Clyde Chatman, Jr. v. State of Mississippi , 241 So. 3d 649 ( 2017 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2016-KA-01285-COA
CLYDE CHATMAN, JR. A/K/A CLYDE APPELLANT
CHATMAN A/K/A LITTLE CLYDE
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 02/26/2016
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. CHARLES E. WEBSTER
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: COAHOMA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER
BY: JUSTIN TAYLOR COOK
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: LAURA HOGAN TEDDER
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: BRENDA FAY MITCHELL
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 10/17/2017
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
BEFORE IRVING, P.J., BARNES AND WESTBROOKS, JJ.
BARNES, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. Clyde Chatman was convicted of the murder of Patrick Williams and sentenced to life
imprisonment with eligibility for parole. After his post-trial motions were denied, he
appealed, arguing the sufficiency and weight of the evidence do not support the verdict, and
testimony regarding an accomplice’s statement to law enforcement violated his right to
confront witnesses under the Confrontation Clause. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2. On the evening of March 27, 2012, Williams was visiting his girlfriend, Tanedra
Christian, in Jonestown, Mississippi. While the two were talking and kissing on her front
porch, a white car drove by her house, turned around, and came back up the road. Williams
abruptly left and walked up the road toward his house, ignoring Christian’s calling out after
him. A few minutes later, Christian heard gunshots. Larry Wiley, a neighbor, and Toshema
Crosby, the owner of a nearby gas station, also heard shooting, and Crosby found Williams
lying on the ground outside her store with gunshot wounds. When she asked Williams who
shot him, he replied: “Those mother f***ers from Friars Point.” Crosby called 911 and
contacted Williams’s aunt, Shamon Williams. When Shamon arrived, Williams told her that
“Little Clyde and them” had shot him and that they were driving a “white car.” The first
officer on the scene was Deputy Stephen James, who heard Williams say, “I’m gonna get
those mother f***ers. They shot me.” Williams died at the scene.
¶3. Law enforcement recovered .25-caliber shell casings in the road nearby; forensic
testing indicated the casings were all fired from the same gun. By the following day, law
enforcement had arrested Friars Point residents Chatman, Reginald Cox, and John Battle for
Williams’s murder. The three suspects were tested for gunshot residue (GSR) and submitted
buccal swabs. Law enforcement also tested a white Crown Victoria titled to Chatman’s
mother for GSR and fingerprints, as well as a glove found in the back seat. A search was
conducted for the weapon in Friars Point, Mississippi, but it was never located.
¶4. On May 30, 2013, Chatman, Battle, and Cox were co-indicted for deliberate-design
murder. See Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-19(1)(a) (Rev. 2006).1 Chatman and Cox were tried
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They were also indicted under the firearm-enhancement statute, Mississippi Code
Annotated section 97-37-37 (Rev. 2006), for killing Williams by discharging a firearm while
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on February 16-18, 2016, in Coahoma County Circuit Court.2
¶5. Christian, Williams’s girlfriend, testified that before Williams left her home, he said
“something about he was tired of something.” She also testified that Chatman had expressed
a romantic interest in her, bringing her a toy bear and flowers on Valentine’s Day. Shameka
Cox, Cox’s mother, also lived in Jonestown and said Cox and Chatman had visited her that
evening. She noted it was odd since Cox never came to visit her.
¶6. Deputy Fernando Bee of the Coahoma County Sheriff’s Department testified he had
seen Chatman driving a white Crown Victoria in Jonestown the night Williams was shot. He
noted two persons in the car with Chatman. Deputy Bee, who was off duty, was talking with
another individual in the yard of a Jonestown home when he heard shooting. After he
learned Williams had been shot, he went home to get ready for work and then returned to the
scene. Chatman’s sister later phoned Deputy Bee to inform him that Chatman wanted to turn
himself in.
¶7. A forensic pathologist, Dr. Mark LeVaughn, testified that Williams sustained three
gunshot wounds: two to the right side of his back, and one to the right forearm. He
determined the shots were not fired at close range. DNA results for the rear passenger-door
grip of the Crown Victoria and the glove found in the car “contained a profile consistent”
with Chatman. Forensic testing also revealed “particles indicative of gunshot residue” on
Chatman’s palms. There were also GSR particles found on Battle’s and Cox’s hands and
in a car, but this count was later dismissed as to all defendants.
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Since Chatman testified and implicated Cox in his testimony, the trial judge granted
Cox’s motion for severance during the proceedings.
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located “behind [the] driver seat and headrest.”
