Dahl v. State

989 So. 2d 910, 2007 WL 4303497
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 11, 2007
Docket2006-KA-00605-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 989 So. 2d 910 (Dahl v. State) 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
Dahl v. State, 989 So. 2d 910, 2007 WL 4303497 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

989 So.2d 910 (2007)

James Paul DAHL, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2006-KA-00605-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 11, 2007.
Rehearing Denied May 6, 2008.
Certiorari Denied August 21, 2008.

*912 Dustin Norman Thomas, Ocean Springs, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Stephanie Breland Wood, attorney for appellee.

Before MYERS, P.J., GRIFFIS and CARLTON, JJ.

CARLTON, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. A Jackson County Circuit Court jury found James Paul Dahl guilty of two counts of capital murder in the deaths of Harold Neal and Cheryl Sellers. He was sentenced to two life sentences in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, the sentences to run concurrently. He now appeals that verdict, asserting that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, that the verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and that the court erred in refusing to grant his motions for continuance and various motions to suppress evidence. Finding no error, we affirm the circuit court.

FACTS

¶ 2. In May of 2003, James Dahl and Eddie Hogancamp worked together at Dahl's brother, Gerry's, automobile repair shop in Vancleave, Mississippi. At that time, Hogancamp rented and lived in a houseboat owned by Gerry Dahl in Moss Point, Mississippi. In addition to their work relationship, Hogancamp and James Dahl (Dahl) also frequently did drugs together. The extent of Dahl's drug use is disputed; he claims he only smoked marijuana. Hogancamp, however, claims that the two smoked crack cocaine and methamphetamine together on occasion as well.

¶ 3. During Memorial Day weekend of 2003, Dahl's youngest daughter was hospitalized with asthma problems, and Dahl's wife was staying with her at the hospital in Ocean Springs. That Sunday, May 25, 2003, Dahl called Hogancamp to see if he had any marijuana to smoke. Hogancamp indicated that he did, and Dahl drove to Hogancamp's houseboat. Most of the events following Dahl's arrival at the houseboat are in dispute. Hogancamp admitted that he killed both Cheryl Sellers, by stabbing her repeatedly, and Harold Neal, by shooting him. The disputed facts relate to James Dahl's involvement in the planning of the murders and his knowledge beforehand, as well as his involvement in the murder of Neal.

*913 ¶ 4. Hogancamp testified that once Dahl arrived at the houseboat, they hatched a plan to rob and kill Hogancamp's crack cocaine supplier, Neal, and that the events of that day were part of their common plan. Dahl claims that he knew nothing of Hogancamp's plan to kill Neal, but he admits to helping Hogancamp in an effort to conceal the crimes after they were completed. Dahl claims he helped Hogancamp move Neal's car to Biloxi, that he helped move the bodies of Neal and Sellers to an island behind the houseboat, and that he helped clean blood from the crime scene.

¶ 5. Hogancamp's testimony at trial revealed that after Dahl arrived at the houseboat, the two men sat outside and smoked marijuana while they fished. Their minds soon turned to finding crack cocaine. Hogancamp was in debt to his crack dealer, Neal, and knew that Neal would not give him any drugs without being paid for them. Hogancamp claims that he and Dahl then worked out a plan to lure Neal to the houseboat. Hogancamp called Neal to come over, claiming that he had the money he owed him. Hogancamp and Dahl moved Dahl's car from the houseboat to the nearby Piggly Wiggly parking lot so Neal would not suspect that anyone else was at the houseboat when he arrived. Neal called when he was close to the houseboat, and Dahl waited in another room so as not to be detected by Neal. Their plan was that as Hogancamp talked to Neal, Dahl would come out and hit Neal with a baseball bat, and they would then kill him and take the crack from him. Neal arrived with Sellers, who was unexpected. Hogancamp retrieved some marijuana from upstairs in the houseboat for the three to smoke together. At that time, Dahl came out of the bedroom and hit Neal with the bat. The two men struggled. Meanwhile, Hogancamp struggled with Sellers and stabbed her several times with his pocket knife, killing her. After she fell to the floor, Hogancamp grabbed his gun and shot Neal, who had fallen to the floor in his struggle with Dahl.

¶ 6. Dahl and Hogancamp then moved the victims' bodies to another room. Dahl searched through Neal's pockets and found some cash, but no drugs. They also found the keys to Neal's car. After splitting the money they took from Neal, the two men decided to move Neal's car to Biloxi. Hogancamp drove Neal's car, and Dahl drove Hogancamp's car. They rode back from Biloxi in Hogancamp's car to the Piggly Wiggly, where Hogancamp bought cleaning supplies, and Dahl picked up his car. Dahl drove his car back to the houseboat and helped Hogancamp move the bodies out to the island behind the houseboat. Dahl also helped Hogancamp clean the blood from the crime scene. After their efforts to conceal their crimes, Hogancamp drove Dahl to the hospital to be with his wife and daughter, but kept Dahl's car. Dahl had to return to the houseboat to retrieve the car the next day.

¶ 7. The two men worked several days the next week at Gerry Dahl's shop, having brief discussions regarding moving the bodies to a more secret location, but Dahl never returned to the scene. Hogancamp left town at the end of the week to hide in Tennessee, where he had family. Once Hogancamp was out of the area, Dahl apparently explained to his brother, Gerry, some of the events related to the murders. Gerry went to the houseboat to view the scene, and then called authorities.

¶ 8. At the urging of his family, Hogancamp eventually turned himself in to the sheriff in Weakley County, Tennessee, on June 7, 2003. After giving several conflicting statements to law enforcement officers in Tennessee and Moss Point, Mississippi, Hogancamp admitted that he had killed the victims and that Dahl knew and had *914 helped him plan the crimes in order to obtain crack cocaine. Dahl turned himself in to law enforcement authorities in Moss Point on June 8, 2003. He also gave a statement to police confirming many details of the crimes, but denied any knowledge of a plan to kill Neal or Sellers. Hogancamp pleaded guilty to the murders and testified against Dahl at trial.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether Dahl received ineffective assistance of counsel.

¶ 9. Dahl asserts in his appeal that he received ineffective assistance of counsel, in violation of his rights under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and article 3, section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution. Dahl supports his assertion that his trial counsel was ineffective with several examples, including his attorney's failure to fully investigate through discovery motions what information the State had related to the case; his failure to interview certain witnesses and secure their appearance and testimony at trial; his failure to object to a jury instruction or to offer certain jury instructions on his behalf; his failure to ask follow-up questions of witnesses; and his failure to move for a mistrial on the ground that the jury deliberated as Hurricane Katrina was growing stronger. He also claims that his trial counsel was physically exhausted, and, therefore, ineffective.

¶ 10. For an ineffective assistance of counsel claim to succeed, a defendant must satisfy the two-pronged test established in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct.

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Bluebook (online)
989 So. 2d 910, 2007 WL 4303497, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dahl-v-state-missctapp-2007.