Walker v. State

759 So. 2d 422, 1999 WL 1061036
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 23, 1999
Docket98-KA-00388-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 759 So. 2d 422 (Walker 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
Walker v. State, 759 So. 2d 422, 1999 WL 1061036 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

759 So.2d 422 (1999)

John Christopher WALKER, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 98-KA-00388-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 23, 1999.

*424 Charles E. Miller, McComb, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE KING, P.J., DIAZ, AND IRVING, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. John Christopher Walker was tried in the Circuit Court of Lincoln County and convicted of the murder of Anthony Lloyd. He was sentenced to serve a term of life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and ordered to pay court costs and $8,724.56 in restitution to Sondra Lloyd for funeral expenses. Feeling aggrieved, he filed this appeal. The following issues, taken verbatim from his brief, are assigned as error:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FAILED TO GRANT APPELLANT JOHN C. WALKER'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS STATEMENT, TANGIBLE EVIDENCE (GSR TEST, AND PROJECTILE AND PHOTOGRAPHS.)
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ITS REFUSAL TO GRANT JOHN WALKER'S MOTION TO DENY HEARSAY CRAIG OSTER RELATED TO ANY THREATS AGAINST ANTHONY LLOYD.
III. THE EVIDENCE IS WHOLLY INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT CONVICTION PURSUANT TO THE INDICTMENT AND SECTION OF THE HOMICIDE STATUTE. FURTHER THE STATE DID NOT PROVE JOHN C. WALKER GUILTY BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT SOLELY BY CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE WHERE STATE DID NOT EXCLUDE EVERY REASONABLE HYPOTHESIS CONSISTENT WITH JOHN C. WALKER'S INNOCENCE.
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ITS REFUSED [SIC] TO ADMIT TO ALLOW THE TESTIMONY OF RALPH BROTHERN.
V. THE LOWER COURT ERRED IN ITS REFUSAL TO GRANT JOHN C. WALKER'S MOTION FOR JUDICIAL RECUSAL.

Finding no reversible error we affirm his conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. The facts, according to the State's proof, are as follows:

¶ 3. During the evening hours of August 1, 1997, Anthony Lloyd was sitting alone at a table in a local night club in Brookhaven called the J & B Club. At some point during the evening, two of his friends joined him. Some time later, Walker and two of his friends came in. One of Walker's friends, Andre Ellis, went to Lloyd's table and either sat and stared at Lloyd, according to one witness, or slammed a chair down and cursed Lloyd, according to another witness. Lloyd left the club hurriedly. He was followed closely by Walker and Ellis. When the other club patrons noticed Walker and Ellis follow Lloyd out of the club they immediately followed also. There was a well-known history of altercations between Lloyd and Ellis, and it was widely believed that the two were going to have a serious confrontation sooner or later. Outside, Lloyd was seen holding a gun and was heard to say to Ellis to "backup" and "let's squash this," all the while backing away from Ellis who was *425 advancing and taunting Lloyd to shoot him. Lloyd then turned away from Ellis and walked in the direction of Lloyd's home. Moments later six or seven gunshots rang out, and Lloyd was fatally wounded.

¶ 4. At least two witnesses, Larry Washington and John Gayten, testified that the sound of the gunfire came from the direction of a building that housed the Tote-It Store. Both witnesses also testified that they saw an individual wearing a striped shirt walk away from that same location. John Gayten was further able to identify Walker by his nickname, Too Sweet, as the person leaving the location from where the shots were fired. Five spent .45 caliber shell casings were later found by the police at the same location. One projectile was recovered from the scene, and one was recovered from the body of Anthony Lloyd. The testimony at trial was that both projectiles were .45 caliber and were fired from the same weapon.

¶ 5. During their questioning of witnesses at the crime scene the police learned of the involvement of Andre Ellis and the individual, wearing the striped shirt, known as Too Sweet. They immediately began a search for Walker and Ellis. They found Walker walking along a nearby street. He was taken in for questioning and given a gunshot residue (GSR) test. He tested positive. Walker gave the police a statement saying that he shot Lloyd because Lloyd "drew down on me." He also said in his statement to the police that the gun he used to shoot Lloyd was a .45 caliber; however, when he was brought in for questioning he did not have a gun in his possession, and no gun has ever been recovered. Other facts necessary to the resolution of certain issues will be presented in the discussion of those issues.

Analysis of Issues Presented

I. Admissibility of Walker's statement to the police and tangible evidence

Standard of Review

¶ 6. Haymer v. State, 613 So.2d 837, 839 (Miss.1993) sets forth the standard of review on this issue as follows:

Our standard of review on such issues is found in Cox v. State, 586 So.2d 761, 763 (Miss.1991), "Findings by a trial court that a confession was voluntary and that the confession is admissible will not be reversed by this Court as long as the trial court applies the correct principles of law and the finding is factually supported by the evidence."
The State has the burden of proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, all facts prerequisite to admissibility ... "[T]his burden is met and a prima facie case made out by the testimony of an officer, or other person having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without any threats, coercion, or offer of reward." Cox, 586 So.2d at 763.

¶ 7. Walker argues that he was arrested without probable cause. He claims that none of the officers who testified at trial stated that they had probable cause to arrest him. He claims that no evidence was presented to suggest that probable cause existed to arrest him. Therefore, he argues, all of the items obtained as a result of his arrest, GSR test, statement and photos are fruit of the poisonous tree and thus are not admissible.

¶ 8. Walker cites the case of Henry v. State, 486 So.2d 1209 (Miss.1986) as authority. Henry stands for the proposition that whether a confession, obtained after a technically deficient arrest, is admissible should turn on the presence and degree of any police misconduct. Having found no such police misconduct in the Henry case, the decision of the trial court, admitting a confession obtained from a technically deficient arrest, was affirmed. Henry, 486 So.2d at 1214. There was no evidence of police misconduct in the case at bar, nor was the arrest technically deficient.

¶ 9. At the trial of this matter police investigator Nolan Jones testified that *426 Walker was taken into custody for questioning because two witnesses saw him leave the vicinity from where the shots, that killed Anthony Lloyd, were fired. One witness identified Walker by his shirt and another witness identified him by his shirt as well as his nickname, Too Sweet. Spent shell casings were found at the same location. Walker was a known associate of an individual who was involved in a heated confrontation with the victim immediately preceding the shooting. We find these facts constituted a strong case of probable cause to arrest Walker.

¶ 10. Further, there was sufficient testimony at trial by police officer Nolan Jones that Walker freely and voluntarily gave the statement after his rights were read to him and after he signed a waiver of rights form. A Miranda

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
759 So. 2d 422, 1999 WL 1061036, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/walker-v-state-missctapp-1999.