Lewis v. State

374 So.3d 529

Steven L. LEWIS a/k/a Steven Lewis, Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

NO. 2021-KA-00472-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

04/25/2023

Rehearing Denied September 12, 2023

SHARKEY COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, HON. TONI DEMETRESSE TERRETT, JUDGE

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: MOLLIE MARIE McMILLIN

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ALLISON ELIZABETH HORNE

BEFORE WILSON, P.J., McCARTY AND EMFINGER, JJ.

McCARTY, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Steven Lewis was accused of killing a father and son after a minor dispute. Following a jury trial, he was convicted of both first-degree and second-degree murder, He was sentenced to, consecutive terms of life imprisonment and forty years to serve. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶2. In 2017, Stephen Lewis shot and killed Alex Jennings Sr. and Alex Jennings Jr. Around the Delta town where the three lived, Rolling Fork, Alex Sr. was known as Ace, while his son was called Mookey.

¶3. No one disputes Lewis killed Ace and Mookey; Lewis always admitted that he shot and killed the father-son duo. The core question at trial was whether the killings were done deliberately or in self-defense.

¶4. Three people witnessed the shootings and what happened afterward. One witness was Candace Macon, who was at the intersection of Highway 61 and Highway 16. Across the road from her, she saw a fistfight—Lewis was fighting Mookey, and Lewis’ brother and Lewis’ friend were fighting Ace. She said, "I just saw both - - all of them fighting each other." But then she noticed the events take a turn for the worse when she witnessed Lewis and Mookey fall to the ground together. Afterward, "[she] heard a gunshot."

¶5. After she heard the gunshot, "[Mookey] didn’t move." And that’s when Lewis got up from the ground. Then, "[h]im and [Ace] got to fighting." Shockingly, she recalled the two men "fighting and I remember just seeing [Lewis] standing over [Ace] with a gun," and then she "heard a few shots." She testified that Lewis had the gun and was pointing it at Ace. After Lewis shot Ace, Lewis seemingly "walk[ed] off" to his trailer.

¶6. But when he was walking back to his trailer, Lewis appeared to squat down, and then dropped to his knees. Then Macon heard another gunshot. At that point, she drove away from the crime scene and called 911.

¶7. Another witness was Henry Denis. According to his testimony, when he was turning at the intersection, he "saw two objects laying in the road." Specifically, he "looked up and there was one body laying up above. There was another body laying in the road."

¶8. But Denis testified one of the "objects" was pulling himself across the road using his arms. Denis saw it was the elder Jennings, Ace. After he saw Ace pulling himself across the road, he "saw another man walk up behind him and shoot him three times … [in] his back." The man simply "walked up to him and shot him in his back."

¶9. Denis called the police and identified Lewis as the person who shot Ace.

¶10. The third witness was Drake McKnight, who was Lewis' best friend. He explained Lewis was with him at his mother’s house. McKnight testified that Ace and Mookey pulled up and demanded a toolbox. Lewis agreed to give Ace his toolbox back when he got back to his house. After the exchange, Ace and Mookey left.

¶11. Then Lewis and McKnight went to Lewis’ house. About five minutes later, Ace and Mookey showed up for the toolbox. According to McKnight, everything was fine at, first. But then McKnight heard Lewis and Mookey "exchanging words with each other." McKnight said he was in the car while the pair were arguing, and he looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed Lewis and Mookey "scuffling or something"—the two men had begun fighting and "throwing punches." McKnight attempted to break up the fight between them. Ace was trying to break up the fight as well.

¶12. At some point during the fighting, McKnight heard a gunshot and then saw Mookey was on the ground. He said Lewis "had a gun" and was walking toward Ace. McKnight began to run off to avoid the violence. After he started running, remembered he "heard two single shots." McKnight called the police and told them his friend had just shot Ace and Mookey.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶13. Steven Lewis was charged with two counts of murder and one count of possession of a weapon by a felon. Lewis’ indictment was later amended to reflect his habitual offender status. The State filed a second motion to amend Lewis’ indictment to include a firearm sentencing enhancement, which the trial court subsequently granted.

