Opinion ID: 1704807
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence And Argument Regarding Other Victims

Text: ¶ 26. The State elected to indict Flowers separately for the four murders. Then, the State contested Flowers's motion to consolidate the four murders indictments into one trial which was denied by the trial judge. Subsequently, during trial, there were repeated occurrences of the introduction of evidence of the other three murders. ¶ 27. During the opening statement, the prosecutor stated that four people were working at Tardy's on the day of the murder and that when Sam Jones came in to work he found all four people laying in the floor shot, laying in pools of blood. The State named the people who were working that morning and stated that two of the victims had just started working for Tardy. It was also pointed out that when the police chief arrived, he determined that everybody there was dead except for Derrick Stewart ... and that Derrick lived for a while, for days before he finally died from a gunshot wound to the head. Counsel continued by stating that the other three people were killed from gunshot wounds to the head. These references continued throughout the trial with comparisons by testimony and exhibits showing placement of the bodies, the fact that four people had been killed, and how they died. ¶ 28. In applying Rule 404(b), this Court has held that even though it may reveal other crimes, evidence or testimony may be given in order to tell a rational and coherent story of what happened and where it is substantially necessary to present a complete story. Mackbee v. State, 575 So.2d 16, 27-28 (Miss.1990) (citing Brown v. State, 483 So.2d 328, 330 (Miss. 1986)). Such evidence of the other crime is also admissible if it sheds light upon the motive or if it forms a part of a chain of facts intimately connected so that in order to interpret its general parts, the whole must be heard. Davis v. State, 530 So.2d 694, 697-98 (Miss.1988). This rule has also applied when the evidence is integrally related in time, place, and fact to the crime for which the defendant is being tried in order to allow the State to tell a coherent story of what happened to the victim. McFee v. State, 511 So.2d 130, 136 (Miss.1987). See also Ladner v. State, 584 So.2d 743, 758 (Miss.1991); Wheeler v. State, 536 So.2d 1347, 1352 (Miss.1988). Evidence has been admitted where the other offense formed a single transaction or closely related series of transactions in relation to the crime charged. Robinson v. State, 497 So.2d 440, 442 (Miss.1986). See also Davis v. State, 476 So.2d 608, 609 (Miss.1985). Rule 404(b) is not a blanket prohibition of evidence of other actions. Where the evidence might be relevant in another manner, as stated in the above references, i.e., inter-connected, this Court has allowed it to be introduced. Hums v. State, 616 So.2d 313, 321 (Miss. 1993). ¶ 29. In Mackbee, where there were two crime scenes involved, this Court noted that when the officers' testified concerning what they discovered, their responses were unavoidable. Mackbee, 575 So.2d at 28. Other observations made by this Court in Mackbee that supported evidence of other crimes being admissible included: 1) pictures entered into evidence which depicted what was present at the scene of the crime; 2) investigators preserving evidence; 3) lack of knowledge of how the defendant would be tried; and 4) placement of camera angles so as to exclude other victims-due to the lack of knowledge to do otherwise. Id. ¶ 30. In Ladner, where there were two victims at the scene, the trial judge stated: As to the second victim at the scene, the two cases are so intertwined it's impossible as we discussed in pretrial, to disassociate one from the other. There must be some lapping into the second victim because the second victim was found right there at the scene with a bullet in her head, too. They can't go into the detail that they could go into if the defendant were on trial for the second victim today, but there is necessarily going to have to be some testimony that concerns itself with the other capital murder charge. The references made regarding Tassin were necessary to tell the complete story of the crime. Both were killed in Holden's mobile home with the same gun. See Griffin v. State, 504 So.2d 186, 191-92 (Miss.1987). The issue is rejected. Ladner, 584 So.2d at 758. ¶ 31. Flowers cites Stringer v. State, 500 So.2d 928 (Miss.1986), to support his argument that the State employed a tactic of trying Flowers for the murders of all of the victims to inflame and prejudice the jury. In Stringer, the conviction was affirmed but the death sentence was vacated and remanded due to the improper influence of the State during the sentencing phase. The errors that required reversal included the introduction into evidence of color photographs of the body of Nell McWilliams (the second victim), which were also displayed to the jury during closing argument. Id. at 930. This Court, in Stringer, held that the admission of the pictures of the second victim, not the subject of the crime for which the defendant was being tried, did not constitute reversible error in and of itself, but reversal