Torrey v. State

891 So. 2d 188, 2004 WL 2610021
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 18, 2004
Docket2003-KA-01931-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 891 So. 2d 188 (Torrey 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
Torrey v. State, 891 So. 2d 188, 2004 WL 2610021 (Mich. 2004).

Opinion

891 So.2d 188 (2004)

Clifton T. TORREY, Sr.
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2003-KA-01931-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

November 18, 2004.
Rehearing Denied February 3, 2005.

*189 Gus Grable Sermos, Summit, attorney for appellant.

Clinton T. Torrey, Sr., appellant, pro se.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

EASLEY, Justice, for the Court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Clifton T. Torrey, Sr., was indicted by the Franklin County Grand Jury during its 2002 term on 3 counts of sexual battery of a child under eighteen years of age, in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95(2), committed against Torrey's stepchildren, his older stepdaughter who was born on June 27, 1987; his stepson who was born on August 3, 1988; and his younger stepdaughter who was born on September 24, 1990.

*190 ¶ 2. Following a jury trial in the Circuit Court of Franklin County, the jury found Torrey guilty on all 3 counts. After the jury returned its verdict, the State presented evidence that Torrey was a habitual offender. After adjudicating Torrey to be a habitual offender pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 99-19-81 (Rev.2000), the trial court sentenced Torrey as a habitual offender to serve 30 years on each count to be served consecutively, as a habitual offender, without benefit of reduction, suspension, parole or probation.

¶ 3. Torrey's attorney filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative, for a new trial which the trial court denied. Torrey now appeals to this Court.

FACTS

¶ 4. Torrey was charged in Count I of the indictment with committing sexual battery in and upon his older stepdaughter in May and/or June 2002. Count II charged Torrey with committing sexual battery in and upon his stepson, in 2002 and/or 2001. Count III charged Torrey with committing sexual battery in and upon his younger stepdaughter, in June and/or July 2002. As two of the issues raised on appeal address the legal sufficiency and the weight and credibility of the witnesses's testimony at trial, we will address the testimony of each of the witness.

¶ 5. On July 6, 2002, the 3 stepchildren ran away from home due to the events of sexual battery. The girls ran to Rhonda Fauver's house. She transported them to the house of Craig Fraiser. Fraiser knew the children from driving them to church for the past couple of years. They told Fraiser about the abuse, and he called the "law." The children were visibly upset and crying. The boy had stayed behind. When Fraiser did speak with the boy, he was very upset and crying. He told Fraiser about what Torrey had done to them.

¶ 6. A Franklin County Deputy Sheriff, Officer Blackwell, came out to Fraiser's house. The girls told the deputy what happened, and the deputy went and picked the boy up and brought him back to Fraiser's house. The Department of Human Services was notified. Jim O'Brien, a social worker at the Franklin County DHS, was called to speak with the children.

¶ 7. O'Brien spoke with the children and took the children into DHS custody. O'Brien arranged for the children to be interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center in McComb. O'Brien monitored the interviews conducted of the children from another location. The children were interviewed separately. O'Brian testified that what the children told the interviewer was consistent with what the children has previously told him. The girls were examined by Dr. Harriet Hampton, a forensic gynecologist at the University Medical Center. Appropriate foster care was arranged, and the children evaluated by a psychologist and provided counseling.

¶ 8. The boy testified at trial that in 2000 and 2001, at least twice a week, Torrey forced him to put his mouth on Torrey's penis. He stated that, "[h]e would put his hand on the back of my neck and force my mouth onto his penis." The boy testified that the events occurred in his house where he lived with Torrey in Smithdale, Franklin County.

¶ 9. The younger girl testified as to events that led up to her and her sister's running away on July 6, 2002. In her testimony, she stated that she and her sister ran away because their stepfather was sexually abusing them. They ran to his ex-wife's house and called their deacon, Fraiser, for help. According to the girl's testimony, their stepfather made her take *191 off her clothes and got on top of her. He forced his penis into her mouth and vagina.

¶ 10. The older girl testified that her stepfather had sexually abused her by forcing his penis into her mouth and vagina. She stated that her "stepdad had raped [her] several times in the past 5 years." She testified that she and her sister ran away because she "was tired of it."

¶ 11. Torrey testified that he had been living in the house with his stepchildren since November 2001. He was unemployed, drawing unemployment benefits. He had been married to his wife for several years, but he previously lived and worked out-of-state. Torrey, his wife and three stepchildren, and his wife's mother lived in the house. Torrey testified that the children resented him making them do chores. He testified that he spanked the children, but did not abuse them. He stated he did not spank them often because he was abused as a child. He testified that his stepson could be defiant and was diagnosed with direct defiant disorder. He testified that he also did not get along with his mother-in-law. Torrey denied having oral sex with his stepson and sex with his two stepdaughters.

¶ 12. Torrey now appeals to this Court. Torrey's counsel raises the following issue:

I. Whether the legal sufficiency of the evidence supported the verdict.

¶ 13. Besides the issue raised by Torrey's counsel to the legal sufficiency of the evidence, Torrey's pro se brief also raises the following issues:

II. Whether the weight and credibility of the evidence supported the verdict.
III. Whether the trial court erred in conducting voir dire.
IV. Whether Torrey received effective assistance of counsel.
V. Whether the trial court erred in conducting a bifurcated hearing to determine Torrey's status as a habitual offender.
VI. Whether the trial court erred in sentencing Torrey under an enhanced punishment as a habitual offender.

DISCUSSION

I. & II. Legal sufficiency of the evidence and weight and credibility of the evidence.

¶ 14. Torrey argues that the evidence was not legally sufficient to convict him on 3 counts of sexual battery or to prove that a sexual battery was committed under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95(2). Torrey states that he testified that he did not sexually abuse or sexually penetrate his stepchildren.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Billy Ray Dunaway v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Jason Bozeman v. State of Mississippi
208 So. 3d 1091 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017)
Charlie Ricardo Grant v. State of Mississippi
198 So. 3d 400 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Timothy Carr v. State of Mississippi
178 So. 3d 320 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2015)
Boyd v. State
114 So. 3d 1 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Newberry v. State
85 So. 3d 884 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Gowdy v. State
56 So. 3d 540 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2010)
Parham v. State
54 So. 3d 867 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Tyrone Gowdy v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2009
Derouen v. State
994 So. 2d 748 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2008)
Wynn v. State
964 So. 2d 1196 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Shannon Troy Derouen v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2007
Wilson v. State
935 So. 2d 945 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2006)
Bradley v. State
921 So. 2d 385 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Miller v. State
919 So. 2d 1137 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Bobby Earl Wilson, Jr. v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
891 So. 2d 188, 2004 WL 2610021, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/torrey-v-state-miss-2004.