¶14. Lewis’ counsel later moved to withdraw, which the trial court granted. Lewis also moved to quash and dismiss his indictment and to disqualify the Ninth Judicial District Attorney due to an alleged conflict of interest. The trial court denied Lewis’ motion to quash and dismiss his indictment but granted his motion to disqualify the district attorney’s office.¹

¶15. While incarcerated, Lewis filed a pro se motion to change venue. He argued he could not get a fair trial in Sharkey County because his case "ha[d] been widely publicized" in the community. The trial court did not reach the merits of his motion and denied it because it "was not supported by the affidavits of two or more credible persons" as required by the venue statute.

¶16. Yet on the first day of trial, Lewis’ concerns proved valid. There were so many prospective jurors who knew about the case or had views on it that twelve jurors could not be selected.

¶17. After granting a mistrial, the trial court discussed the next steps with the attorneys. The State indicated it would file a motion to change venue unless the defendant resumed his request.

The State: Your Honor, I just as soon as possible try to get a motion of venue or if the defendant is going to go forward with that, try to get that done as quick as possible.

The Defense: Your Honor, the defendants are already - - the defense, while he’s a pro se attorney, I already filed - - well, while he’s representing himself pro se, I already filed a motion of venue that I imagine that we will - - redo another motion for venue with a - -…

The Court: How soon do you think you will have that filed?

The Defense: I'll get it filed before the week is out.

¶18. Despite these assertions by counsel, the defense did not re-file the request to change venue.

¶19. Nonetheless, the trial court subsequently entered an order granting a change of venue "due to the size of the community and the great number of jurors who were personally familiar with either the defendant or the victims in this matter narrowed the jury pool so significantly as to result in a mistrial." The trial court determined "sua sponte … that a change of venue is proper" and transferred the trial to Warren County.

¶20. During trial, Lewis took the stand in his own defense. He said that the origin of the fight was because Ace owed him money for drugs. He testified that two or three weeks before the murders, he found Ace’s toolbox at a local hangout, and he took it home with him. Lewis testified that Ace confronted him the day after he took the toolbox, but Lewis told him that "you owed me money anyway, so me and you should be even." According to him, Ace "laughed it off."

¶21. When Ace and Mookey confronted him later, Lewis testified he was "in a good mood" and that he told Ace he would give him his tools back once he got back to his house. "He had already been owing me money," Lewis said, and told the jury Ace promised "I can either give you 50 or you wait till tomorrow I’ll give you a hundred[.]"

¶22. Lewis told Ace he could "gone head up there and get the toolbox." And at that point "[e]verything - - it was normal." He even told Ace a second time to "go get the toolbox off the porch."

¶23. In Lewis’ version of events, Mookey got out of the car, "angry for some reason," and Lewis asked him "why you looking like that?" Mookey replied, "Sh*t, man, I’m straight… I’m going to make sure me and my dad is straight." At some point during the conversation between Lewis and Mookey, Lewis told Mookey to leave because "he was showing … like he had a problem that morning." Lewis went on, "I told Mookey I’ll bring [Ace] where you want me to bring him to, but he had to leave because he just was too aggressive." Ace was telling Mookey to get back into the car, but Lewis and Mookey continued to argue.

¶24. Lewis testified that Mookey threw the first punch. During the argument, Lewis said that Mookey pulled a gun "[o]ut of his jacket" and that he "just grabbed it." He continued, "[W]hen he reached for it, everything just changed. It’s like it was different. All I could think was just get the gun." And "[w]hen I went for the gun, it like -- the gun fired. And when the gun fired while I was coming to him, it’s like I grabbed the gun and both of us, like, fell." But he noted that "the gun fell more my way. It fell on the ground more my way. So I grabbed the gun."

¶25. When he picked it up, he "[s]hot the gun" more than one time. That’s when he shot Mookey. After he shot Mookey, he turned around and saw that Ace was close by. He said, "[Ace] tried to rush me" and "I started shooting," and he shot Ace.

¶26. But on cross, Lewis admitted he shot Ace in the back of the head because he thought Ace had put his hand in his jacket as if he were reaching for some-thing. Lewis said, "I just was shooting." Lewis said he was also shot, claiming a wound to his leg.

¶27. The jury found Lewis guilty of first-degree murder for the killing of the father and guilty of second-degree murder for the killing of the son, but the jury acquitted him of possession of a firearm by a felon. The court sentenced Lewis as a habitual offender to life imprisonment for first-degree murder and a consecutive term of forty years to serve in custody for second-degree murder, without eligibility for parole.

DISCUSSION

¶28. Appointed counsel for Lewis raises five claims of error allegedly warranting...