Crawford v. State

787 So. 2d 1236, 2001 WL 423297
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 26, 2001
Docket1998-KA-01682-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 787 So. 2d 1236 (Crawford 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
Crawford v. State, 787 So. 2d 1236, 2001 WL 423297 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

787 So.2d 1236 (2001)

Charles Ray CRAWFORD
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 1998-KA-01682-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 26, 2001.

*1238 Clive A. Stafford Smith, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, Attorney for Appellee.

Before PITTMAN, C.J., and COBB and DIAZ, JJ.

COBB, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Charles Ray Crawford is before this Court appealing the judgment of the Lafayette County Circuit Court based on a jury verdict which found him guilty of aggravated assault after a four day trial. On May 21, 1993, the circuit judge sentenced Crawford to twenty (20) years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. No post trial motions were filed at that time, and no appeal taken. On March 11, 1996, Crawford filed a pro se Motion for Appointment of Counsel but he did not pursue that motion, and the record does not reflect that any ruling was ever made on the motion. However, more than five years after Crawford was sentenced, attorney David 0. Bell filed, on behalf of Crawford, a Motion for Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict or, in the Alternative, for a New Trial. In the motion counsel stated "Defendant sought new court-appointed counsel, and undersigned counsel was appointed" and "Defendant requests that the present motion be considered by this Court nunc pro tunc." No mention was made of the motion being out-of-time, nor was any explanation given for the delay of more than five years. The trial judge found that the motion for new trial was not timely filed and was not properly before the circuit court. He further found that the time had also expired for Crawford to file for post-conviction relief, and thus could not be properly before the court even if it had been brought under the Post Conviction Relief Act. He *1239 then found that notwithstanding the fact that the motion was not properly before the court, he would, at Crawford's request (and over the State's objection) consider the Motion for JNOV or new trial as if it had been timely filed. Then "after hearing testimony and argument from counsel on the merits of said motion, the court finds that there are no grounds which would warrant the granting of a JNOV or a new trial" and denied the motion. Crawford filed a notice of appeal to this Court, raising the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN RULING THAT CRAWFORD WAS COMPETENT TO STAND TRIAL?
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO CONTINUE THE COMPETENCY HEARING UNTIL DEFENSE EXPERTS COULD REVIEW CRAWFORD'S POST SEIZURE MEDICAL RECORDS AND RE-EXAMINE HIM?
III. WHETHER THE JURY'S VERDICT THAT CRAWFORD WAS SANE WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE?
IV. WHETHER ADMISSION OF EVIDENCE THAT CRAWFORD HAD RAPED WITNESS KELLY ROBERTS, DEPRIVED CRAWFORD OF A FUNDAMENTALLY FAIR TRIAL?
V. WHETHER JURY INSTRUCTIONS S-2, S-7-A, S-5 AND S-6 WERE FLAWED TO THE EXTENT THEY SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GIVEN?
VI. WHETHER IT WAS REVERSIBLE ERROR FOR THE PROSECUTORIAL TEAM TO MAKE CRAWFORD'S IMPENDING RELEASE FROM A MENTAL INSTITUTION A CONSTANT THEME IN THE CASE?
VII. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO EXCUSE FOR CAUSE JURORS SHERRY SAM AND CONSTANCE PARHAM?
VIII. WHETHER THE PROSECUTION VIOLATED THE RULES OF DISCOVERY TO CRAWFORD'S DETRIMENT?
IX. WHETHER THE TRIAL JUDGE ERRED IN DECLINING TO SEQUESTER THE JURY?
X. WHETHER THE TRIAL JUDGE ERRED IN ADMITTING INTO EVIDENCE TWO COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS DEPICTING THE VICTIM'S SUTURED HEAD WOUND?
XI. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING INTO EVIDENCE CERTAIN ITEMS SEIZED DURING A SEARCH OF CRAWFORD'S HOME?
XII. WHETHER THE CUMULATION OF ERROR REQUIRES REVERSAL EVEN IF INDIVIDUAL ERRORS DO NOT?

