Taylor v. State

789 So. 2d 787, 2001 WL 393870
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 19, 2001
Docket1999-KA-01655-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 789 So. 2d 787 (Taylor v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. State, 789 So. 2d 787, 2001 WL 393870 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

789 So.2d 787 (2001)

Latashia Michelle TAYLOR
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 1999-KA-01655-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 19, 2001.
Rehearing Denied July 19, 2001.

*788 Ross Parker Simons, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, Jackson, Attorney for Appellee.

*789 Before PITTMAN, C.J., SMITH and EASLEY, JJ.

PITTMAN, C.J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Latashia Michelle Taylor was indicted for the capital murder of Brandee Whitehead, which occurred while Taylor was in the process of kidnaping A'Branee Whitehead, Brandee Whitehead's infant child. The trial court denied two separate pretrial motions to suppress statements made by Taylor to the police. Taylor was convicted in the Circuit Court of Jackson County on the charge of capital murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. After the trial and sentencing, Taylor moved for a new trial, or, in the alternative, a JNOV, asserting various trial errors. This motion was denied. Aggrieved by the judgment rendered, Taylor perfected her appeal to this Court.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

¶ 2. Before trial, the defense filed a Motion to Suppress Taylor's statement from January 15, 1998, on the basis that the statement was made prior to Taylor being advised of her Miranda warnings and that the statement was the result of "threats, promises, coercion, and mistreatment on the part of law enforcement personnel...."

¶ 3. At the motion hearing, Detective Kathilee Bosarge testified that she had investigated the death of Brandee Whitehead and first spoke to Taylor on January 14, 1998, at the police department. Bosarge stated that she "Mirandized" Taylor by reading "her her rights from a rights form," that Taylor signed a waiver of those rights, and that this was also witnessed and signed by FBI Agent Jerome Lorraine. Bosarge spoke with Taylor for about three to four hours, during which Taylor gave Bosarge information regarding a person who had supposedly given her the baby and committed the crime. Another conversation occurred the following day which was preceded by Bosarge orally advising Taylor of her Miranda rights.

¶ 4. When Bosarge returned from lunch later that day, she had a message that Taylor wanted to speak with her. Bosarge again orally "Mirandized" Taylor. The conversation revolved around some questions Taylor had regarding visiting hours. Bosarge asked Taylor if there was anything else she wanted to discuss. When Taylor indicated that she had nothing else to discuss, Bosarge discontinued the conversation and left the room. Bosarge then advised Captain Mike Ezell that she "was through." Chief Whitmore then told Bosarge that Detective Sheila Jenkins was going to question Taylor next.

¶ 5. When Bosarge later returned to the department she was told that Jenkins had "gotten a confession from Ms. Taylor" and that Taylor wanted to see her. Bosarge "just walked in there where she was sitting in the same interrogation room and..." Taylor told her "that she had, you know, told the truth." When Bosarge asked Taylor why she had not revealed this information to her Taylor responded that she "was scared."

¶ 6. Detective Jenkins testified that she passed Bosarge in the hall prior to interviewing Taylor and that Bosarge informed her that Taylor had been read her Miranda rights. Jenkins testified that Taylor appeared to be mentally competent at the time of the interview and was able to read and write. Jenkins also stated that her conversation with Taylor was "lengthy" and that it lasted "hours." Jenkins testified that Taylor never asked for the questioning to cease or for her lawyer. Jenkins stated that she never threatened or made any promises of help or leniency to Taylor to get her statement. Instead, *790 Jenkins told Taylor "repeatedly" that she was going to jail and that she could not help her avoid incarceration. When asked if Taylor began the conversation by telling the truth, Jenkins testified that at first she continued to lie, but ultimately confessed to the crime. When asked if there was any coercion, Jenkins replied, "no, sir."

¶ 7. Most of the interview consisted of only Taylor and Jenkins being in the room with Captain Ezell and Chief Whitmore viewing the process through a one-way mirror in an observation room. At some undetermined time someone in the observation room began videotaping the interview, a process in which Jenkins was not involved.

¶ 8. At one point, Ezell entered the room, and said, "Sheila ... I'm going to explain some things here." The videotape in the observation room stopped recording and was restarted moments later capturing Jenkins continuing her interview of Taylor. It was Jenkins impression that the interview was being stopped and that Taylor would be returned to her cell. The length of time in which the tape did not record was approximately "a minute" or "a minute and a half." The content of Ezell's conversation was not recorded by any electronic means, although Jenkins did provide a supplement report some seven months after the interview took place. According to Jenkins, Ezell told Taylor, "You've lied and there is no guy ... We're just wasting our time. Stop wasting this detective's time." According to Jenkins, Ezell made no promises or threats to Taylor. Jenkins then realized that the interview was not being stopped and "kept on with the interview." Jenkins stated that Ezell's interruption did not have any immediate impact as she found it necessary to talk with Taylor for "a long time" before she began to change her story and began confessing to the crime.

¶ 9. During the interview, Ezell summoned Sergeant Ronnie Castille to the observation room, where he found that the video camera was "not in record mode." Castille performed two functions, and "the camera went into the record mode." He then "exited from the room."

¶ 10. Ezell testified that "Ms. Taylor called ... to come up. She wanted to talk to Kathilee [Bosarge]." Prior to speaking with Taylor, Bosarge "verbally gave her her Miranda warning...." While Ezell and Chief Whitmore "were in the observation room watching," they decided that Jenkins might "be able to get some more information from Ms. Taylor." Ezell and Whitmore went to Jenkins's office, where they asked her to interview Taylor and gave "gave her a brief, short briefing there." According to Ezell, "[l]ess than ten minutes" elapsed between the time Bosarge left the interview room and when Jenkins entered it.

¶ 11. At one point during Jenkins's interview with Taylor, Whitmore told Ezell to "[g]o in there and tell her [Taylor] to quit lying." Ezell then "went in there and told her, you know, quit lying. We didn't believe her. Something to that effect." When he went into the interrogation room, Ezell "assumed" that the video camera was still running. Ezell did not know what had caused the camera to turn off. Ezell testified that he was never alone with Taylor, and he denied coercing or making any promises to induce the statement.

¶ 12. Chief Whitmore testified that he had instructed Ezell to go into the interrogation room and terminate the session. While he was unable to hear what Ezell actually said, he "saw no reason to believe" that Taylor "had been threatened, was threatened or intimidated by any officer of the Pascagoula Police Department." Whitmore testified that he attempted to adjust the focus of the camera because the *791 picture on the monitor had become unfocused.

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Bluebook (online)
789 So. 2d 787, 2001 WL 393870, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-state-miss-2001.