Fox v. State

378 So.3d 1007

Anthony Gerald FOX, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2022-KA-00988-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

01/30/2024

HINDS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT, HON. ADRIENNE ANNETT HOOPERWOO-TEN, JUDGE

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: MERRIDA COXWELL, Jackson, PAUL McGERALD LUCKETT, McComb, EUGENE CARLOS TANNER III, CHARLES RICHARD MULLINS, MICHAEL VERDIER CORY JR., FRANCIS STARR SPRINGER, Jackson, COURTNEY DENISE SANDERS

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: CASEY BONNER FARMER

EN BANC.

BARNES, C.J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Anthony Fox appeals his conviction of culpable-negligence manslaughter. He argues, among other issues, that the credible evidence at trial was insufficient to prove the charge in the indictment that he caused the victim’s death in a culpably negligent manner by "slamming [the victim’s] head" into the pavement. He asserts that although the prosecution presented two eyewitnesses who testified that they saw him throw, slam, and kick the victim, the prosecution’s case was rendered "completely impossible based on the medical evidence." According to the prosecution’s own medical expert, "there was no evidence of [the victim’s] being beaten or kicked or body slammed." Rather, the prosecution’s medical expert testified that the only injury found on the victim consisted of minor "abrasions," or scratches, which, when taking into account other contributing factors, caused a sequence of events that led to the victim’s suffering a subdural hemorrhage and ultimately his death.

¶2. To sustain a culpable-negligence manslaughter conviction, the prosecution was required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fox committed an act of negligence so gross as to be tantamount to a wanton disregard for or utter indifference to the safety of human life and that the victim’s death was reasonably foreseeable under the circumstances. Based on the credible evidence presented at trial, no evidence establishes that Fox acted in a grossly negligent manner or that the victim’s death from minor abrasions was reasonably foreseeable under the circumstances.

¶3. The State concedes error on this issue. After review, we likewise conclude that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. The conviction is reversed, and a judgment of acquittal is rendered in Fox’s favor.

FACTS

[1] ¶4. We view the facts in the light most favorable to the prosecution, as re- quired by our standard of review. Buchanan v. State, 316 So. 3d 619, 630 (¶49) (Miss. 2021).

¶5. On Sunday, January 13, 2019, Detective Anthony Fox with the Jackson Police Department (JPD) was called to assist with a search for a suspect involved in the death and carjacking of Pastor Anthony Longino, who was killed while opening the doors to his church in the Washington Addition area of Jackson. Fox was a member of JPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics Unit (SWAT) and received the search notice on his cell phone between 8 and 9 a.m. Fox and the other SWAT team members spent the day executing search warrants and interviewing potential suspects and informants.

¶6. Around 6 p.m., law enforcement received a tip from an informant that a suspect in Longino's murder was hiding on Jones Avenue in Jackson. Officers received a picture of the suspect on their cell phones. The suspect was a juvenile male. A team of JPD officers, including Fox, Officer Lincoln Lampley, Officer Desmond Barney, Officer George Moore, and Officer Damon White, responded to Jones Avenue. Fox and Lampley rode together in an unmarked car. Barney drove separately in an unmarked car, and Moore and White followed in marked patrol cars. Officer Cornell Norman was also patrolling on Jones Avenue. Once on Jones Avenue, the officers saw people gathered outside a home, barbequing. Barney radioed the other officers and suggested that they try to interview individuals in the group to gather information about the murder.

¶7. State witness Ronnie Arnold, a friend of sixty-two-year-old George Robinson, testified at trial that Robinson was hosting a barbeque at his home on Jones Avenue to celebrate his recent recovery from a stroke. Arnold testified that Robinson had just returned from the store when a man and woman approached Robinson’s white sedan to ask him for change to buy some drinks from Connie Bolton, who sold snacks and canned drinks out of her home across the street. The man and woman had previously asked Arnold for money, but he said no. Police vehicles were parked at the corner of Jones Avenue and Washington Street, and Arnold heard the officers telling people to get away from Robinson’s car and telling Robinson to exit the car. Arnold testified that Robinson was saying to one of the officers, "I can’t move too fast, sir"; "[h]e was trying to take his seatbelt off,"¹ but "Fox end up snatching the door open and grabbed him and throw him on the ground. … His head and … [h]is whole body" made contact with the ground; "[h]e hit it hard. He started bleeding … [from h]is head." Arnold testified that "Fox had his knee on [Robinson’s] back and his arm on his shoulder, like, pushing his head up against the tire. His head was on the tire." When Robinson stood up, "blood was coming from his head."

