Crump v. State

237 So.3d 808

Jermaine CRUMP, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2015–KA–01828–COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

June 27, 2017

Rehearing Denied October 31, 2017

Certiorari Denied March 1, 2018

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: GEORGE T. HOLMES

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ABBIE EASON KOONCE

BEFORE IRVING, P.J., BARNES, CARLTON AND WESTBROOKS, JJ.

BARNES, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. A jury found Jermaine Crump guilty of deliberate-design murder. Crump's appellate counsel claims the Yalobusha County Circuit Court, First Judicial District, erred when it: (1) held that Crump could not repeat what the victim allegedly said shortly before Crump killed her; (2) allowed two law-enforcement officers to provide lay opinions as to whether the victim would have been a threat to Crump; and (3) held that the jury's verdict was not contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Crump has also filed a pro se supplemental brief. He argues that: (4) the prosecution should not have been allowed to introduce his recorded statement into evidence; (5) his retained trial counsel was ineffective; and (6) the prosecution engaged in various forms of misconduct. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the circuit court's judgment.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. As of late 2012, Crump and his mother, Mary Crump, were the joint owners of their three-bedroom house near Coffeeville, Mississippi. Four other people were temporarily living with them: Crump's younger brother, Richard Crump Jr.; Richard's wife, Crystal Redmond Crump; and Richard and Crystal's two young children. Crump believed that Crystal had been intentionally damaging his clothes and computer. The record suggests that he retaliated by pouring water on Crystal's computer. Crump's problems with Crystal continued to escalate as he unsuccessfully tried to have her evicted or prosecuted multiple times.

¶ 3. It is undisputed that on November 2, 2012, Crump killed Crystal. Among other law-enforcement officers, Chief Deputy Jerry Ferguson of the Yalobusha County Sheriff's Department was dispatched to Crump's house. Crystal's body was lying prone on the front porch. She had been shot numerous times, including three gunshot wounds to the head. Deputy Ferguson arrested Crump, who directed him to the pistol that he had hidden inside a "black makeup-type bag" that "was under a bunch of stuff inside [Mary's] closet." Crump also showed Deputy Ferguson a knife on the floor in the hall, and said it "was the knife [Crystal] had." Deputy Thomas West found two loaded pistol magazines in Crump's pocket, and two boxes of pistol ammunition in Crump's car.

¶ 4. Investigator Bryan Sullivant of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations also responded to the scene. He noticed that Crystal had been wearing bright green latex gloves when she died. Investigator Sullivant later tested Crump's hands for gunshot residue, but Crump had washed his hands. However, Investigator Sullivant took samples from the knife in the hallway. Those samples later tested positive for gunshot residue. That evening, Crump declined to give a statement to Investigator Sullivant.

¶ 5. By the next morning, Crump had changed his mind. After detailing the problems he had been having with Crystal, Crump said that Crystal had been standing outside his bedroom immediately before he chased her and killed her. He said Crystal had been holding a knife, but he could not remember which of her hands it was in. He also could not remember what she said before he killed her. Investigator Sullivant asked Crump several times if there were anything strange about Crystal's hands, but Crump never mentioned the bright green latex gloves that Crystal had been wearing.

¶ 6. Crump admitted that he shot Crystal as she ran from him. He said that he shot at Crystal once as she was running through the hall, and again as she was near the front door. By then, he did not know whether Crystal still had a knife. When she opened the front door and fell onto the porch, he stood over her and shot her a few more times. Crump said that he had been aiming at Crystal's back, but his shots were hitting her in the head. Crump denied that he had picked up the knife in the hall, but he said that he kicked it after he killed Crystal.

¶ 7. During February 2013, Crump was indicted and charged with murder. His trial was substantially delayed by the question of his mental competency. Following a May 2013 motion by Crump's lawyer, Crump was evaluated by Dr. John Hutson, a clinical psychologist. In May 2014, Dr. Hutson recommended further evaluation at the Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield.

¶ 8. After Crump's July 2014 initial evaluation at Whitfield, psychiatrist Dr. Reb McMichael and clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Amanda Gugliano opined that Crump was not competent to proceed to trial. Crump was admitted to Whitfield for further evaluation. During September 2014, Dr. Gugliano again reported that Crump was not competent to proceed to trial. She explained that Crump appeared "to have a personality disorder with paranoid and schizotypal features." Crump's evaluation and treatment continued at Whitfield.

