Baxter v. State

• Decision Date: 06 August 2015
• Docket Number: No. 2012–CT–01032–SCT.,2012–CT–01032–SCT.
• Parties: Christopher Lee BAXTER a/k/a Chris Baxter a/k/a Christopher Baxter v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

177 So.3d 394

Christopher Lee BAXTER a/k/a Chris Baxter a/k/a Christopher Baxter

v.STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2012–CT–01032–SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Aug. 6, 2015.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 12, 2015.

Office of State Public Defender By Stacy L. Ferraro, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General By Elliott George Flaggs, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

WALLER, Chief Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. In the summer of 2010, a George County sheriff's deputy attempted to pull over a Chevrolet pickup truck. In the truck were Christopher Baxter and Brandy Williams. The truck did not stop, and a high-speed chase ensued. In an effort to apprehend the two, the George County Sheriff's Department set up a roadblock. The truck, however, did not stop, and Sheriff Garry Welford was run over and killed.

¶ 2. Baxter and Williams were charged with capital murder and tried separately. Baxter was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction. This Court subsequently granted Baxter's petition for certiorari.

¶ 3. Finding no reversible error at the trial-court level or at the Court of Appeals, we affirm. We write, however, to discuss the differences between Baxter v. State and Williams v. State , Compare Baxter v. State, 177 So.3d 423, 2014 WL 3715840 (Miss.Ct.App.2014), reh'g denied (Nov. 25, 2014), cert. granted (Miss. Feb. 19, 2015), and Williams v. State, 174 So.3d 275, 278 (Miss.Ct.App.2014).

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 4. The facts and procedural history are taken from the Court of Appeals opinion.

When Baxter failed to appear at a sentencing hearing on July 19, 2010, [the trial court issued] a bench warrant ... for his arrest. On July 21, 2010, Sheriff Welford told Deputy Bobby Daffin about the bench warrant and instructed him to be on the lookout for Baxter. Deputy Daffin knew Baxter and his girlfriend, Brandy Williams, from their prior encounters with law enforcement. Later that same day, Deputy Daffin saw Williams driving her father's maroon Chevrolet Z71 pickup truck in Lucedale, Mississippi. Deputy Daffin had seen ... Williams[ ] driving the truck before, and he knew that Baxter was usually in the truck with her. Deputy Daffin could see the arm of a passenger, who appeared to be leaning back in the seat in order to hide. He could not see the passenger's face, but based on his suspicion that the passenger was Baxter, he made a u-turn on Old Highway 63 and drove toward the truck to further investigate.

As Deputy Daffin neared the truck ... the driver fled at a high rate of speed. After witnessing the truck pass several cars in a no-passing zone and force other vehicles off the road, Deputy Daffin initiated his blue lights.... The driver refused to stop, leading law enforcement on a seventeen-mile chase, with speeds reaching over 100 miles per hour. Based on information received from Deputy Daffin regarding the truck's location, Sheriff Welford and Deputies John Keel, Duane Bowlin, and Justin Bowlin positioned themselves at the intersection of Bexley and Howard Roads to intercept the truck. The sheriff and deputies were wearing uniforms; and although their vehicles were unmarked, the vehicles' blue lights were activated. Approximately two minutes after arriving at the intersection, the deputies heard a vehicle approaching. [They then saw] Williams's truck ... speeding toward them. According to one of the deputies at the scene, it seemed that the truck never attempted to slow down, but rather continued to accelerate through the intersection. The deputies attempted to get out of the ... way. The truck swerved around the unmarked cars, striking Sheriff Welford in the process. Sheriff Welford was thrown to the side of the road, [but the truck did not stop]. Paramedics were called, and Sheriff Welford was taken by helicopter from the scene to a hospital in Mobile, Alabama, where he died. None of the officers could positively identify the driver at the time Sheriff Welford was struck. None of the deputies saw the driver's face.

Williams's truck was found wrecked in a creek. The center of the truck's hood was noticeably dented. Baxter and Williams were found [that] morning ..., hiding in a trailer in the woods. Baxter was in a closet. He refused to surrender his hands for the officers to handcuff him, so he was tased. He then complied and was arrested.