¶8. Bolton was also friends with Robinson and testified that she was outside her house across the street when she saw an officer, whom she identified as Fox at trial, "snatch [Robinson] out and then body slammed him … and dip him and swung him on the ground." She testified that she saw "his head hit the ground." The officer then "raised his foot and stomped him" with his booted foot. Children were present outside Bolton’s home, and she took them inside so they would not be exposed to the altercation. She came back outside and began videoing the scene through Facebook Live. The prosecution introduced the video as an exhibit at trial. She can be heard on the video saying that she "d[id]n’t know if he’s going to jail or the hospital" because "they really worked him over" and that the police were "kicking people ass." She testified she could see Robinson standing next to the police SUV, and his "head was bleeding."

¶9. Lampley testified that when he and Fox exited their patrol car on Jones Avenue, "[he] went in the front yard, around the barbecue grill, and Detective Fox went to a white 4-door sedan that was parked in front of that residence." Lampley saw Robinson in the driver’s seat of the vehicle and a female standing by the driver’s side. Lampley did not notice anything suspicious or illegal happening at the vehicle, but he "wasn’t, necessarily, paying attention to the vehicle" and directed his attention "back to the individuals in the front yard barbequing."

¶10. Before Lampley could talk to any of the individuals in the front yard, he "heard a commotion" behind him. Lampley heard Fox making "[l]oud commands."² Fox’s voice sounded "distressed." Lampley went back to the white sedan where Robinson was still seated in the driver’s seat. Fox was outside the car. Lampley testified that "Detective Fox had [Robinson’s] left arm, the one closest to the door, secured, attempting to remove Mr. Robinson from the vehicle." Robinson was turned toward the center of the car with his hands between the driver’s seat and center console. Fox continued "attempting to secure his left arm and get him out of the vehicle and giving him loud commands to exit the vehicle and stop reaching." Lampley drew his weapon but then holstered it to assist Fox "in pulling [Robinson] out of the vehicle." He testified: "I come in, directly behind Detective Fox …. I reach in with my right hand over Mr. Robinson’s right shoulder. I grab his shoulder of his clothing. Bend him forward, slightly, and we pulled him out of the vehicle, together." He testified that they "weren’t able to hold him up," and Robinson dropped to his knees and then to the ground.³

¶11. Officers saw an abrasion on Robinson’s forehead and, complying with JPD policy, called for an ambulance. Paramedic Andrew Aycox with American Medical Response (AMR) testified that he responded to the scene that night, but the call was cancelled by police after the ambulance arrived. He testified that the call came in at 7:43 p.m., and AMR arrived on the scene at 7:56 p.m. His initial report indicated, "We cancelled on scene. No patient contact. No patient found by law enforcement." However, he amended his report the following day when he learned that Robinson’s "condition had changed." Aycox testified that he was able to add a narrative to his report and tried to enter more information, such as his initial impression of Robinson, but was unable to do so be- cause certain screens were locked due to the cancellation status of the call. Aycox testified that despite the initial notation of "[n]o patient contact," he applied a small bandage to Robinson’s forehead. Aycox’s amended report indicates that he observed an abrasion on the light side of Robinson’s forehead "with bleeding controlled naturally," meaning it had stopped bleeding on its own before AMR arrived. The bandage covering the abrasion was described as "a 4 by 4 … folded in half, twice." Time records show AMR was on the scene for approximately five minutes. Aycox testified that Robinson, in terms of consciousness, was rated at a fifteen on the Glasgow Coma Scale, the highest rating for patient alertness.

¶12. Fox cited Robinson for disobeying the commands of a law-enforcement officer and resisting arrest. Robinson was field-released.⁴ No contraband or weapons were found in Robinson’s car. According to Arnold, Fox then "told [Robinson] to leave," and Robinson got in his vehicle and drove away.

¶13. Robinson drove to the Mustang Inn on Highway 80 in Jackson where his girlfriend, Constance Johnson, lived. Johnson testified that when Robinson walked in, he told her that JPD had "beat him up," and she saw a bloody bandage on his forehead. He lay down on the bed, and he and Johnson talked. Johnson then left to go to...