¶ 9. In January 2015, Dr. McMichael submitted a follow-up report that Crump was able to consult with his lawyer. Dr. McMichael further opined that Crump would have understood "the nature and quality of his alleged acts" and "he would have known [they were] ... wrong." After conducting a competency hearing, the circuit court held that Crump was competent to stand trial.

¶ 10. Crump's three-day trial began on April 13, 2015. The prosecution called six witnesses during its case-in-chief. Asia Gunn testified that she was nine years old when Crump killed Crystal. Asia was in the home that day, because Crystal had been giving her a perm. While sitting in the living room, Asia saw Crump shooting at Crystal as he chased her down the hall, and again as he stood over her on the porch. Asia never saw Crystal with a knife, and she never saw a knife in the hallway.

¶ 11. Deputy Ferguson, Deputy West, and Investigator Sullivant all testified regarding their participation in the investigation. Dr. Erin Barnhart, a forensic pathologist, testified that she performed Crystal's autopsy, and Crystal had three gunshot wounds to the back of her head, one to the side of her torso, one in her right hip, and one in her right arm. Jacob Burchfield, an expert witness employed by the Mississippi Crime Laboratory, testified that gunshot residue was on the sample that Investigator Sullivant collected from the knife.

¶ 12. Crump participated significantly during his case. He vigorously disagreed with his lawyer's desire to present an insanity defense. Instead, Crump insisted that he had acted in self-defense.

¶ 13. Crump demanded that his lawyer call David Earl Hoop as a witness. Initially, Hoop did not know anything about the case. When Crump re-called him later, Hoop remembered that Crystal had taken her vehicle to his shop, and he found sugar in Crystal's gas tank. Hoop testified that Crystal was "real mad" when she left his shop. At Crump's insistence, his lawyer also called Crump's aunt, Ebonie Gunn, and his father, Richard Crump Sr., as witnesses. Neither of them knew anything about the shooting.

¶ 14. Crump's mother, Mary, testified about the living arrangements and Crump's problems with Crystal, but Mary was not at home when Crump killed Crystal. During a phone conversation on the day of the shooting, Crystal told Mary that she thought Crump had put sugar in her gas tank.¹ Mary asked Crystal to "let it go" because Crystal and Crump's brother planned to move out of the house soon. Mary also testified that Crump "got more intense" every time he unsuccessfully tried to get Crystal out of the house.

¶ 15. Against his lawyer's advice, Crump chose to testify. He said that on the day of the shooting, he heard Crystal talking on the phone with someone. "[F]rom that conversation, [he] felt like [his] life was in danger"; so he "got the [pistol] magazine and ... prepared [him]self for any bad altercation or whatever the case may be."² According to Crump, Crystal said "[g]uess what" as she stood outside his door. Because of the prosecution's hearsay objection, Crump was not allowed to elaborate about what Crystal had said. Although Crump became frustrated by the circuit court's decision, he was able to testify that Crystal was "highly upset," angry, and "hitting stuff." He said that Crystal had a knife in her hand while she was standing outside his door, and he felt like his life was in danger. According to Crump, Crystal "was talking about what she was going to do."

¶ 16. Crump testified that Crystal ran from him, and he "ran behind her." Crump said that Crystal "was just getting in the den" when he "shot her in the leg[.]"³ He did not know whether Crystal still had the knife, but he did not see "[any]thing drop[.]" He testified that he was not thinking rationally, and he could not control his response because of his paranoid schizophrenia.⁴ He added that he "couldn't stop shooting." However, he maintained that he acted in self-defense. While Crystal was lying on the porch, Crump "just stood over her ... like a crazy man and just kept on shooting, and [he] was fixing to go and reload and shoot some more until [he] caught [him]self ...." During cross-examination, Crump said that he did not know right from wrong, and he could not stop himself. He added that he acted in the heat of the moment, but after he started to think clearly, he realized that what he had done was "very wrong, very bad."

¶ 17. The prosecution called Investigator Sullivant during its rebuttal. During Investigator Sullivant's rebuttal testimony, the prosecution introduced Crump's recorded interview into evidence. As mentioned above, the jury found Crump guilty of murder. The circuit court sentenced Crump to life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections...