Travaris Richard Christian v. State of Mississippi

207 So. 3d 1207, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 463
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 10, 2016
DocketNO. 2014-KA-01202-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 207 So. 3d 1207 (Travaris Richard Christian v. State of Mississippi) 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
Travaris Richard Christian v. State of Mississippi, 207 So. 3d 1207, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 463 (Mich. 2016).

Opinions

BEAM, JUSTICE,

FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. Travaris Christian was convicted in the Hinds County Circuit Court on two counts of capital murder (underlying felony of robbery); one count of house burglary, conspiracy to commit house burglary, felonious child neglect, and felon in possession of a firearm—all offenses having occurred on or about January 24, 2011. Christian appeals, claiming his constitutional rights to confrontation were violated; his convictions are supported by insufficient evidence; and the trial court erred in granting the State an aiding-and-abetting instruction and denying him an abandonment instruction. Finding no merit in any of the issues raised, we affirm Christian’s convictions.

FACTS

¶ 2. On January 26, 2011, Hinds County Sheriffs Deputy John Sanders was dispatched to 1323 Timberidge Road in Terry, Mississippi, to conduct a welfare check and make contact with Robert Carter. Carter’s vehicle had been found abandoned at a location in Jackson, Mississippi. Upon arrival at the Terry home, Deputy Sanders proceeded to the door inside the garage and rang the door bell. When no one answered, and finding the door unlocked, Deputy Sanders entered the home.

¶ 3. Inside, Deputy Sanders discovered two deceased bodies, later identified as Carter and Carter’s fiancé, Renita Marks. Carter’s body was found in the home’s dining room, and Marks’s body was discovered behind the door to the master bedroom. Also found, lying face down on the floor near Carter’s body and crying, was Carter’s and Marks’s seven-month-old son, Carter, Jr. The baby’s diaper was soiled with “a lot of feces.”

¶ 4. Deputy Chris Smith, who responded to the scene shortly after Deputy Sanders, testified at trial that when he picked up the baby, he appeared in a “very bad state.” He said the baby appeared extremely hungry and thirsty. He changed the baby and fed him from “premade bottles” found in the home’s refrigerator. Deputy Smith handed the baby over to one of the female officers who subsequently had arrived at the scene.

¶ 5. Investigator Greg Lewis of the Hinds County Sheriffs Department testified that he recovered nine, nine-millimeter spent casings in the home. Two projectiles were obtained from Carter’s body. And two projectiles were found near Marks’s body, one in her clothing and another on the floor. A bullet hole was discovered in the master bedroom door, indicating that someone had shot through the door. Investigators determined that the shootings had occurred on the evening of January 24,2011.

[1210]*1210¶ 6. Two days after the shootings, Hinds County Sheriff Investigators arrested Christian, along with Deon Carter, at the home of Rhonda Shannon, . Christian’s aunt. Deon was Carter’s brother.

¶ 7. While in custody, Christian waived his right to an attorney and volunteered three separate statements to investigators. In his first statement, Christian denied being in Terry the day of the killings and denied any involvement in the case. He told investigators he had met Deon just “three days” ago at Shannon’s house, where Deon was staying. Christian said Deon was looking to sell a “black truck,” and he rode with Deon to a. pawn shop, where Deon pawned an air compressor. Christian told investigators that he “heard something had happened in Terry and that someone was dead.” Christian recalled that when he first met Deon at Shannon’s home, Deon was arguing on the phone with someone from Terry. After the phone conversation, Deon told Christian this person had “really ... f***ed over him.” And “[t]hey” had “kicked him out” of his home. Christian told investigators this was all he knew about the matter, at which point the interview ended.

¶ 8. Christian gave another statement shortly thereafter. Again, Christian said he had met Deon just “three days ago” at Shannon’s home. Deon was arguing on the phone with his brother, who apparently had done Deon wrong. After the phone conversation, Christian rode with Deon to Robert’s home in Terry. According to Christian, they rode there in a gray Buick. When they arrived, Deon went up to the home to talk to his brother, while Christian sat in the car. According to Christian, Deon and his brother had a conversation that lasted for about five to ten minutes. Christian heard Deon say to Carter, “man, I’m out of gas man, you got the money •ready for me? And, ... the brother was like, man just put the keys on the table.

...” The brothers then went inside the house. Next, Christian heard gunshots. At that point, Christian got out of the car and ran- down the street. Sometime afterward, Deon drove up to Christian in a black truck. Christian got in the truck, and Deon drove them back to Shannon’s house. While in the truck, Deon was “swinging the gun around,” which scared Christian because it made him feel like Deon might shoot him “over somethin[g] like this.” Deon told him, “I hate to do my brother like that, but he just messed over me man.” Christian said a “50, 52” inch big-screen television was in the bed of the pickup, which Deon later sold to Shannon. Investigators asked Christian how the gray Buick they took into Terry arrived back at Shannon’s house in Jackson. Christian said, “I guess they went back and got it.” Investigators then asked Christian to describe the gun used in the shootings. Christian said, it was a “chrome and black [45].” Christian said Deon gave the gun to “Bo PeeP” after the shootings.

¶ 9. In his third statement, Christian told investigators that, on the day of the shooting, Deon had told him that his brother had some “TV’s in his house” and he needed some help carrying them out. Christian’s uncle, Alonzo Christian, drove Christian and Deon in the gray Buick to Carter’s house and dropped them off. Christian stated, “We went behind the house, and I went in the woods and he went and knocked on his brother’s door. And ... when his brother came to the door[, t]hey went to talkin.’ ” Later in his statement, Christian told authorities he and Deon “went up the side of the house.” Deon told Christian, “stand right here, I’m fixin’ to go knock on the door.” Deon knocked on the door, and Deon and Robert “went to talkin.’ ” Christian said that, prior to going to Terry, Deon had told Christian that Carter was at work and would not be home. When Carter came to the door, [1211]*1211Carter and Deon began arguing about gas money. Deon told Carter he needed gas money. Carter refused and instructed Deon to put the keys to the Buick on the table outside. According to Christian, Carter “tended to close the door,” and that is when Deon started shooting. Deon shot through the glass door, and “busted up in there.” Christian said, at this point, he took off running. While he was running, Christian heard more gunshots—three more, then two. He said Deon picked him up down the street about twenty minutes later; Deon had a big-screen television and an air compressor in the back of the truck. They drove back to Shannon’s house in Jackson. When they arrived, Alonzo came out and helped Deon carry the television inside. The next day, Christian rode with Deon to the pawn shop to sell the air compressor. According to Christian, Deon had agreed to give Christian some of the proceeds from sale. After the sale, Deon gave Christian $80.

¶ 10. Alonzo testified at trial on the State’s behalf in exchange for a plea deal. According to Alonzo’s testimony, Deon had approached Alonzo prior to the shootings and had told Alonzo that “he had a lick,” and asked Alonzo if he was interested. Alonzo told Deon, “I don’t do ... licks,” and “never will ....

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207 So. 3d 1207, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 463, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/travaris-richard-christian-v-state-of-mississippi-miss-2016.