Michael Shipp a/k/a Michael Kincaid Shipp v. State of Mississippi

CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 30, 2024
Docket2023-KA-00655-COA
StatusPublished

This text of Michael Shipp a/k/a Michael Kincaid Shipp v. State of Mississippi (Michael Shipp a/k/a Michael Kincaid Shipp v. State of Mississippi) 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
Michael Shipp a/k/a Michael Kincaid Shipp v. State of Mississippi, (Mich. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2023-KA-00655-COA

MICHAEL SHIPP A/K/A MICHAEL KINCAID APPELLANT SHIPP

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 04/20/2023 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. CELESTE EMBREY WILSON COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: DESOTO COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: JUSTIN TAYLOR COOK ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: BARBARA WAKELAND BYRD DISTRICT ATTORNEY: ROBERT R. MORRIS NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 07/30/2024 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE WILSON, P.J., WESTBROOKS AND LAWRENCE, JJ.

WESTBROOKS, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. On July 8, 2020, a DeSoto County grand jury indicted Michael Shipp for conspiracy

to commit murder, attempted murder, and capital murder. After a three-day trial, a jury

found Shipp guilty of all counts. He was sentenced to serve five years for the conspiracy

conviction, thirty years for the attempted murder conviction, and life imprisonment without

parole eligibility for the capital murder conviction. The sentences were ordered to run

consecutively. Shipp subsequently filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict

or a new trial. After a hearing on the matter, the trial court denied the motion. Shipp now

appeals his convictions, arguing that (1) there was insufficient evidence to convict him of conspiracy to commit murder, and (2) the trial court erred in refusing his duress instruction

and depriving him of his theory of defense.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. On January 31, 2020, Justin “Jut” Jones and Tavius Love met at a mutual friend’s

home in Whitehaven. Eventually they left and went to play dice at a gathering in the Shadow

Ridge neighborhood in Olive Branch. Love described the gathering as a “family type of

ordeal” and revealed that he and Jones had gambled at that same home a week prior. When

they arrived, several people were there. Among the crowd were Deadrick “Dee” Williams,

Willie Austin Jr., and Michael Shipp. Love did not personally know these individuals, but

he remembered seeing them the week before. Jones, however, did personally know

Williams, Austin, and Shipp. Williams approached Jones and extended an invitation to

continue gambling at his apartment. Jones accepted and asked Love to tag along.

¶3. Jones and Love got in their vehicles and trailed Williams to Plantation Apartments,

where Williams lived with his girlfriend, Sharnesha Maxwell, and their daughter. Williams

was driving a Dodge Charger, which belonged to Maxwell. Austin and Shipp rode with

Williams. Before reaching the apartments, they all stopped at a gas station to get cash from

the ATM.

¶4. Love revealed that throughout the night, his Glock 19X gun was on his waist. Earlier

that night, he claimed that he had removed his gun from the holster to clean it and left his

holster in his car. Before leaving the gas station, he returned his gun to its holster and

2 attached it to his right hip.

¶5. When they arrived at the apartment, Williams, Austin, and Shipp went inside first and

set off the alarm system. Maxwell testified that she turned the alarm off and went back to

her room to lie down. Eventually, Jones and Love exited their vehicles and went inside the

apartment. Love testified that he loaned Jones four hundred dollars in twenties so that Jones

would not have to break his hundred-dollar bills.

¶6. The apartment was fairly small. The first room upon entry into the apartment was the

living room. Both the kitchen and the dining room were directly across from the living room.

They all convened around a table in the dining room. Williams put a blanket on a table, and

the dice game commenced. Austin and Love played against each other until Austin ran out

of money. When their game concluded, they watched Williams, Shipp, and Jones play

against each other. Shipp eventually ran out of money and asked Williams if he could

borrow one hundred dollars. Williams agreed and went to the back of the house to retrieve

the money. When he returned, they resumed the dice game. Jones beat Shipp twice and

Williams once. He ultimately gambled them out of hundreds of dollars.

¶7. After the game concluded, Jones returned the four hundred dollars to Love that he

borrowed before the game. Love testified that he saw Shipp whispering to Williams, who

was nodding his head. Williams then proceeded to the back of the house again. Love and

Jones were preparing to leave when, suddenly, Williams returned with a Smith & Wesson

firearm and pointed it at Jones’ head. Williams yelled, “Don’t f***ing move. Give me

3 everything. I need everything.” Love testified, “At the time when [Williams] raised up the

gun and Shipp [saw] the gun, he kind of went towards the doorway. So he was, basically,

blocking the doorway so you couldn’t go outside the doorway.” Williams then pointed the

gun at Love and demanded he drop everything. Love put his money and keys on the table

and raised both of his hands in the air. Williams instructed Shipp to remove Love’s gun from

his hip. Shipp complied and pointed the gun at Love. Williams then pointed his gun back

at Jones. Jones handed him the money and said, “What are you doing, bro? We grew up

together.”

¶8. Love testified that after they handed over the money, he tapped Jones on the shoulder

and said, “Let’s roll. They got it. They got the money. Let’s roll.” Shipp then shot Love in

the chest, causing him to fall into Jones. Love grabbed a nearby chair, launched it at Shipp,

and charged toward him. Love testified, “I’m in survival mode. I’m trying my best to do

whatever I can to get the gun out of his hand. In my head, this guy -- I’m 100 percent, this

guy is fixing to kill me.” They tussled and fought for the gun, and eventually they fell to the

ground. Love grabbed Shipp’s right wrist to prevent him from discharging the gun again.

Love testified, “I scream out, ‘Shipp, don’t kill me.’ His response, ‘I’m going to kill you.’”

Another shot went off, and Jones fell to the ground. Williams told Shipp to stop shooting

and demanded that Jones and Love leave his apartment.

¶9. Love tried to pull Jones up, but he did not move. Terrified, Love jumped over Jones’

body and ran out of the apartment. He testified, “I ran to like different doors/homes in the

4 apartment complex, knocking on the door, begging for help.” While outside, he saw four

individuals running to the Dodge Charger that Williams was driving earlier, so he ran in the

opposite direction.

¶10. Several tenants at the Plantation Apartments reported the incident, and officers were

dispatched to the scene. Captain Terri Hoskins of the Olive Branch Police Department

testified that, upon arrival, she saw Love on the ground and officers trying to render aid to

him. She said as she kneeled down to check on him, he grabbed her hand and begged,

“Ma’am, please, don’t let me die.” She assured him that an ambulance was on the way and

then asked him how he got injured. He replied, “Mike shot me,”1 and revealed that he was

in a Dodge Charger. The paramedics transported Love to Regional One in Memphis,

Tennessee. The bullet was an inch from Love’s heart. He had to undergo three surgeries and

spent twenty-seven days in the hospital.

¶11. Maxwell testified that her daughter was at her mother’s house on the night in question.

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Bluebook (online)
Michael Shipp a/k/a Michael Kincaid Shipp v. State of Mississippi, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/michael-shipp-aka-michael-kincaid-shipp-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2024.