State v. Johnson

703 S.E.2d 217, 390 S.C. 600, 2010 S.C. LEXIS 404
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedDecember 13, 2010
Docket26902
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 703 S.E.2d 217 (State v. Johnson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Johnson, 703 S.E.2d 217, 390 S.C. 600, 2010 S.C. LEXIS 404 (S.C. 2010).

Opinions

Justice PLEICONES.

Appellant was convicted of two counts of murder, armed robbery, and unlawful possession of a weapon, and received consecutive life sentences for the murders, thirty years for armed robbery, and five years for the weapons charge. Appellant was tried jointly with Sharod Frazier. On appeal, appellant contends the trial court erred in denying appellant’s mistrial motion, made after a State’s witness committed a Bruton-type1 error. We agree and reverse.

FACTS

The State’s primary witness was Sammy Baker a/k/a Super-cat. Supercat testified about his activities on November 16-17, 2004. In relevant part, he testified that he took his friend Rashad Sharice Thomas a/k/a Rock to meet up with Rock’s friend, co-defendant Frazier a/k/a Shy. Eventually they picked up Shy’s cousin, appellant LeQuint Johnson a/k/a Q. Supercat did not know appellant. Rock testified that Supereat, Shy, and appellant were together when they dropped him off at his home around 9 pm on the 16th. He did not see or hear from them again.

Supercat testified that he, Shy, and appellant went to Nasty Cat’s club, a/k/a The Barn, where Supercat saw his friend [603]*603Tyrone Dinkins, a/k/a Good Buddy. Supercat followed Good Buddy, with Shy and appellant riding as passengers, to St. Charles Road where people raced their cars and bet on the races. The racing continued until 1 or 1:30 am November 17, when the racers decided to return to Nasty Cat’s club. Shy and appellant stayed in Supercat’s car while at St. Charles Road, and apparently no one saw them there just as no one had seen them earlier at Nasty Cat’s club. Bud Reames, an older man riding as a passenger with Good Buddy, stayed in that car as well.

When the racers returned to Nasty Cat’s, Supercat testified he and Good Buddy went in the bar but that Shy and appellant stayed in the car. The club was closing, so Supercat and Good Buddy drove to the Shell Station to buy gas. A videotape from the Shell Station shows Supercat and Good Buddy there around 2 am on the morning of the 17th, although there was testimony that the time might be off by an hour.

After riding around in their cars for a while, Supercat testified he challenged Good Buddy to a race. Good Buddy said to follow him, but that he had to stop and do something under his hood before he could race. Supercat testified Good Buddy pulled over and Supercat pulled in behind him. Super-cat testified he got out of his car to help Good Buddy, who was out of his car, when gunshots rang out. Supercat testified he saw Shy standing by Good Buddy. When the gunfire ended, Shy told Supercat to get in the car and drive, while appellant, also armed and outside the car, told Shy they needed to kill Supercat. As Supercat drove, Shy threatened Supercat’s sister, and then proceeded to count money. Supercat testified that he met up with Shy later at the Piggly Wiggly where Shy, who told Supercat he was a Blood, threatened Supercat. A witness testified she observed this long conversation and that Supercat looked fearful.

At 6:40 am on November 17th, an officer was dispatched to check out a report of a black male (Good Buddy) lying on the ground on the driver’s side of a parked car in which a second black male (Reames) was observed seated in the passenger’s seat. A SLED crime scene investigator testified that the man on the ground’s pants pocket was turned inside out, and [604]*604change was scattered around the body and on top of it. Good Buddy was known to carry a good deal of cash. It was clear the two men had been shot to death.

The forensic pathologist testified Good Buddy had eight gunshot wounds from a 0.22. Reames, Good Buddy’s passenger, had been shot twice with a 0.38 or a 0.357 magnum. Their time of death was estimated to have been 5 am.

Shy and appellant were tried jointly. Pre-trial, appellant sought a severance because Shy had made a statement to the police which implicated himself and another person (“Knock”). Alternatively, appellant sought suppression of Shy’s statement. In this statement, Shy stated that he and ‘Knock’ were present when Supercat and another friend talked about getting Good Buddy. According to the statement, Shy and Knock were in Supercat’s car when they went to a gas station, then followed Good Buddy and pulled him over. Supercat got out of the car and “let loose” (i.e. shot) both people in Good Buddy’s car, using a 0.22 on Good Buddy and a 0.38 on the old guy (i.e. Reames). Shy admitted he and Knock took money from Good Buddy’s pockets after Supercat killed him. Shy did not identify Knock.

The trial judge denied both appellant’s motion for a severance and his request that Shy’s statement not be admitted at their joint trial. The State suggested that Shy’s statement could be redacted to eliminate the references to ‘Knock.’ At some point the trial judge apparently ruled that Shy’s statement, with the two references to ‘Knock’ redacted, would be admitted.2

Prior to the introduction of Shy’s statement, the trial judge gave the jury this charge:

Ladies and gentlemen, you’re going to see the document in evidence that I have admitted. Certain portions of that document contain information that is not admissible in this case. Information that is not admissible, you should not consider in your deliberations. So don’t — the fact that you see a certain part of it has been struck out, you should not consider that in any way. You will see those portions that [605]*605are admissible in this case in your deliberations. So those that have been redacted have nothing to do and are not admissible to this evidence in this case.

Sheriffs Investigator J.D. Dellinger testified to this statement given to him by “Shy” Frazier:

I met Supercat in Churchwood. I was on my way to work, but I stopped and began to talk to Supercat. I didn’t go to work because I left with Supercat. We drove around for a while talking about who we going to rob for this day. We went to Nasty Cat’s Barn, then Supercat met Seneca. They talked for a while on how they were going to get Good Buddy. Supercat stopped talking, then got in the car and told me to drive off. I did.
We went to this gas station, then we followed Good Buddy. We pulled him over. Supercat jump out, talk for a second, then let loose on both people. Me stayed in the car while Supercat let loose on both people. Then me jumped out the car and got the money out of Good Buddy’s pockets. The gun Supercat had used on Good Buddy was a .22 revolver and he used a .38 revolver on old guy. -- (bold representing points at where the words “and Knock” were covered up with black magic marker).

Investigator Dellinger continued to testify to his observations at the scene, and towards the end of his testimony the following exchange occurred between Investigator Dellinger and the solicitor:

Q. Now, was [appellant] arrested?
A. Yes, sir, he was.
Q. And the arrest of [appellant], how did that come about? A. Based on our investigation.
Q. Based on your investigation. And what else?
A. I’m not sure I understand.
Q. The conversation with Sammy Baker [Supercat]?
A. Mr. Baker [Supercat] and Mr. Frazier [Shy].
Q. Okay.

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Related

State v. Jackson
765 S.E.2d 841 (Court of Appeals of South Carolina, 2014)
State v. Johnson
703 S.E.2d 217 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
703 S.E.2d 217, 390 S.C. 600, 2010 S.C. LEXIS 404, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-johnson-sc-2010.