in that case was due to the fact that the pictures were used during closing argument and in the sentencing phase. Id. at 934. The Stringer Court also made note of the fact that this case was being reversed only on the sentencing phase and because of cumulative errors. Id. The State in Stringer clearly made remarks intended to implicate the defendant in the murder of the second victim: But they left a witness. And who took care of that? There he sits. There he sits. And how did he do it? (Mr. Davis changing slides) There it is. It's not my handiwork. It's not anything you did. That's his handiwork. He had to go back to do it. And how did he do it? What did Dr. Galvez say? Down on her hands and knees probably trying to crawl behind a table to hide? She wasn't standing up. Why didn't he shoot her in the back while she was standing up? That's his handiwork his handiwork. Again, during the closing argument in the sentencing phase, reference was made to the murder of Mrs. McWilliams. Id. at 933. ¶ 32. The Stringer Court, clearly concerned with the prosecutor's overall trial tactic in admitting certain evidence regarding the second victim, noted that, The question in this case is primarily only of relevancewere the photographs of Mrs. McWilliams' body necessary to establish the guilt of Jimbo Stringer in the murder of Mr. McWilliams? The Court stated: While the introduction of these pictures, in itself, did not constitute reversible error, the pictures must have had a highly inflammatory effect on the jury. First, the pictures were part of an overall scheme to, in effect, try Jimbo Stringer for the murders of both Ray McWilliams and Nell McWilliams. The prosecution introduced extensive evidence about both murders.... Second, the prosecution could not be content with merely introducing the photographs of Nell McWilliams into evidence, but displayed them to the jury during closing argument as part of its slide show. We deplore this practice. As the West Virginia court noted in Clawson, the effect is to take the pictures far beyond their evidentiary value and use them as a tool to inflame the jury.... Just as a lack of evidence taints this process, so does the admission of irrelevant or inflammatory evidence. Color slides of the body of another victim, projected on a screen during closing argument, are an unnecessary dramatic effect that can only be intended to inflame and prejudice the jury. Id. at 934-35(emphasis added). ¶ 33. The facts in the case sub judice are strikingly similar to the level of abuse as the facts in Stringer. Noting here that the issue is also one of relevancy of the evidence, this Court, as in Stringer, must determine whether the admission of photographs, slides, and extensive testimony regarding the killings of three other victims constituted a tactical scheme by the prosecutor to try Flowers for all four murders during this proceeding involving only the murder of Tardy. ¶ 34. Three of the bodies were found in virtually the same area in close proximity to each other. However, Bertha Tardy's body was some twenty feet away from the other bodies and toward the back of the store. In testifying as to his actions, Chief Hargrove described the scene when he arrived as follows: Q. Did you notice anything about the body of Bertha Tardy? A. She was laying on her stomach face down. Q. What did you do then? A. I proceeded on to where her body was. Q. Okay, after you A. Then Q. Go ahead. A. After I got where her body was, I glanced to my right. That's when I seen Ms. Rigby. Q. Would that be Carmen Rigby? A. Carmen Rigby. Q. Would you describe what you saw when you noticed Ms. Rigby's body? A. I noticed BoBo still breathing. Q. Okay, you say BoBo; was that Derrick Stewart? A. Yes, sir. Q. Okay, when you say breathing, would you describe for the jury's benefit what he was doing? Was he face down or face up? A. Sort of face down gurgling, breathing. So then when I seen Robert's body too Q. You say Robert. Was that Robert Golden? A. Robert Golden. Q. Did you know all these individuals, Chief Hargrove, prior to that date? A. Yes, sir. Q. You have lived in Winona for, I assume, almost all your life? A. Yes, sir. Q. What did you do then? A. After I seen all the bodies, I went I didn't have my portable with me, so I went back to my patrol vehicle, and I called MedStat, and then I called for my backup. ¶ 35. While in Mackbee and some cases it may be important as well as proper to tell the whole story nevertheless, here, we observe a trial tactic or strategy by the prosecutor to continuously bring in unnecessary evidence of the other three killings thereby trying Flowers for all four murders in the same proceeding. Some of the evidence regarding the other killings clearly was admissible. However, other evidence, particularly that set out within this opinion, was unnecessary and thus not admissible. This calls for a weighing test of such evidence by the trial court in order to determine admissibility. This Court in Ladner pointed to the trial judge's ruling is allowing certain evidence, wherein the trial judge stated, The references made regarding Tussin were unnecessary to tell the complete story of the crimes. Ladner, 584 So.2d at 758 (citing Griffin v. State, 504 So.2d 186, 191-92 (Miss.1987). The Stringer court as already noted, when considering admissibility of evidence of the other killings of Ms. McWilliams clearly held that only that evidence of the other crime was admissible that was necessary to establish the guilt of Jimbo Stinger as to the murder of Mr. McWilliams. Stringer, 500 So.2d at 934-35. The issue thus centers around only that evidence of the other three killings that was necessary for the State to prove its case against Flowers for the killing of Ms. Tardy. Here, the State's tactic concerning repeatedly using testimony and exhibits of all four murders commenced on opening argument, proceeded through the guilt phase and continued into the sentencing hearing. Such actions here are far more egregious than in Stringer, where we only reversed Stringer's sentence of death because similar, but to a lesser degree, error that occurred only during the sentencing phase. ¶ 36. There may not always be a necessity to tell the whole story. Cases such as this illustrate the point that the testimony of each witnesses and each item of evidence offered may or may not be relevant. Some evidence which is not necessary for the State to prove its case of capital murder of Ms. Tardy could be unduly prejudicial to a defendant. Thus, all such evidence under Rule 404(b) must be filtered through Rule 403. The procedure used here is thus much like the method employed by the prosecutor in Stringer, which this Court condemned. This Court has also stated that proof of a crime distinct from that alleged in an indictment is not admissible against an accused. Tobias v. State, 472 So.2d 398, 400 (Miss. 1985) (citing Mason v. State, 429 So.2d 569 (Miss.1983); Tucker v. State, 403 So.2d 1274 (Miss.1981); Allison v. State, 274 So.2d 678 (Miss.1973)). See also Donald v. State, 472 So.2d 370, 372 (Miss.1985) (well-settled rule in Mississippi that proof of crime distinct from that alleged in indictment is not admissible against accused); Hughes v. State, 470 So.2d 1046, 1048-49 (Miss.1985)(fundamental fairness demands that defendant retain his liberty unless proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt on indicted offense and that offense alone and proof of other crime is inadmissible). ¶ 37. In the case at bar, Tardy's body was located a short distance away from the other victims. During Chief Hargrove's testimony the prosecutor continued to elicit testimony regarding the other victims. The prosecutor introduced Exhibit S-17, color photograph, and Exhibit S-17A, a corresponding slide of the color photograph. These exhibits are pictures of the bodies of the other two victims, not Bertha Tardy. They had no relevancy to the case at bar. In Mackbee, the photographs which the Court found admissible were of two bodies in the trunk of the victim's car. The only way the investigators could have photographed the bodies separately would have been to remove one body from the top of the other. Mackbee, 575 So.2d at 28. In the case at hand, Bertha Tardy's body was some twenty feet away from the other two bodies. Unlike the photographs in Mackbee, the relevancy of the photographs of the bodies of the other two victims here is tenuous at best. ¶ 38. The prosecutor continued the tactic of eliciting evidence of the other killings during the testimony of Sam Jones. Jones testified extensively about the other victims before Jones ever testified as to Tardy. The defense is correct in its allegation that approximately 111 lines of Jones' testimony pertain to the other victims. The prosecutor repeatedly asked Jones about the other victims. He asked, What else did you notice after you saw BoBo [Derrick Stewart] laying in the floor breathing in blood? So, we are talking about the puddle of blood that BoBo was laying in? The slide of the other victims was shown to the jury also. More critically, during this same time, the prosecutor employed theatrics by asking Jones to describe the noises that [Derrick Stewart] was making. Jones then demonstrated to the jury Derrick Stewart's gurgling sounds as he was gasping for breath in the pool of blood depicted in the photographs and slide. The theatrics employed by Jones's demonstration of Stewart's gurgling sounds as he was gasping for breath when coupled with the photos and slide depicting Stewart, alone in a large pool of blood, certainly raises relevancy to this case again as well as points to the possibility of undue prejudice. ¶ 39. The color photograph of the second victim alone was sufficient for this Court in Stringer to find reversible error. Here, the combination of the color photograph, slide and the theatrics employed is clearly reversible error. ¶ 40. During the testimony of Med/Stat/Ambulance Service owner Barry Eskridge, the prosecutor never asked a single question on direct examination about Bertha Tardy. Instead, again the prosecutor elicited testimony about Derrick Stewart. Eskridge described Stewart as lying face down in a pool of blood around his face [and] [that] [he] was breathing, had a pulse; was not responsive at all. We again must ask how this evidence is relevant to the killing of Tardy. We conclude it is not relevant. ¶ 41. Melissa Schoene, an employee