¶8. Chatman testified that he was in Jonestown, driving the white Crown Victoria with
the windows down. His version of events was that Williams ran up to his car and “attacked”
him. Then he heard gunshots and saw Battle shooting a gun. In shock, he drove home to
Friars Point. He denied having a gun and shooting Williams. He admitted that he liked
Christian, claiming the two had relations in the past. He had planned to drive by and see
Christian that night in Jonestown, but Chatman insisted he and Cox went to Shameka’s home
instead.
¶9. Chatman was convicted of murder by a Coahoma County Circuit Court jury. Since
he was a juvenile, the trial judge carefully weighed the factors outlined in Miller v. Alabama,
567 U.S. 460 (2012), at a bifurcated sentencing hearing, and sentenced Chatman to life in
prison with eligibility for parole. Chatman filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the
verdict (JNOV) or, in the alternative, for a new trial, which the trial court denied. He now
argues on appeal Deputy Bee’s testimony that Battle told law enforcement where to find the
weapon violated the Confrontation Clause. He also challenges the sufficiency and weight
of the evidence.
DISCUSSION
I. Whether the testimony concerning Battle’s statements to police
violated Chatman’s right to confront witnesses.
¶10. Chatman claims that his right to confront witnesses was violated during the State’s
questioning of Deputy Bee about the search for the weapon, specifically when Deputy Bee
testified that Battle told law enforcement where to look for the gun.
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Q. Now, at some point, did your investigation lead you to search for a
potential weapon?
A. It did.
Q. Okay. Where was that search done?
A. From Friars Point to . . . 61 road.
....
Q. The information that you received to search for the weapon came from
who?
A. John Battle.
....
A. We went out to the scene of where Battle said the weapon was tossed
from the vehicle, but when we made it out there, they were working in
the fields. . . . [W]e couldn’t find anything.
The defense made no objection to this testimony, which waives this issue on appeal. “The
failure to object to testimony at trial ‘waives any assignment of error on appeal.’” Ross v.
State, 16 So. 3d 47, 57 (¶21) (Miss. Ct. App. 2009) (quoting Johnson v. State, 477 So. 2d
196, 214 (Miss. 1985)).
¶11. Chatman acknowledges the failure to object at trial, but contends this Court should
review this issue for plain error. The plain-error rule is applied “only if ‘a defendant’s
substantive or fundamental rights are affected.’” Willie v. State, 204 So. 3d 1268, 1279 (¶29)
(Miss. 2016) (quoting Foster v. State, 148 So. 3d 1012, 1018 (¶20) (Miss. 2014)). This Court
has held that a violation of the Confrontation Clause constitutes “a violation of a
‘fundamental, substantive right.’” Ezell v. State, 132 So. 3d 611, 612 (¶3) (Miss. Ct. App.
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2013) (quoting Smith v. State, 986 So. 2d 290, 294 (¶10) (Miss. 2008)). In applying the
plain-error rule, we determine: “(1) whether the trial court deviated from a legal rule; (2)
whether the error is plain, clear, or obvious; and (3) whether the error prejudiced the outcome
of the trial.” Willie, 204 So. 3d at 1279 (¶29). We will only reverse if the error “resulted in
a manifest miscarriage of justice.” Id.
¶12. The Confrontation Clause “only applies to statements that are ‘testimonial.’” Corbin
v. State, 74 So. 3d 333, 338 (¶13) (Miss. 2011) (citing Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36,
68 (2004)). “[N]on[]testimonial hearsay does not trigger the need for confrontation to be
admissible.” Frazier v. State, 907 So. 2d 985, 997 (¶39) (Miss. Ct. App. 2005).
In the context of police interrogations, . . . a statement is testimonial “when the
circumstances objectively indicate that there is no ongoing emergency, and that
the primary purpose of the interrogation is to establish or prove past events
potentially relevant to later criminal prosecution.” Davis [v. Washington], 547
U.S. [813,] 822 [(2006)]. A statement is nontestimonial when “made in the
course of police interrogation under circumstances objectively indicating that
the primary purpose of the interrogation is to enable police assistance to meet
an ongoing emergency.” Id.Matthies v. State, 85 So. 3d 872, 874 (¶8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2011). In this context, Deputy
Bee’s mention of Battle’s statement was elicited to show how police conducted their
investigation for the weapon; there was nothing testimonial about the statement. See United
States v. Cromer, 389 F.3d 662, 676 (6th Cir. 2004) (finding the Confrontation Clause not
applicable to an out-of-court statement alluded to by a witness, which merely “served the
purpose of explaining how certain events came to pass or why the officers took the actions
they did”).
