Carpenter v. State

311 So.3d 1268

Jimmy CARPENTER a/k/a Jimmy Dean Carpenter, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2019-KA-01849-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

February 22, 2021

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: JUSTIN TAYLOR COOK

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: META S. COPELAND, Jackson

BEFORE WILSON, P.J., GREENLEE AND McDONALD, JJ.

McDONALD, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. On November 22, 2019, an Itawamba County Circuit Court jury found Jimmy Dean Carpenter guilty of the first-degree murder of Sharon Johnson, an elderly woman who employed Carpenter as her caretaker. The circuit court sentenced Carpenter as a habitual offender to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). Carpenter moved for a directed verdict at the close of the State's case-in-chief, which the court denied. He did not renew the motion, nor did he file any post-trial motions regarding a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, which is Carpenter's sole issue on appeal. Therefore, Carpenter waived the sufficiency-of-the-evidence issue for appellate review. Notwithstanding the waiver, we find that there was sufficient evidence presented to support the guilty verdict and affirm his conviction and sentence.

Statement of the Facts and Procedural History

¶2. Sharon Johnson was a sixty-six-year-old disabled woman who often needed assistance from her friends for day-to-day tasks.¹ Daniel Reich, a friend of Sharon's, checked on her weekly and took her to doctor appointments. After Sharon had abdominal surgery, she required even more help. Daniel suggested that Sharon hire a caretaker and introduced her to Jimmy Dean Carpenter. Sharon hired Carpenter as her live-in caretaker in June 2015. Carpenter's job included changing Sharon's bandages and helping with the upkeep of her house. Instead of paying Carpenter, Sharon gave him room and board because he had nowhere else to live.

¶3. According to Daniel, the arrangement was going well until Carpenter would not allow him to talk to Sharon when Daniel called to check on her. Then, Sharon updated her will to leave her house, land, and furniture to Carpenter if he would take care of her until her death.

¶4. On the morning of August 27, 2015, Elizabeth Taylor, another friend, arrived at Sharon's house to take Sharon to the doctor because neither Sharon nor Carpenter owned a vehicle. Upon her arrival, Elizabeth heard yelling from inside Sharon's house. Elizabeth continuously knocked on Sharon's door until Sharon opened the door. Sharon told Elizabeth that Carpenter had a "bad night." When Sharon let Elizabeth into the house, Elizabeth heard Carpenter say from the back of the house, "Don't touch me. Leave me alone. I don't want you around me."² Elizabeth took Sharon to the doctor, and both women returned to Sharon's house around 1:30 p.m. After Elizabeth packed Sharon's bandages, she left Sharon's house at 4:30 p.m. When Elizabeth left, Sharon was on her recliner, and Carpenter was in the kitchen making a cup of tea.

¶5. Later that evening, after receiving an alert from Sharon's Safe Home Security alarm system, the security company called 911. Shortly thereafter, officers from the Itawamba County Sheriff's Department arrived at Sharon's home. When the officers entered through the unlocked front door, they found Sharon stabbed to death in her recliner in the living room.³

¶6. More sheriff's department officers arrived at the scene of the crime, including Officer Tyler Gordon and Officer Larry Johnson. The officers began searching Sharon's house and the area around the house. When Officer Gordon inspected the storage shed behind the house, he heard a male voice coming from the woods, yelling, "Lord, forgive me," and repeatedly asking, "Why?" Officer Johnson also heard the voice saying, "God, forgive me for what I did." Both officers followed the voice into the woods but were unable to find anyone. Officer Gordon then retrieved his K9 dog that located Carpenter in the woods about twenty to thirty feet from Sharon's house.

¶7. When the officers tried to arrest Carpenter, he kicked and hit the officers, did not lie on the ground when instructed, and refused to be handcuffed. After the officers gave Carpenter verbal warnings, they used the K9 dog and tasers to subdue him. When Carpenter was yelling during his arrest, the officers believed that it was the same voice that they had previously heard in the woods.

¶8. Carpenter was arrested and transported to the Itawamba County jail. The police interviewed Carpenter on August 30, 2015, three days after the murder. During the interview, he denied knowing Sharon. Additionally, Carpenter claimed that he did not know where he lived or worked.

