Terrell v. State

952 So. 2d 998, 2006 WL 3199282
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 7, 2006
Docket2005-KA-01183-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 952 So. 2d 998 (Terrell 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
Terrell v. State, 952 So. 2d 998, 2006 WL 3199282 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

952 So.2d 998 (2006)

John TERRELL a/k/a John B. Terrell, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KA-01183-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 7, 2006.
Rehearing Denied March 27, 2007.

*1000 Minor F. Buchanan, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jacob Ray, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., CHANDLER and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

¶ 1. A jury sitting before the Second Judicial District of the Hinds County Circuit Court found John B. Terrell guilty of two counts of statutory rape. The circuit court sentenced Terrell to two concurrent thirty-year sentences. Aggrieved, Terrell appeals and raises five issues, listed verbatim:

I. THE JURY VERDICT ON BOTH COUNTS WAS CONTRARY TO THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

II. THE LOWER COURT ERRED BY NOT GRANTING THE MOTION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE STATE'S CASE, A PREEMPTORY [SIC] INSTRUCTION, AND FOR NOT GRANTING THE MOTION FOR A NEW TRIAL OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE A JNOV.

III. THE COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE STATE'S MOTION TO EXCLUDE EVIDENCE AND WITNESSES AS DISCOVERY VIOLATIONS.

IV. THE COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING THE DEFENSE MOTION TO EXCLUDE WITNESS LATASHA HOLMES AS A DISCOVERY VIOLATION.

V. THE JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE OF THE LOWER COURT SHOULD BE SET ASIDE DUE TO INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. This case centers around Monica Doe and her young daughter, Jean.[1] During *1001 October and November of 2002, Monica and Jean lived with Monica's boyfriend, Cardell McLaurin, in Jackson, Mississippi. Monica had an altercation with McLaurin. John Terrell, Monica's former boyfriend, suggested that Monica and her children leave McLaurin and stay in an abandoned house in Utica, Mississippi. Although the abandoned house had no running water and no electricity, Monica accepted Terrell's invitation. She and her children lived in the abandoned house from December of 2002 until March 28, 2003.

¶ 3. The abandoned house had no heat, save a rigged-up woodburning stove in one bedroom. Monica and her children slept on mattresses on the floor of that room. Monica and her two youngest children slept on one mattress, while Jean shared another mattress with Terrell.

¶ 4. Considered in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict, the evidence at trial indicated that Terrell had sex with Jean on several occasions. Terrell first had sex with Jean during December of 2002.[2] Monica witnessed the event, though she was under the influence of crack-cocaine at the time. At trial, Monica testified that she saw Terrell's penis penetrate Jean's vagina. Terrell had sex with Jean again sometime around the middle of January of 2003. Again, Monica witnessed the event. Again, Monica saw Terrell's penis penetrate Jean's vagina.

¶ 5. On March 28, 2003, Terrell drove Jean to school. Monica accompanied them. Monica told Terrell that she had to meet with the principal of Jean's school regarding Jean's frequent absences. Monica met with Jean's principal, but Monica told the principal that Terrell held her and her children against their will. The principal arranged for Monica and her children to go to a shelter. That shelter referred Monica to the Mississippi Children's Advocacy Center in Jackson, Mississippi. Terrell waited for Monica to come out of the school, but the school security officer told Terrell that Monica had already left.

¶ 6. Deputy Wardell Jackson of the Hinds County Sheriff's Office also worked at the Utica Police Department at times. On April 5, 2003, Terrell visited Deputy Jackson at the Utica Police Department. When they were in school, Terrell and Deputy Jackson were "close friends." Terrell reported Monica for child abuse and neglect. Deputy Jackson prepared a report and turned it over to the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) for investigation.

¶ 7. MDHS referred the investigation to the Mississippi Child Advocacy Center. Jean's case was assigned to Patricia Bailey. Ms. Bailey contacted Captain Leon Seals, the commander of the Juvenile Services Division of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department. Ms. Bailey asked Captain Seals to be present at her interviews of Monica and her children. Bailey interviewed Jean on two occasions. Captain Seals watched the interviews through a two-way mirror. Bailey also filmed those interviews. During those interviews, Jean stated that she had sex with Terrell on multiple occasions. After Ms. Bailey completed her interviews, Captain Seals began a criminal investigation.

¶ 8. On May 2, 2003, members of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department arrested Terrell. Terrell gave a written statement to Latasha Holmes, an investigator with the Juvenile Services Division of the Hinds County Sheriff's Office. In his written statement, Terrell claimed that, according *1002 to Jean, he had sex with her. Terrell stated that he did not know that he had sex with Jean at the time, because Monica drugged him. However, Terrell also stated that he was then aware that he had sex with Jean on more than one occasion.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 9. On November 3, 2003, a Hinds County grand jury returned an indictment against Terrell and charged him with two counts of statutory rape. Terrell pled not guilty. The matter proceeded to trial. The Hinds County Circuit Court scheduled the case for trial to take place on November 4, 2004.

¶ 10. On November 3, 2004, the State filed a motion to exclude certain witnesses and evidence that Terrell planned to present at trial. According to the State's motion, on November 2, 2004, Terrell tendered a document titled "notice of defense witnesses and evidence." Within that document, Terrell disclosed seven witnesses and two audio cassette recordings. The State sought to exclude four of those witnesses, as well as the audio cassettes, on the grounds that Terrell had not provided notice in a timely manner.

¶ 11. On the morning of trial, the circuit court heard the State's motion. Regarding exclusion of testimony from the four witnesses, the circuit court sustained the State's motion in part. Additionally, the circuit court stated that, at the request of the parties, he would revisit the issue of allowing Terrell's witnesses to testify, should the need arise during the trial.

¶ 12. As for the audiotapes, the circuit court sustained the State's motion to exclude them, though not on the basis of timeliness. The circuit court found that the audiotapes were not relevant.

¶ 13. After the circuit court ruled on the State's motion to exclude, Terrell made an ore tenus motion to exclude testimony from Detective Holmes. Terrell claimed he was unaware that Holmes was a potential witness. The State presented evidence that it had identified Holmes as being involved in the case during a preliminary hearing. The circuit court concluded that Terrell was aware of Holmes's role in the case. Consequently, the circuit court overruled Terrell's motion to exclude Holmes's testimony.

¶ 14. After a two-day trial, the jury found Terrell guilty of both counts of statutory rape. The circuit court sentenced Terrell to two concurrent thirty year sentences. On December 21, 2004, Terrell filed motions for JNOV or, alternatively, for a new trial. The circuit court overruled both of Terrell's posttrial motions. Aggrieved, Terrell appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. THE JURY VERDICT ON BOTH COUNTS WAS CONTRARY TO THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

¶ 15.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
952 So. 2d 998, 2006 WL 3199282, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/terrell-v-state-missctapp-2006.