¶13. Furthermore, even if Deputy Bee’s testimony constituted plain error, it would be
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harmless error as it did not prejudice the outcome of Chatman’s trial. “Harmless errors are
those ‘which in the setting of a particular case are so unimportant and insignificant that they
may, consistent with the Federal Constitution, be deemed harmless, not requiring the
automatic reversal of the conviction.’” Bynum v. State, 929 So. 2d 312, 314 (¶6) (Miss.
2006) (quoting Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18, 22 (1967)). Battle’s informing law
enforcement as to where to search for the gun does not single out any particular defendant
as the shooter, and it is merely cumulative of the other evidence. Had Deputy Bee not
explained how he came to search for the weapon, which was never found, it would not have
affected the outcome of the trial. Chatman admitted to being in the car and said he saw
Battle shooting a gun at Williams. We find this issue without merit.
II. Whether the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict or, in
the alternative, whether the verdict was against the overwhelming
weight of the evidence.
¶14. Chatman was convicted of deliberate-design murder, which is defined as the “killing
of a human being without the authority of law . . . [w]hen done with deliberate design to
effect the death of the person killed, or of any human being[.]” Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-19(1)(a). Chatman argues there was insufficient evidence to show he deliberately designed to
kill Williams. He says he was merely present at the shooting; the only evidence of
conspiracy was the fact that the three men were in the same car, and the evidence was
“inconclusive” as to who shot Williams. He submits that “the fact that his DNA was found
throughout the vehicle is not inculpatory.”
¶15. The relevant inquiry in reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence “is
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whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any
rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable
doubt.” Bush v. State, 895 So. 2d 836, 843 (¶16) (Miss. 2005). Thus, in reviewing a trial
court’s denial of a JNOV, “the prosecution is given the benefit of all favorable inferences
that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence, and all credible evidence consistent with
the defendant’s guilt must be accepted as true.” Howell v. State, 144 So. 3d 211, 216 (¶11)
(Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (quoting Price v. State, 892 So. 2d 294, 297 (¶12) (Miss. Ct. App.
2004)).
¶16. Considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we find sufficient
evidence to support Chatman’s murder conviction. Williams told Crosby that the persons
who shot him were from Friars Point, and he identified to his aunt that “Little Clyde and
them” shot him. The prosecution also established that Chatman had a motive to kill Williams
– he was angry Williams was dating Christian. Chatman admitted that he was in a white car
that evening, driving around Jonestown, and that he liked Christian, Williams’s girlfriend.
Christian saw a white car drive by while she was with Williams on her front porch, and she
heard the gunshots a few minutes later, after Williams had walked up the road. She also said
Chatman had attempted to call her on her cellphone that day, but she did not talk to him.
“Deliberate design to kill a person may be formed very quickly, and perhaps only moments
before the act of consummating the intent.” Anderson v. State, 154 So. 3d 42, 50 (¶21)
(Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (quoting Brown v. State, 965 So. 2d 1023, 1030 (¶28) (Miss. 2007)).
The white Crown Victoria, owned by Chatman’s mother, contained GSR, and particles
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indicative of GSR were found on Chatman’s palms. The glove found in the back seat also
had Chatman’s DNA. The prosecution noted during closing argument that had Chatman
been driving the car as he claimed, any GSR would have likely settled on the back of his
hands, not his palms. Regarding Chatman’s assertion that Williams came up to the car and
“attacked” him, this testimony is contradictory to the forensic testimony that Williams was
shot in the back and on his right side. As the trial judge commented during sentencing:
[W]hat the defendant testified to was inconsistent with the fact that we knew
the deceased was shot in the back. I don’t see how [Williams] could be
standing and swinging at the driver of a car . . . and all of a sudden have a hail
of gunfire and get shot in the back. You’re going to be facing him if you’re
swinging at him.
¶17. Chatman also contends the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the
evidence. In reviewing the weight of the evidence, “we will only disturb a verdict when it
is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would
sanction an unconscionable injustice.” Bush, 895 So. 2d at 844 (¶18) (citing Herring v. State,
691 So. 2d 948, 957 (Miss. 1997)). Based on the evidence summarized above, we find that
allowing Chatman’s conviction to stand would not sanction an unconscionable injustice, as
there was overwhelming evidence that Chatman murdered Williams. Chatman’s conviction
for first-degree murder and life sentence are affirmed.
¶18. AFFIRMED.
LEE, C.J., IRVING AND GRIFFIS, P.JJ., CARLTON, FAIR, WILSON,
GREENLEE AND WESTBROOKS, JJ., CONCUR. TINDELL, J., NOT
PARTICIPATING.
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