Officer Flowers lay down near -the back door, and Officer Jones lay down in the waiting-room area. [1016]*1016Bowlin slid into another room. Logan came around the corner and ordered Bow-lin to open the door. Bowlin opened the door, and Logan held the gun to Bowlin’s face and told her he was going to blow her head off. Logan demanded a cell phone from Bowlin, and she replied that she did not have one. Logan walked back around the corner, continued to scream profanities, and demanded the keys. Logan threatened to kill Officer Flowers if she did not give him the keys. He then took Officer Flowers’s gun. Logan came back around the corner, stuck his gun in Bow-lin’s face again, and told her not to move, Logan shot a second time in the air and again threatened to shoot Officer Flowers in the head if he was not given the keys. Officer Robertson came out of the back room and threw the keys on- the floor. Logan ordered Officer Flowers to get up and remove Jackson’s restraints and shackles, but Officer Flowers was trembling so much that she was unable to unlock them. Jackson then told Officer Flowers to give him the keys so he could take them off.

¶ 5. Meanwhile, Margaret Davis Chester, the office manager of the Clinic, arrived approximately two or three minutes after 8 a.m. Before Chester entered the Clinic, she heard what sounded like a gunshot. As soon as Chester entered the back door, Logan put a gun in her face, yelled profanities, and ordered her to “get in.” Chester, followed by Logan, walked straight to the lab in the Clinic and put down her purse and keys. Chester saw two officers and the other inmate lying on the floor and Jackson in the middle of the room changing clothes with handcuffs dangling from his arm and a duffle bag beside him. Logan then ordered Chester to get on the floor, and she complied.

¶ 6. Jackson finished changing and grabbed the duffle bag and keys. Jackson, dragging the restraints marked “CCA,” and Logan left the Clinic. After Jackson and Logan exited, Officer Robertson locked the front door, and Chester called 911. Officers from the Greenwood Police Department responded to the Clinic and found two spent nine-millimeter casings — one.was found on top of a desk in the Clinic and the other on the floor behind the desk. Three plastic zip ties, often used as restraints, were found in the Clinic’s rear parking lot. The officers and the employees of the Clinic all identified Logan at trial, and they all testified that they felt they were not free to leave during their encounter with Logan.

¶ 7. On June 25, 2009, Jackson and Logan, traveling in a rented black Dodge Magnum, were stopped on 1-40 just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, by Detective Norris Tarkington, a detective of the Metro Nashville Police Department. Jackson and Logan were taken into custody. A dark green duffel bag with brown trim, a cell-phone charger, a black nylon holster, zip ties, leg irons, and handcuffs marked “CCA” were recovered from the vehicle. A loaded nine-millimeter handgun was recovered on top of the console, two nine-millimeter magazines were retrieved from Logan’s person, and the service-weapon revolver taken from Officer Flowers was also recovered.

¶ 8. Logan testified in his own defense at trial, essentially admitting to having committed all the crimes, but claiming duress. Logan testified that Jackson and Jackson’s father, Joseph Jackson Sr, (Jackson Sr.), devised a plan to escape during a doctor visit. Logan testified that Jackson Sr. brought him to Greenwood, Mississippi, in April 2009, and showed him the Clinic and the Travel Inn Motel. Logan admitted to following through with the crimes, but claimed his intent was only to follow the orders of his uncle, Jackson Sr., [1017]*1017because he felt at the time he had no choice. Logan described Jackson Sr. as ruthless and very persuasive. He testified that Jackson Sr. knew that Logan’s weakness was his children, and he feared Jackson Sr. would do something to his children such as “kidnap, snatch up, anything.” He also testified that whatever Jackson Sr. wanted, Jackson Sr. was going to get by any means. However, Logan testified that he did not have a close relationship with his uncle. Logan also testified that he did not know Jackson very well, because Jackson had been incarcerated' the last ten or eleven years. Logan' testified that Jackson threatened Logan’s child’s life when Jackson text messaged a picture of Logan’s six-month-old son and told him, “[Logan’s] son looked nice.”' To Logan, this subliminally meant that “[Jackson] has eyes on my children.” Logan testified that “there were no other threats.”

¶ 9. Logan testified that on the June 24, 2009, he' and his mother rented the black Dodge Magnum. Logan then went to Jackson Sr.’s house in Louisville, Kentucky, where Jackson Sr. gave him a duffle bag containing a cell phone and charger, zip ties, clothes for Jackson, a nine-millimeter handgun and clips, and a GPS device to guide him to Greenwood. Logan claimed that he asked Jackson Sr.' if he would leave him out of it and have someone else go through with it, but Jackson Sr. told Logan no. Logan drove from Louisville, to Greenwood, Mississippi, and checked into the Travel Inn Motel at approximately 3:30 a.m. on June 25, 2009. Jackson Sr. called Logan later that morning for a wake-up call. Shortly after, Jackson called Logan to tell him he was leaving the jail for the Clinic.

¶ 10. Logan testified that after he picked up Jackson at the Clinic, his next destination was to drop him off with Jackson Sr.

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Bluebook (online)
192 So. 3d 1012, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 429, 2015 WL 4927676, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/courtney-r-logan-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2015.