McBeath v. State

66 So. 3d 663, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 666, 2010 WL 5093747
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 14, 2010
Docket2008-KP-00754-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 66 So. 3d 663 (McBeath 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
McBeath v. State, 66 So. 3d 663, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 666, 2010 WL 5093747 (Mich. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

ISHEE, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Craig Lashoun McBeath was indicted for the murder of Shannon Lee Tor-rence (Shannon), while engaged in the commission of a robbery, and for the kidnapping of Shannon. McBeath, along with Isaac Nelson, was tried in the Scott County Circuit Court for the capital murder and kidnapping of Shannon. The jury convicted McBeath of simple- murder, a lesser offense, and kidnapping.- McBeath was sentenced to life for the murder and to forty years for the kidnapping, with the sentences to run consecutively, all in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Finding error with the kidnapping sentence, we affirm in part and remand in part.

FACTS

¶ 2. On February 23, 2007, Shannon was declared missing. Three days later, Chief Deputy Roger Thomspon and deputies Gerald Greer and Billy Patrick recovered Shannon’s body in a wooded area in the Midway community in Scott County. His body was unclothed and a plastic bag was taped around his head. On October 25, 2007, Craig Lashoun McBeath, was indicted by a Scott County grand jury on the counts of capital murder and kidnapping.

¶ 3. Shannon’s mother, Mary Carpenter, testified that on the day her son went missing, he was a seventeen-year-old senior at Scott Central High School who was living at home with her and her husband. She testified that she left for work that morning at 6:15 a.m. and that she saw Shannon asleep in bed. He called her when she arrived at work and told her that he was up and getting dressed for school. That afternoon, however, Shannon failed to call her, contrary to his usual routine. Mary called several of Shannon’s friends as well as his school to check on him, but nobody had seen Shannon. Sensing something was wrong, at approximately 2:00 p.m., she returned home.

¶4. When Mary arrived at home, she found several indications that something had gone very wrong. 1 Mary contacted the Scott County Sheriffs Department and informed them of the situation. Three *665 days later, on Monday, February 26, 2007, Shannon’s body was found in a wooded area by Chief Deputy Roger Thompson and Deputy Gerald Greer. The body was “[n]ude, had a plastic bag over the head.”

¶ 5. Deputy Greer testified that, between the time Shannon went missing and the discovery of the body, he talked with several people who knew the victim. The day before the body was found, Deputy Greer and Deputy Steven Crotwell interviewed McBeath for the first time. McBeath was read his Miranda rights; he executed a waiver of his rights; and he told the deputies that he had been with Shannon on the day Shannon had disappeared, but he claimed he had no idea of his whereabouts.

¶ 6. The day after Shannon’s body was found, Deputy Crotwell brought McBeath over from the jail. Deputy Crotwell testified that McBeath threw his hands in the air and stated, “I’m gonna[sic] tell y’all everything, I just want my mother here.” Deputy Crotwell left the interview and went to retrieve McBeath’s mother. Deputy Greer and Agent Danny Knight of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation interviewed McBeath for the second time. Again, McBeath was informed of his rights and executed a waiver.

¶ 7. This interview was recorded and played for the jury. On the recording, McBeath confessed to putting Shannon in a headlock and choking him. McBeath also confessed that he told Nelson (McBeath’s co-defendant) to find a plastic garbage bag and some duct-tape and for Nelson to help McBeath place the bag around Shannon’s face and head.

¶ 8. Shortly thereafter, Deputy Greer was informed that Shannon’s car had been found in a parking lot at East Central Community College in Decatur, Mississippi. Deputy Greer left the McBeath interview and went to the location of the vehicle where he found and secured it. Deputy Greer then had the car towed to a garage in Morton, Mississippi, and he remained with the vehicle until Mississippi Crime Laboratory personnel arrived.

¶ 9. Dr. Steven Timothy Hayne performed the autopsy on Shannon’s body. Dr. Hayne testified that the body exhibited signs of early decomposition and there was a black plastic bag duct-taped around Shannon’s head, covering his nose and mouth. Additionally, Dr. Hayne testified that Shannon had sustained linear scrapes on his back, which signified a dragging or sliding movement.

¶ 10. Dr. Hayne concluded that Shannon died of incomplete strangulation with terminal suffocation, and “there was intent to ... induce manual strangulation with compression of the neck and that was followed by taping this individual’s nares and mouth shut[,] which would produce suffocation.” In Dr. Hayne’s opinion, the linear marks on the left side of the back indicated Shannon was alive when they were inflicted. Finally, Dr. Hayne ruled the manner of death as homicide.

DISCUSSION

I. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

¶ 11. McBeath first contends that his attorney rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel. To prevail on a claim of ineffectiveness of counsel, “[a] defendant must demonstrate that his counsel’s performance was [1] deficient and [2] that the deficiency prejudiced the defense of the case.” Burnside v. State, 882 So.2d 212, 216 (¶ 20) (Miss.2004) (citing Burns v. State, 813 So.2d 668, 673 (¶ 14) (Miss.2001)). “Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction ... resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable. The focus of the inquiry must be whether counsel’s assistance was *666 reasonable considering all the circumstances.” Id. (internal citations omitted). Furthermore, “[a] strong but rebuttable presumption, that counsel’s performance falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance, exists.” Colenburg v. State, 735 So.2d 1099, 1102-03 (¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.1999).

¶ 12. McBeath’s challenge rests upon an allegation that his trial counsel failed to perform an adequate pretrial investigation. He claims there were witnesses available to his trial counsel for investigation and that these witnesses could have verified his defense 2 . The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that “complaints of ineffective assistance of counsel, because [an] attorney failed to make pretrial investigation and to spend more time with [client], are insufficient as a matter of law.” Ward v. State, 821 So.2d 894, 900 (¶ 24) (Miss.Ct.App.2002) (citation omitted). Accordingly, McBeath’s challenge is without merit.

II. Kidnapping Sentence

¶ 13. McBeath argues that the trial court imposed a sentence that exceeded the statutory maximum penalty for kidnapping. The jury found McBeath guilty of kidnapping. However, the jury did not impose a life sentence.

Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-53 (Rev.2006) states:

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Related

Burrell v. State
183 So. 3d 19 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2015)

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Bluebook (online)
66 So. 3d 663, 2010 Miss. App. LEXIS 666, 2010 WL 5093747, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcbeath-v-state-missctapp-2010.