Townsend v. State

847 So. 2d 825, 2003 WL 21284474
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJune 5, 2003
Docket95-KA-00234-SCT, 2002-KA-00247-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 847 So. 2d 825 (Townsend 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
Townsend v. State, 847 So. 2d 825, 2003 WL 21284474 (Mich. 2003).

Opinion

847 So.2d 825 (2003)

Robert Lee TOWNSEND
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

Nos. 95-KA-00234-SCT, 2002-KA-00247-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 5, 2003.

*826 Cheryl Ann Webster, Clarksdale, Darnell Felton, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Charles W. Maris, Jr., attorney for appellee.

Before McRAE, P.J., DIAZ and CARLSON, JJ.

DIAZ, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Robert Lee Townsend (Townsend) was convicted in the Circuit Court of Coahoma County, Honorable Elzy Jonathan Smith, Jr., Circuit Judge, presiding, of the crimes of kidnapping, capital rape, and sexual battery. He was sentenced to serve consecutive terms of imprisonment of thirty years, life, and thirty years. Aggrieved by the decision, he appealed.[1]

¶ 2. Townsend's appellate counsel, Cheryl Ann Webster (Webster), has filed a brief pursuant to Brown v. State, 799 So.2d 870 (Miss.2001), which was in turn based on Turner v. State, 818 So.2d 1186 (Miss. 2001). Webster states as follows:

Appellant's court appointed appeal lawyer, Cheryl Ann Webster, has determined that the defendant, Robert Lee Townsend is unlikely to prevail on appeal; further that I have scoured the record thoroughly and asked Mr. Thomas Pearson, who is not appointed to represent Mr. Townsend but who is a member in good standing with the Ms. Bar Association, to do the same. It is my considered opinion after conferring with Mr. Pearson that the error in this trial does not rise to the level of reversible error and therefore the appeal of this case would be frivolous.

Webster then lists the following five errors which might support an appeal:

*827 I. Denial of the Motion for Authority to Employ nonlegal assistance at Public expense.
II. The Court admitted illegal testimony by and through Andrew Thompson, Sheriff, over the Defendant's objections in violation of the Rules of Evidence.
III. The Court admitted into evidence certain illegal items as exhibits particularly State's exhibits 7, 19, 29, 22, and 31 in violation of MRC 901.
IV. The Court admitted into evidence certain illegal testimony concerning State's exhibit # 1 and State's exhibit #3 in violation of MRC 901.
V. The Court admitted into evidence certain illegal items as exhibits particularly State's exhibit # 1 and State's exhibit # 3 in violation of MRC 901.[2]

Webster also refers to a letter to Townsend in which she informs him of his "right to file a pro se supplemental brief." As of this date, no filings from Townsend have been received.

¶ 3. Webster concludes that she has complied with "the procedure outlined in Brown v. State, 799 So.2d 870 (Miss.2001), with the exception of having another attorney independently review the record for his considered opinion."

¶ 4. The State submits that while defense counsel has complied with this Court's holding in Turner, the issue on appeal is whether the procedure in Turner meets minimum constitutional requirements.

¶ 5. After having carefully reviewed the entire record in this case, this Court concludes that no reversible error occurred during the trial. Thus, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 6. On the night of December 10, 1994, the victim, a ten-year old girl, was helping her grandparents at their business in Coahoma County when Townsend came in and made a purchase. He took a liking to the victim and had a conversation with her, during which he told her to come outside in five minutes because he needed to tell her something. Townsend then left. Five minutes later, the victim went outside. Townsend grabbed her and, despite her protests, pulled her into his truck. Townsend then drove to his home in Clarksdale. He took the victim inside and physically assaulted her when she refused to put on some men's clothes he gave her. After telling her that he would feed her to the animals and birds if she resisted Townsend put on a "nasty" movie, forced the victim onto the bed, and removed his clothes. He then sexually assaulted her several different times and ways. Upon being interrupted by someone knocking on the door, Townsend hurriedly got up and turned the blood-stained mattress over. After dressing, he and the victim got back into his truck. Before letting her out two blocks from her cousin's house, Townsend told the victim, "You're my woman now," and instructed her to fabricate a story to explain her absence.

¶ 7. The victim did not comply with Townsend's instructions. She immediately told the whole story to her family and the Sheriff. Though bleeding and hurting, on the way to the hospital, the victim led officers to Townsend's house. Her description of the interior and exterior of the house matched perfectly. Specifically, she *828 described the vehicles outside the house, the lotion Townsend had used, the movie he had played, the knife he had held to her throat, the clothes he had worn (down to his snake-skin boots), the particular sheets and pillow cases, and the mattress with the blood on the reverse side. The victim later selected Townsend's picture from a photographic lineup and, at trial, identified him as her assailant.

¶ 8. Dr. Charles D. Cesare, a gynecologist, treated the victim at the emergency room. He testified at trial that the injuries the victim received were consistent with a child having been penetrated by an adult male organ. The victim had a significant amount of bleeding deep in her vagina. Tests revealed the presence of seminal fluid in the victim's vaginal and anal cavities. According to Dr. Cesare, "[s]omething forceably entered and dilated and tore the delicate tissues of the vaginal tube and of the rectum." There was also bruising to her neck, as well as an injury to the neck "where a sharp object or either a scratch had occurred," and "[t]he back of her head had a little bit of swelling, where it looks like the hair maybe had been traumatized and swollen, about half a centimeter." Dr. Cesare performed surgery on the victim to suture her wounds, and the child remained in the hospital for three to four days.

ANALYSIS

I. DENIAL OF THE MOTION FOR AUTHORITY TO EMPLOY NONLEGAL ASSISTANCE AT PUBLIC EXPENSE.

¶ 9. The gist of Townsend's motion to this effect is that his attorneys needed assistance in examining the numerous items of physical and documentary evidence and, because they were not experienced with the medical examinations and procedures for identifying rape evidence, they needed assistance in that regard as well. Counsel argued:

In order for the presentation of a proper defense and effective assistance of counsel, Defendant Robert Lee Townsend [should] be authorized to employ at the expense of Coahoma County, Mississippi a private investigator, a serologist, a gynecologist with experience in treating rape victims, and a physician with experience in obtaining rape evidence [and] physical evidence from a male accused of rape.

No order of denial is included in the clerk's papers or mentioned anywhere in the record as far as this Court can find; however, Townsend received no such assistance.

¶ 10. In Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68, 105 S.Ct. 1087, 84 L.Ed.2d 53 (1985), the Supreme Court, delineated three factors to be utilized in determining whether a defendant is entitled to the assistance of an expert witness to assist in the defense of his case. Richardson v. State,

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Bluebook (online)
847 So. 2d 825, 2003 WL 21284474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/townsend-v-state-miss-2003.