Dequane Lomax v. State of Mississippi

192 So. 3d 975, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 235, 2016 WL 3091402
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJune 2, 2016
Docket2014-KA-00835-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 192 So. 3d 975 (Dequane Lomax v. State of Mississippi) 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
Dequane Lomax v. State of Mississippi, 192 So. 3d 975, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 235, 2016 WL 3091402 (Mich. 2016).

Opinions

[977]*977BEAM, Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Dequane Lomax was indicted by a Hinds County grand jury on two counts of forcible rape in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-3-65(4)(a) and two counts of simple assault on a law-enforcement officer in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-3-7(l)(b). The Hinds County Circuit Court severed Count I from Counts II, III, and IV. Lomax then proceeded to trial on Counts II, III, and IV in March 2014. Lomax was convicted of Count II, forcible rape, and found not guilty of Counts III and IV, simple assault on a law-enforcement officer.

¶ 2. We find cumulative error occurred ■ at trial that deprived Lomax of the right to a fair trial. Therefore, we must reverse the judgment and remand this case for a new trial. Because we are remanding for a new trial, we need not address all the issues argued on appeal. Those not addressed in this opinion were fully considered by this Court and found to be without merit and/or moot. Accordingly, we limit our recitation of the facts to those we find necessary for the disposition of our decision.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3. In May 2013, a Hinds County grand jury indicted, eighteen-year-old De-quane Lomax for two counts of forcible rape in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-3-65(4)(a) and two counts of simple assault on law-enforcement officers in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-3-7(b).

¶ 4. Count I alleged that on September 10, 2012, Lomax forcibly raped seventeen-year-old T.L. at an abandoned building in Jackson, Mississippi.1 Count II alleged that on January- 20, 2013, Lomax forcibly raped fifteen-year-old S.C. at her residence in Jackson, Mississippi.2. Counts III and IV alleged that Lomax assaulted two law-enforcement officers, Detective Shivon Hodges and Detective Ella • Thomas, on February 7, 2013, in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-3-7(b).

¶ 5. Count I was severed from Counts II through IV. Lomax requested that the simple-assault charges, Counts III and IV, be severed from the forcible-rape charge, Count II. The trial court refused to sever the simple-assault charges from the rape charge because the simple-assault charges arose from the investigation of the forcible-rape charge. The jury found Lomax guilty of forcible rape against S.C. but not guilty of simple assault against the 'law-enforcement officers.

FACTS

¶ 6. S,C. and Lomax first became acquainted through Facebook. In January 2013, S.C. met Lomax for the first time outside her aunt’s. house, S.C. testified that on January 20, 2013, Lomax texted her and asked if he could visit her. S.C. agreed but told him she would text him when her mother, Barbara Carter, left for work. Once her mother left, S.C. texted Lomax, and he arrived approximately five to ten minutes later. Lomax sat in a chair in the middle of the living room, and S.C. sat on the couch.

¶7. Lomax asked S.C. for a hug, but she told him no. Lomax then sat next to S.C. on the couch and gave her a hug. S.C. asked Lomax, to leave, but he asked [978]*978permission to stay a few more minutes and she agreed. After several' failed attempts to kiss S.C., Lomax -grabbed S.C.’s -legs and pulled her toward him, attempting to kiss her again. He said, “You give me a kiss and I’ll stop.” S.C. replied, “No, get off me.” ■ Lomax tried to remove S.C.’s pants, but she -kicked him and told him to get off her. Lomax placed his hands around S.C.’s neck. S.C. let go of her pants and grabbed Lomax’s hands. Lo-max removed S.C.’s pants, and she continuously kicked him.

¶ 8. S.C. agreed to let Lomax “do it” if he would allow her to get a glass of water. When S.C, was free, she ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife off the kitchen counter. Lomax grabbed the knife, pushed- S.C. against the wall, and held the knife against her neck. With the knife still in his hand, Lomax grabbed her hand, sat her in the chair, and told her, “[y]ou can suck my d* * * or you either f* * * me.” S.C. told him that she wanted to do neither and wanted hini to stop, but Lo-max led her to her bedroom and pushed her on the bed.

' ¶ 9, S.C, attempted to resist Lomax, but he began choking her again. He held her down and glided the knife over her lower back and raped her. Within minutes, Lomax put his clothes on and left the room. S.C. grabbed her phone to call for help, but Lomax immediately returned to the room, grabbed the phone, and' erased his number from S.C.’s cell phone. Lomax grabbed the knife and walked out of the room, and S.C. followed. Lomax threw the knife on a chair, unlocked the door with his hands in his shirt and left.

¶ 10, S.C. called her cousin, Trinita Johnson, and told her that she had been raped. Trinita immediately came to S.C.’s house and called Carter. When Carter arrived, S.C. told her that she had been raped but did not tell her who had raped her. Carter took S.C. to the Univérsity of Mississippi Medical Center -.(UMMC), where S.C. was examined by a sexual-assault nurse-práctioner. S.C. testified to those facts at trial. -

¶11. "On February 4, 2013, S.C. was interviewed- by Regan Doíeac, a sexual-assault nurse-practioner with the- Children’s Justice Center (CJC). The next day, S.C. was interviewed by Erin Gowen, a licensed social worker and forensic interviewer with the Childrens Advocacy Center (CAC). The CJC interview was audio recorded, and the CAC interview was video recorded. S.C. testified at trial about both interviews.

¶ 12. On cross-examination, Lomax’s trial counsel attempted to question S.C. about what occurred at the end of her interview at the CAC. The State objected and a proffer was held outside the presence of the jury by which S.C. testified about talking to herself when Gowen left the room. S.C. told the trial. court' that she was not talking about the rape or anything to do with Lomax. Rather, she was talking about “other relationships that were happening in my life,” including a situation with her best friend. S.C. told the court -she was tired of retelling her story at the time and was “pissed off’ and wanted to leave the interview. During the proffer, S.C. -testified that when she gets upset she talks to herself and hits walls.

¶ 13. The trial court viewed the video recording outside the presence of the jury. Lomax’s attorney argued that the video was relevant with respect to whether or not S.C. is credible. Defense counsel argued'that-it was obvious S.C, was talking about Lomax when Gowen left the room: “A reasonable person could certainly believe that she was inferring [sic] to what she’d just spent the last 30 minutes talking to Ms. Gowen about. There certainly would be ways for [the State] to contradict [979]*979that. But, Your Honor, I certainly believe it passes the relevancy test.”

¶ 14. The State contended that the “ramblings” on the recording were highly prejudicial and that it was very difficult to ascertain what-S.C. was saying. The State argued as to whether these “ramblings” were even statements.

¶ 15. Lomax argued for admission of the video based on Rule 613(b) of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence. The trial court disagreed and found as follows:

I listened to the video — or rather I viewed the video and listened to the audio. And what I saw after carefully viewing it in those roughly two minutés were unintelligible, emotional ramblings in a completely unrelated, context. I couldn’t hear what was represented by counsel as being clear.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
192 So. 3d 975, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 235, 2016 WL 3091402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dequane-lomax-v-state-of-mississippi-miss-2016.