Morris v. State

963 So. 2d 1170, 2007 WL 824115
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 20, 2007
Docket2005-KA-02016-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 963 So. 2d 1170 (Morris 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
Morris v. State, 963 So. 2d 1170, 2007 WL 824115 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

963 So.2d 1170 (2007)

Daryl MORRIS a/k/a Darryl Morris, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KA-02016-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 20, 2007.
Rehearing Denied June 19, 2007.

*1172 Rabun Jones, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deshun Terrell Martin, District Attorney, Joyce Ivy Chiles, Attorney For Appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., GRIFFIS and ROBERTS, JJ.

LEE, P.J., for the Court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. On July 5, 2004, Anthony Nash, a twenty-one year old resident of Leland, Mississippi, and his friends were talking outside of McCray's Grocery, a/k/a Fox Store, in Leland. A man came from around the back of the store and shot Nash two or three times. Nash ran, and the man chased him and shot him two more times in the back after Nash fell to *1173 the ground in the street. No weapon was recovered.

¶ 2. Based on statements from witnesses to the shooting, a warrant was issued and Darryl Morris, a twenty-three year old resident of Greenville, Mississippi, was arrested on July 7, 2004. Morris had no criminal history. At trial, the State argued to the jury that the murder was a result of an ongoing family feud between the Jackson family, of which Morris was a member, and the Nash family. The State presented evidence of fighting between family members which will be discussed more fully as relevant.

¶ 3. Morris did not testify but argued through witnesses at trial that he could not have committed the murder in Leland because he was in Greenville at the time. According to the testimony at trial, Greenville and Leland are approximately fifteen minutes apart but depending on traffic could be less than ten minutes apart. The investigating officer, based on the time of the 911 call, estimated that the shooting occurred between 2:59 and 3:00 p.m. at the latest. Witnesses for Morris presented evidence that he could not have been the shooter because he was in Greenville shopping just moments before the murder. Two receipts were received into evidence from stores in Greenville, one showing a time of 2:19 p.m. and one showing a time of 2:34 p.m.

¶ 4. The first eyewitness to the murder came forward on July 6, 2004. The witness led the police to believe that Morris was the shooter. Two more witnesses came forward in August who also led the police to believe Morris was the shooter.

¶ 5. At trial, Virginia Lowe, Nash's cousin, testified that on July 5 she and Nash were sitting on her porch in Greenville when a red Expedition that she thought belonged to Greg Jackson, Morris's uncle, passed by in front of her house twice. She did not see how many people were in the Expedition or who was driving. On cross-examination, she admitted that she did not know for a fact that it was the same Expedition that drove by both times. According to Lowe, Nash left her house to go home. Soon after he left Lowe heard gunshots. She first called Nash's mother and then within approximately five minutes of hearing the shots she called the police. The police had already received a call.

¶ 6. Jeffrey Butler testified that he was standing outside McCray's Grocery with Nash moments before Nash was shot. Butler described the shooter as a light-skinned man with dark hair. He assumed the shooter was Morris but did not know for certain.

¶ 7. Katina Davenport testified that she was at the house across the street from McCray's Grocery on the day of the murder. She and her cousin, David Thompson, were walking down the driveway to cross the street to go to McCray's Grocery when Darryl Morris ran by with a gun in his hand. Davenport recognized Morris but did not know him personally. When she saw Morris on July 5 he had braids in his hair and a mask or stocking on his head. She testified to seeing Nash run from the grocery store, Morris shooting him, and then shooting him again in the back when Nash fell to the ground. She testified that she was positive that the person she saw shoot Nash was Morris.

¶ 8. David Thompson testified next. He testified that he saw Morris run after Nash and shoot him. He also testified that he had previously seen Morris and Nash fight twice near McCray's Grocery. Thompson had seen Morris around town but did not know his name. Sometime after the shooting, but before talking to the police, Thompson was at another cousin's house and saw a picture of Morris. *1174 He asked the name of the person in the picture. Before this point Thompson did not know Morris's name. Neither Thompson nor Davenport mentioned the name Darryl Morris in their police reports. Each just gave an account of the murder.

¶ 9. Morris's cousin, Marvin Jackson, was with Morris on the day of the murder. He and Morris were in his 1997 red/maroon Ford Expedition. He testified that he and Morris were at the Greenville mall around 2:00 or 2:10 p.m. on the day of the murder. Jackson said that at the mall Morris bought a jersey at Sports Addition. After leaving the mall, they went to Pagers Plus where Morris bought a charger for his cell phone. Jackson testified that he saw Randy Minnix, Jr. at Pagers Plus. Minnix was leaving as they entered the store. Minnix verified this by testifying that he saw Jackson and Morris around 2:25 or 2:30 p.m. in Greenville in the Wal-Mart parking lot near Pagers Plus. Jackson testified that after leaving Pagers Plus he bought a football jersey from a man in the parking lot who was selling jerseys out of his trunk. Dorothy Johnson testified that she knew Morris and Jackson and that she saw them on July 5 in the Wal-Mart parking lot looking at jerseys at approximately 2:30 p.m. She was on her way inside to pay her phone bill. Byron Allen also testified that he knew Morris and saw him in the parking lot of the Wal-Mart looking at jerseys on July 5. He spoke to Morris briefly. After buying a jersey, Jackson took Morris home. Jackson stated that he and Morris did not go to Leland at any point that afternoon.

¶ 10. Minnix testified that after he left Wal-Mart, he went to Leland for a 3:00 p.m. haircut appointment. When he got to Leland he saw police cars and an ambulance on Hudson Street. He estimated that this occurred between 2:50 and 3:00 p.m. Minnix stopped to ask what had happened. Someone told him that Nash had been shot and that Morris was the shooter. Minnix called his father, Randy Minnix, Sr., a Leland police officer, and told him what he heard. Randy Minnix, Sr. knew Morris and called Morris's father at his home in Greenville to ask where Morris was at the time. Morris's father responded that Morris was at home and then handed the phone to Morris. According to the testimony, this call occurred around 3:00 p.m.

¶ 11. Darryl Jackson, Morris's father, testified that Morris came home on July 5 at approximately 3:00 p.m. Jackson testified that just before Morris got home, he received a phone call from Lieutenant Minnix. Jackson was still on the phone with Minnix when Morris walked in the house. Jackson testified that Morris entered carrying a plastic bag containing a jersey from Sports Addition. Morris also had a cash receipt from Pagers Plus. Morris appeared normal and was laughing when he came into the house. The receipt from Sports Addition listed the item sold as a "Portis jersey," but according to the testimony of Greg Jackson and Darryl Jackson the jersey Morris bought read "Bailey," the name of a different football player. The Bailey jersey was entered into evidence. The store tags and price tags had been torn off. Darryl Jackson testified that the jersey was in the same condition as when brought home by Morris.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
963 So. 2d 1170, 2007 WL 824115, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-state-missctapp-2007.