Moffett v. State

3 So. 3d 165, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 103, 2009 WL 447735
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 24, 2009
DocketNo. 2008-KA-00175-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 3 So. 3d 165 (Moffett 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
Moffett v. State, 3 So. 3d 165, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 103, 2009 WL 447735 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

IRVING, J,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Sinardo James Moffett was convicted by a jury of capital murder and sentenced by the Hinds County Circuit Court as a habitual offender to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved, Moffett appeals and asserts: (1) that the trial court erred in allowing his codefendant to testify when the State knew that the code-fendant would invoke his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, (2) that he was denied effective assistance of counsel, (3) that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence,1 and (4) that the cumulative effect of errors at trial warrants a new trial.

¶ 2. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. During the early morning hours of July 21, 2003, officers of the Jackson Police Department found Germane Turner’s body in his sport utility vehicle (SUV) that was parked in Jayne Park in Jackson, Mississippi. It was later determined that Turner had died from a gunshot wound to the chest. On January 9, 2004, arrest warrants were obtained for Eric Robinson and Moffett. On April 6, 2004, Moffett and Robinson, who is Moffett’s brother-in-law, were indicted for Turner’s murder. Robinson entered into a plea agreement, [167]*167but Moffett went to trial and was convicted of capital murder.

¶ 4. Latisha Williams, Turner’s live-in girlfriend, testified at trial about the last time that she spoke to Turner.2 Around 11:00 p.m. on July 20, 2003, Williams called Turner on his cellular telephone and asked him to bring home some milk. At approximately 3:00 a.m., Williams heard Turner’s vehicle pull into the driveway. Williams recalled that the vehicle ran for approximately ten to fifteen minutes before it pulled off. Williams stated that she thought that Turner had left to go to the store.

¶ 5. According to Williams, she waited a few minutes and then called Turner again on his cellular telephone. Turner did not answer. Williams then went to the kitchen, looked out of the window, and saw what appeared to be Turner’s clothing lying in the driveway. This discovery prompted Williams to take a closer look. Williams testified that she then went outside and confirmed that the clothing belonged to Turner. Williams called Turner again, and this time a man, who identified himself as Larry, answered. Williams testified that she asked the man where Turner was and that he told her that Turner had gone into a store. Williams called Turner’s telephone several more times, and the man who had identified himself as Larry, answered it each time. Williams continued calling Turner’s telephone, and eventually someone else answered. The person who answered this time informed Williams that Turner had gone into a store and had left his telephone in the car. Williams testified that she asked that person to tell Turner to call “Tasha.”3 Williams testified that she continued to call Turner’s telephone but could not get anyone else to answer. Williams then called the police.

¶ 6. Officer Abraham Gerome Thompson with the JPD, testified that he responded to a missing-persons call during the early morning hours of July 21, 2003. Williams gave Officer Thompson Turner’s clothing that she had found in the driveway. Officer Thompson then called Turner’s cellular telephone, but he did not get an answer. Thereafter, Williams and Officer Thompson went outside. Shortly thereafter, Williams’s aunt told her that a lady who claimed to have found Turner’s telephone had called.

¶ 7. Officer Thompson noticed what appeared to be blood in the driveway. He also noticed that a shrub that was adjacent to the driveway had been trampled. Upon closer examination, Officer Thompson saw that the shrub had blood on it as well. Officer Thompson surmised that an altercation had occurred. According to Officer Thompson, the clothing that was recovered from the scene had dirt stains on it. Officer Thompson also recovered a gold necklace in the grass near the shrub, and a bag that contained a leafy green substance. On cross-examination, Officer Thompson stated that he did not know whether any DNA analysis was conducted because he turned the clothing over to officers with the Mobile Crime Lab.

¶ 8. Investigator Jeffrey Scott4 arrived at Williams’s house to assist Officer Thompson. Investigator Scott testified that he observed small blood spatters in [168]*168the driveway and that Officer Thompson informed him that clothing had been recovered. Investigator Scott stated that he then took over the investigation. According to Investigator Scott, it appeared that Turner had been involved in a struggle. Investigator Scott also recalled that the clothing had grass and bloodstains on it. Investigator Scott conducted a walk-through of the crime scene and observed a plastic bottle lying in the driveway next to a pool of blood. He collected and secured the bottle and samples of the blood. Investigator Scott also stated that he was training James Chambers, a crime scene investigator with the JPD, and that it was Chambers who had collected the evidence. Investigator Scott was then advised that a SUV had been discovered in the parking lot of Jayne Park, which is located behind the JPD’s training academy. Investigator Scott arrived at the park and noticed Turner’s body in the back seat of the SUV. Turner was wearing only boxer underwear and tennis shoes.

¶ 9. On cross-examination, Investigator Scott testified that he documented the evidence, which included three cellular telephones, that was collected from the parking lot where Turner’s SUV was found. He noted that two of the telephones were found inside of the vehicle, and one was found outside of the vehicle. He testified that the telephones were not dusted for fingerprints. The defense pointed out that Investigator Scott had stated in his report that thirty latent prints were collected from the SUV and sent to the JPD’s identification unit for further analysis. Investigator Scott testified that he did not know what had happened to the prints after they were collected. It was also brought out that Investigator Scott collected blood from a stain on the rear passenger door and that he did not know whether it had been tested for DNA. Additionally, a blood-stained ten-dollar bill was found on the floorboard of the back seat, and a .380 shell casing was found underneath the driver’s seat. The shell casing was sent to the lab for fingerprint analysis. Investigator Scott also clarified his earlier testimony and stated that Turner’s body was actually found in between the front and back seats, not solely in the back seat as he had testified on direct.

¶ 10. Mary Ridley, supervisor of the JPD’s communication department, was also present at Williams’s residence during the early morning hours of July 21, 2003. She testified that she instructed the officers to investigate what was considered at that point to be a missing-persons case. Thereafter, an all-points bulletin was issued for Turner’s SUV. Officers then received a report that a lady, who would later be identified as Labertha Mosby, had found a cellular telephone while she walked on the track at Jayne Park. When JPD officer Shaun Terwilliger went to look for Mosby, he saw a Chevrolet Suburban matching the description of Turner’s SUV parked in the parking lot of the police training academy.5 Officer Terwilliger found Mosby, and she turned the cellular telephone over to him.

¶ 11.

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Bluebook (online)
3 So. 3d 165, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 103, 2009 WL 447735, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moffett-v-state-missctapp-2009.