¶9. The officers recovered several items from the scene that they sent to the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory. A knife that was recovered from the kitchen tested positive for Sharon's DNA, and Carpenter's right palm print was found on the knife's handle. Carpenter's DNA was found on a bloody ice cream package lid and on a spoon in the kitchen sink. Significantly, blood found on Carpenter's blue jeans and boots at the time of his arrest tested positive for Sharon's DNA. The officers also recovered Sharon's personal security device that hung around her neck so she could activate it in an emergency. The personal device triggered Sharon's Safe Home Security system and captured an audio recording of the events.⁴ Despite the static in the background, Carpenter's voice was on the recording, repeatedly stating that "everything is okay."

¶10. On February 12, 2016, an Itawamba County grand jury indicted Carpenter for one count of first-degree murder pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(l)(a) (Rev. 2014).⁵ The indictment included an enhanced penalty pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated sections 99-19-351 through 99-19-357,⁶ which provide for an enhancement if the victim is sixty-five years of age or older or disabled. Sharon was both sixty-six and disabled at the time of her death. During arraignment, on February 25, 2016, Carpenter pled not guilty to the first-degree murder charge and was held in jail on a $1,000,000 bond.

¶11. The circuit court granted Carpenter's motion for a psychiatric examination⁷ on October 24, 2016, to determine (1) whether he was unable to comprehend the nature of the charges against him and rationally aid in his defense; (2) whether at the time of the commission of the crime charged he was of such mental capacity to distinguish between right and wrong; and (3) whether at the time statements or confessions were made to law enforcement officers he was competent to understand his rights.⁸

¶12. On January 18, 2018, the State moved to amend Carpenter's indictment to add an habitual offender charge pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-19-83 (Rev. 2015)⁹ based on the following two crimes: (1) on May 14, 2002, Carpenter was convicted in the Tippah County Circuit Court on a charge of burglary of a dwelling and was sentenced to serve a term of twenty years in the MDOC's custody with seven of those years suspended; and (2) on July 7, 2006, Carpenter was convicted in the Montgomery County Circuit Court in Tennessee on charges of aggravated kidnapping and robbery and was sentenced to serve a term of ten years in the custody of the Tennessee Department of Corrections. The court granted the State's motion the same day.

¶13. On January 18, 2018, Carpenter moved for leave to hire a forensic media expert for the purpose of enhancing and/or filtering the Safe Home Security's audio recording. The court granted Carpenter's motion on May 23, 2018.

¶14. Carpenter filed several letters in the circuit court, starting on July 18, 2018, stating that he refused legal representation because the public defender was a liar, called him the wrong names, and discussed his case with other people. Carpenter also believed that his counsel was conspiring with authorities in jail to frame him and that authorities were coercing inmates to provide false testimony against him. During a pre-trial hearing, Carpenter asked the court to remove his attorney from his case, which the court denied. The court found that it was critical to Carpenter's trial that he had someone who could explain the court's rulings and give him ideas.

¶15. The circuit court held Carpenter's competency hearing on April 17, 2019. Carpenter stipulated to Dr. Lott's report dated August 23, 2017, so Dr. Lott was not called to testify in the hearing. According to Dr. Lott's report, Carpenter, to a reasonable degree of psychological certainty, had sufficient present ability to confer with his attorney with a reasonable degree of rational understanding. Carpenter also had a factual and rational understanding of the nature and object of the legal proceedings against him. Additionally, Dr. Lott's report stated that Carpenter was not suffering from a severe mental illness at the time of the offense and that he would have had the ability to know the nature and quality of his actions and the ability to know the difference between right and wrong in relation to his actions at the time. The court found that Carpenter was competent to assist his attorney and stand trial.

¶16. Carpenter filed a motion to prevent the State from eliciting testimony of his character, past felony convictions, crimes, wrongs, or other acts pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Evidence 404(b) on June 26, 2019. The court granted Carpenter's motion that no prior criminal history would be allowed at trial unless for impeachment purposes.

¶17. The court held a pre-trial hearing on other motions on August 6, 2019. The court allowed Carpenter to proceed pro se, but the defense counsel assisted him when necessary. Although the motion is not in the record, the court denied Carpenter's motion to change venue, finding that he had not met his burden of showing that the venue had been compromised. Carpenter...