of the Mississippi Crime Lab, testified that she collected certain evidence from the crime scene, including shell casings, projectiles and fragments. She also made photographs and made a crime scene sketch. She recovered one shell casing, Exhibit S-99, near Tardy's body. Pictures and slides of the casing were also introduced into evidence as Exhibits S-41, S-41A and S-42A. This particular shell casing was the only casing found in that particular area of the store where Tardy's body was located. The prosecutor contended that this casing was from the bullet which actually killed Tardy. This was never disputed by the defense. ¶ 42. However, the prosecutor proceeded to go further and to ask questions of Schoene and introduce Exhibit 100, a cartridge collected near Rigby, and Exhibits, S-95, S-96, S-97, and S-98, other shell casings, which were recovered near the bodies of Robert Golden and Carmen Rigby. The prosecutor then introduced Exhibit S-92, a projectile recovered near Golden and Exhibit S-93, a projectile recovered from under a love seat located within an area of the store other than where Tardy's body was found. Again, we must ask, how are this testimony and these exhibits relevant to the case at bar? Indeed, they cannot be relevant. The prosecutor then highlighted these irrelevant exhibits and the killings of Rigby, Stewart and Golden by introducing into evidence color photographs Exhibit S-16, S-21 along with the corresponding slides, Exhibits S-16A and S-21A, and showed them to the jury. Finally, during Schoene's testimony, the prosecutor introduced Exhibit S-20 and corresponding slide S-20A, a picture of only Robert Golden. Schoene was asked to give the jury explicit details of the crime scene depicted in this particular picture of victim Golden. ¶ 43. We fail to see any probative value of the testimony and exhibits remotely relevant to the indictment charging capital murder of Tardy. The evidence, both testimony and exhibits, is irrelevant. It appears that the only reason such photographs, slides and accompanying testimony unrelated to Tardy's murder were offered by the prosecution was to show that Flowers, in fact, killed four people rather than only one. We can only conclude that the admission of such evidence was highly prejudicial to Flowers. ¶ 44. Next, we consider the prosecution's questioning of Dr. Steven Hayne, the State's forensic pathologist. We fail to see the relevancy of testimony from Dr. Hayne elicited by the prosecutor concerning the autopsies of Rigby, Golden and Stewart as the same relates to this charge of capital murder of Tardy. This simply further supports Flowers's contention that there was a trial tactic pattern by the prosecutor to try Flowers for four murders rather than the sole murder of Tardy as charged in the indictment. ¶ 45. Finally, during the prosecutor's cross-examination of Flowers, he repeatedly referred to Flowers's murdering four people . All of this occurred during the guilt phase of the proceedings. During closing argument at the guilt phase, the prosecutor again commented as to Derrick Stewart on the floor ... trying to breathe. He referred to Rigby, Golden, and Stewart lying in pools of blood. The prosecutor made similar comments on several occasions referring to the other three victims. There, the prosecutor stated that he killed three other people, he went into that store and he shot four people in the head, and he left them there dead. ¶ 46. We recognize that there are those cases which are so inter-connected as to be considered part of the same transaction. M.R.E. 404(b) cmt. (citing Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743 (Miss.1984)). We, therefore, continue to adhere to our established precedent that even though it may reveal other crimes, evidence or testimony may be given in order to tell a rational and coherent story of what happened and where it is substantially necessary to present a complete story. Mackbee, 575 So.2d at 27-28 (citing Brown v. State, 483 So.2d 328, 330 (Miss.1986)). Evidence may be admissible where it is integrally related in time, place, and fact to the crime for which the defendant is being tried in order to allow the State to tell a coherent story of what happened to the victim. McFee, 511 So.2d at 136. ¶ 47. It is the necessity by the State to use the other evidence of three killings in order to tell a coherent story that is the key to its admissibility. The case at bar is not one of those cases so interconnected that mention of the other three murders is necessary to tell the whole story. Certainly it is not to the extent employed by the prosecution in the case at bar. Here, however, a pattern of trial tactic commenced at the beginning of trial and was continued by the prosecutor throughout the guilt phase of the proceedings including closing argument. If the evidence relating to the other three murders was relevant to any one of the acceptable purposes listed in Miss. R. Evid. 404(b), a description of the crime scene may have been helpful. However, the numerous additional descriptions of the other victims and photographs could do nothing but inflame the jury. ¶ 48. It is noteworthy that the defense made a motion in limine prior to trial