¶ 2. Within the State's brief, as a single sentence at the end of its statement of facts, the State simply stated that "[f]or whatever reason, Crawford's appeal appears to be out-of-time, and the State of Mississippi, as a part and parcel of this brief, hereby moves to dismiss his appeal." Then the State's argument addressed the merits of the issues set forth by Crawford, *1240 without further mention of the timeliness issue.

¶ 3. This Court finds that the Circuit Court Judge was correct in his decisions regarding the timeliness of Crawford's post trial motions, and we affirm the trial court's judgment in that regard.

¶ 4. In addition, we have also addressed the merits of the issues raised by Crawford, and find his assignments of error to be without merit.

FACTS

¶ 5. On April 13, 1991, Nicole Cutberth, a sixteen-year-old high school student was struck four times on the back of the head with a framing hammer. Charles Ray Crawford was indicted for aggravated assault by a Tippah County Grand Jury on December 10, 1991. Crawford claimed he was incompetent to stand trial, and that even if he were competent, he was insane under the M'Naghten standard when the crime was committed.

¶ 6. Crawford did indeed have a history of mental problems. From as early as six years of age, Crawford experienced hallucinations, black-out spells, periods of falling out and uncontrollable fears. He had twice been admitted to mental hospitals.

¶ 7. A competency hearing was held the morning of the trial. Crawford testified that he could not aid his lawyer in his case and could not meaningfully participate in his defense because of medication he had been taking following two recent seizures. The State produced Dr. Reb McMichael who testified that he and Dr. William Lott had interviewed Crawford for an hour and twenty minutes that morning and found him to be competent to stand trial.

¶ 8. The trial court judge found as a fact and concluded as a matter of law that Crawford "has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding; that he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him...." and that Crawford was thus competent to stand trial.

¶ 9. Five witnesses testified on behalf of the State during its case-in-chief, including the victim, Nicole Cutberth, and her companion on the day of the attack, Kelly Roberts, the defendant's sister-in-law. Cutberth identified Crawford as her assailant. Roberts testified during re-direct, over the defendant's objection, that she was raped by Crawford minutes before he walked out of the house and struck Nicole Cutberth in the head with the hammer.

¶ 10. At the close of the State's case-in-chief, the defendant moved for a directed verdict of acquittal "on the grounds [the] State has failed to prove a prima facia [sic] case for the crime of aggravated assault. They may have, in fact, established a prima facia [sic] case for the crime of simple assault." The trial judge denied the motion.

¶ 11. Crawford produced only one witness, Dr. L.D. Hutt, a Memphis clinical psychologist, who testified that, in his opinion, Crawford was suffering from a bipolar disorder, manic type at the time of the attack. Hutt stated "that given the psychiatric history and my findings that he did not have the ability to differentiate between right and wrong and conform his behavior to the dictates of the law at that time." Thus, Crawford was M'Naghten insane at the time of the crime.

¶ 12. The State produced two witnesses in rebuttal, Dr. Reb McMichael and Dr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Crawford v. Cain
122 F.4th 158 (Fifth Circuit, 2024)
Christopher Walker v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2023
Crawford v. Hall
N.D. Mississippi, 2020
Roman Harvell v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Malcolm Jamal Husband v. State of Mississippi
204 So. 3d 353 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Charles Ray Crawford v. State of Mississippi
192 So. 3d 905 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2015)
Benjamin Shelton v. State of Mississippi
172 So. 3d 216 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2014)
Bursey v. State
149 So. 3d 532 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2014)
Ferguson v. State
136 So. 3d 438 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Patton v. State
75 So. 3d 586 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Boyda v. State
57 So. 3d 61 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Coleman v. Ford Motor Co.
70 So. 3d 223 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Boyd v. State
47 So. 3d 121 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2010)
Sanders v. State
63 So. 3d 554 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Densmore v. State
27 So. 3d 379 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2009)
Humphries v. State
18 So. 3d 305 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
James Earl Boyd v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2009
Daniels v. State
9 So. 3d 1194 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
787 So. 2d 1236, 2001 WL 423297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawford-v-state-miss-2001.