Magee v. State

124 So. 3d 64, 2013 WL 5758013, 2013 Miss. LEXIS 562
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 24, 2013
DocketNo. 2010-CT-01611-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 124 So. 3d 64 (Magee 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
Magee v. State, 124 So. 3d 64, 2013 WL 5758013, 2013 Miss. LEXIS 562 (Mich. 2013).

Opinion

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

CHANDLER, Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. In 1987, Johnny Ray Magee was convicted of robbing a liquor store and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment as a habitual offender.1 We affirmed his conviction in 19892 and dismissed his motion for post-conviction relief (“PCR”) in 1992. In 2010, however, we granted Ma-gee’s request to amend his PCR on the basis of his claim of newly discovered evidence of juror misconduct. The Marion County Circuit Court held an evidentiary hearing to consider this new evidence. The judge found that, when the prospective jurors were asked whether any of [66]*66them had family or close friends in law enforcement, a juror’s failure to disclose her belief that a local deputy sheriff was her fourth cousin did not amount to juror misconduct and did not prejudice jury selection. The Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court’s denial of the amended PCR petition. We granted certiorari on the issues of whether the circuit court erred in finding no juror misconduct and whether the circuit court violated Rule 9.04 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court by allowing the last-minute testimony of a witness at the evidentiary hearing. We affirm the circuit court’s denial of post-conviction relief, holding that no juror misconduct occurred and that, even if a violation of Rule 9.04 occurred, the error was harmless and the issue was waived due to lack of a defense request for a continuance or mistrial.

FACTS

¶ 2. After serving more than twenty years of a life sentence without the possibility of parole, Johnny Ray Magee learned that Judy Ann Echols, a member of the jury that convicted him, was a somewhat distant cousin to the late Thomas Echols, the deputy sheriff who served Ma-gee his indictment and conducted his arrest.3 During jury selection, Judy Ann did not respond to any of the following questions asked by Magee’s attorney:

(1)And these first few questions apply to you yourself, your family, and the people you consider to be your close friends. Are any of you or the other people that I have mentioned presently employed as any sort of law enforcement officer, whether it be local, state, or federal? Is anybody in that position at this time?
(2) What about in the past, has anybody in your experiences in life so far ever been employed in law enforcement personally? What about your family members or close friends in the past?
(3) Have you yourself or any of your close friends ever been members of any kind of law enforcement association such as the State Sheriffs Association or the National Rifle Association or any other group like that?

Two jurors responded that they had brothers-in-law in law enforcement. Both of those jurors were empaneled without objection from the defense.

¶ 3. When asked at the evidentiary hearing why she did not respond to these questions, Judy Ann answered that she did not understand the questions and was not sure how to conduct herself, as it was her first time in court. She stated she believed Thomas to be her fourth cousin. Thomas lived five minutes from Judy Ann and they attended the same church. She “knew of’ him but did not “know” him. She testified she had never discussed law enforcement matters with him. Judy Ann also “knew of’ both Magee and Thomas because all three were in close (but not the exact same) grades of school together growing up. Testimony from other family members was admitted to show Thomas was likely a closer degree of kinship to Judy Ann than fourth cousin, but in no case closer than a second cousin.4

¶4. Magee also testified at the eviden-tiary hearing. He learned about Judy Ann’s kinship to Thomas after Magee’s daughter married Judy Ann’s nephew. Magee claimed that Judy Ann told a prison-mate of his that Thomas had told her Magee was guilty. Magee also alleged he [67]*67called Judy Ann from prison to confront her, that she had admitted to talking with Thomas about the case before jury selection, but that she would not volunteer to testify because she did not want “to lose her freedom.” Magee did not question Judy Ann about this alleged conversation at the evidentiary hearing or put on any evidence to corroborate his hearsay assertions.

¶ 5. The State’s only witness was Cass Barnes, who had served with Judy Ann on the jury that convicted Magee. Barnes currently serves as the Chancery Clerk of Marion County. The State made a last-minute decision at the close of Magee’s witnesses to call Barnes to testify. Barnes was not subpoenaed to be present for the hearing. Over Magee’s objection, the judge called an hour and a half recess, during which the State arranged for Barnes to appear. The record does not explicitly reflect whether the defense interviewed Barnes during this recess. Barnes testified that, while he had a difficult time remembering a trial that happened so long ago, he did not remember any member of the jury making improper comments or referencing outside information. He stated that if he had, he would have reacted by informing the circuit judge.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. We apply the “clearly erroneous” standard of review to a trial court’s finding that a jury was fair and impartial. “It is ... a judicial question as to whether a jury is fair and impartial and the court’s judgment will not be disturbed unless it appears clearly that it is wrong.” Odom v. State, 355 So.2d 1381, 1383 (Miss.1978). The same standard applies generally to denial of post-conviction relief after an evi-dentiary hearing. Johns v. State, 926 So.2d 188, 194 (Miss.2006).

I. THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT CLEARLY ERR IN APPLYING THE ODOM TEST.

¶ 7. Magee argues he is entitled to a new trial because Judy Ann’s failure to answer the voir dire questions had a prejudicial effect ón jury selection. Under Mississippi Code Section 13-5-69, a defendant has the right to question prospective jurors directly “with reference to challenges for cause, and for peremptory challenges.” Miss.Code Ann. § 13-5-65 (Rev. 2012). We have held that “[t]he failure of a juror to respond to a relevant, direct, and unambiguous question leaves the examining' attorney uninformed and unable to ask any follow-up questions to elicit the necessary facts to intelligently reach a decision to exercise a peremptory challenge or to challenge a juror for cause.” Odom, 355 So.2d at 1383.

¶ 8. When deciding on a motion for a new trial based on a juror’s failure to respond during voir dire, the trial court should first “determine whether the question propounded to the juror was (1) relevant to the voir dire examination; (2) whether it was unambiguous; and (3) whether the juror had substantial knowledge of the information sought to be elicited.” Odom, 355 So.2d at 1383. Second, “[i]f the trial court’s determination of these inquiries is in the affirmative, the court should then determine if prejudice to the defendant in selecting the jury reasonably could be inferred from the juror’s failure to respond.” Id. The defendant deserves a new trial if such prejudice can be reasonably inferred. Id. We also emphasized in Odom

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Bluebook (online)
124 So. 3d 64, 2013 WL 5758013, 2013 Miss. LEXIS 562, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/magee-v-state-miss-2013.