asking that the State be prohibited from offering evidence regarding the other three killings in this trial which was solely for the capital murder of Ms. Tardy. Defense counsel, referring to the district attorney, reminded the trial court Your Honor, as he stated, he had the right to select. It was his choice to proceed with four separate indictments on four separate trials and four separate counts. It would be highly prejudicial to bring forth evidence of another crime not being charged in the indictment. The trial court simply stated, Okay, that motion is overruled. ¶ 49. Thereafter, during the testimony of the State's first witness, Johnny Hargrove, the State offered certain color photographs, Ex. S-15 and Ex. S-17 which showed other victims and close-up of the blood, `to which defense counsel objected' Your Honor, we are going to object. They are unduly and highly prejudicial. There are other photographs that would better and more accurately depict how Ms. Tardy was located if that's what they intend on doing. The trial court merely stated, The objection is overruled. ¶ 50. As already noted, Rule 404(b) is not a blanket prohibition of evidence of the other killings, however, proof of other acts or crimes of the defendant which are offered into evidence pursuant to Rule 404(b) is still subjected to the Rule 403 requirement that evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Rule 403 is clearly the ultimate filter through which all otherwise admissible evidence must pass. Bounds v. State, 688 So.2d 1362, 1370 (Miss.1997). This Court has consistently held reversible error exists when considering the admissibility of certain evidence under Rule 404(6), when it remains clear that the required balancing test of Rule 403 was never conducted. Watts v. State, 635 So.2d 1364, 1368 (Miss.1994). In the case at bar there is a total absence of any ruling by the trial court as required by Rule 403 and our caselaw per Bounds and Watts that when considering the admissibility of certain evidence of the other crimes that its probative value substantially outweighs the danger of any unfair prejudice. Absent such a Rule 403 balancing test at any portion of this record, the trial court erred for failure to conduct such a test. ¶ 51. This Court has previously reversed and remanded due to admission of other murders. Snelson v. State, 704 So.2d 452 (Miss.1997); West v. State, 463 So.2d 1048 (Miss.1985). The Court has also affirmed guilt but reversed and remanded for a new sentencing hearing due to admission of other murders, where color slides of the victim other than the one for which Stringer was being tried were shown to the jury. Stringer v. State, 500 So.2d 928 (Miss.1986). ¶ 52. Here, we find that while any one of the single incidents complained about by Flowers, standing alone constitutes reversible error, yet the cumulative effect of the prosecutor's pattern of repeatedly citing to the killing of the other three victims throughout the guilt phase proceedings leads us to hold that Flowers was absolutely denied a fundamental right to a fair trial. The cumulative pattern of overkill by the prosecutor in repeatedly mentioning the other killings unnecessarily during the guilt phase in our view is far more egregious than that which occurred in Stringer. Although similar to Stringer, the case at bar exceeds the complained of conduct there that this Court found warranted only a reversal of the sentence of death. ¶ 53. Finally, we note that one of the aggravators that the jury found was that Flowers created a great risk of death to many people. This Court has allowed evidence of other crimes against other victims during sentencing where this aggravator has been sought by the State and the proof supported it. See McGilberry v. State, 741 So.2d 894, 925 (Miss.1999) (robbery case where four murders were committed and where the aggravator of creating a great risk of death to many people was given and the proof supported). We note however, that the District Attorney in McGilberry tried all four murders together. The Court has also considered this same aggravator and rejected it because of the lack of proof to support the giving of such an aggravator, because the Court stated there is no evidence that Porter knowingly created a great risk of death to anyone, other than Brown, his intended victim. Porter v. State, 732 So.2d 899, 905-06 (Miss.1999) (citing Jackson v. State, 684 So.2d 1213, 1235 (Miss.1996)). Thus, evidence regarding the other killings would have been relevant in the case at bar during sentencing, whereas during the guilt phase, although some of the evidence is probably admissible, the overwhelming prejudicial evidence regarding the killing of the other three victims was for the most part irrelevant and inadmissible. The admission of this irrelevant, inadmissible testimony and exhibits was substantially prejudicial to Flowers. Therefore, we must reverse and remand for a new trial on guilt and if necessary, sentencing. On remand, if a sentencing hearing becomes necessary, and if the prosecution alleges as one of the aggravators that Flowers created a risk to many people, then evidence regarding the other three killings would be relevant at sentencing.