Once in custody, Baxter waived his Miranda rights and admitted to his participation in the high-speed chase. He confessed that he was the driver for the entire pursuit. However, after he was informed that the driver could be determined from security-camera footage, he admitted that Williams was initially driving, but explained that they switched seats before the sheriff was hit. He was adamant that Williams played no part in the crime, only acting at his direction. He stated that they fled because a deputy had "got behind us" and that he then "took [the deputy] for a ride ... down a bunch of roads." He saw patrol vehicles as he rounded the curve at the intersection of Bexley and Howard Roads, and also saw deputies standing in the road. He admitted that he "might of nudged one of them or something" with the truck's bumper. Although his memory was unclear, Baxter believed that immediately after this happened, he looked at Williams and said, "I may have f* * *ed up." He then went around a curve, lost control of the truck, and the truck slid off the road into a ditch. He and Williams fled on foot through the woods and sought refuge in an abandoned trailer. [Law enforcement video recorded] Baxter's confession, [and it] was admitted into evidence.

All but one of the witnesses testified that a female was driving during the chase. The witness who saw Williams's vehicle near the intersection where the sheriff was struck testified that she saw a male driver. Deputy Bowlin, who saw the vehicle at the moment of impact, testified that the passenger [appeared to have] the same hairstyle as Baxter, but he did not get a clear look. None of the deputies could describe the driver. Robin Howell, Baxter's aunt, testified that she spoke with Williams during the chase, and Williams said, "They're everywhere. They're everywhere. They're all over me. I've got to change roads." Howell then heard Baxter in the background say, "Just go then. Just go."

Both Baxter and Williams were indicted for the [depraved heart] capital murder of Sheriff Welford. Baxter's trial was held May 7–11, 2012. Williams was tried in September 2012. At both trials, it was disputed whether Baxter or Williams was the driver of the truck. Despite Baxter's confession that he was the driver, his defense at trial was that he was merely a passenger in the truck driven by Williams, and that he did not aid or abet Williams in the crime. Both Baxter and Williams were found guilty of [depraved heart] murder and sentenced to life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without eligibility for parole. Baxter ... appeal[ed].

Baxter v. State, 177 So.3d 423, 429–31, 2014 WL 3715840, at **1–2 (Miss.Ct.App.2014), reh'g denied (Nov. 25, 2014), cert. granted (Miss. Feb. 19, 2015).

¶ 5. In addition to the above facts, it is important to note that the trial court found Baxter ineligible for the death penalty under Chase v. State¹ based on the testimony of Baxter's and the State's expert witnesses at a pretrial hearing.

¶ 6. The Court of Appeals affirmed Baxter's conviction, and Baxter timely filed a petition for certiorari, which this Court granted. We address two issues:²

1. As the jury's mid-deliberation question demonstrated, giving instruction S–6A did not cure the confusion created by instructions S–3A, S–5 and S–7, which relieved the state of its burden of proof under the law of accomplice responsibility.

2. The circuit court erred in admitting Baxter's involuntary, unreliable and coerced "confession. "

DISCUSSION

1. As the jury's mid-deliberation question demonstrated, giving instruction S–6A did not cure the confusion created by instructions S–3A, S–5 and S–7, which relieved the state of its burden of proof under the law of accomplice responsibility.

¶ 7. We review jury instructions under the abuse-of-discretion standard. Reith v. State, 135 So.3d 862, 864–65 (Miss.2014). This Court must read the instructions as a whole to determine if the jury was properly instructed. Wilson v. State, 967 So.2d 32, 36–37 (Miss.2007) (citing Burton ex rel. Bradford v. Barnett, 615 So.2d 580, 583 (Miss.1993) ).

¶ 8. Baxter argues the Court of Appeals has ruled inconsistently regarding jury instruction S–7. He also argues, that the instruction allowed for a conviction if the jury concluded that his failure to appear for sentencing contributed to the sheriff's death.

¶ 9. In Baxter's appeal, the Court of Appeals first found Baxter's objection to S–7 procedurally barred because his objection on appeal was different from his objection at trial. Baxter v. State, 177 So.3d 423, 445–46, 2014 WL 3715840, at *17 (Miss.Ct.App.2014), reh'g denied (Nov. 25, 2014), cert. granted (Miss. Feb. 19, 2015). The court nevertheless went on to provide that instructions S–6A and S–3A, when read with S–7, properly informed the jury of the law. Id.

¶ 10. In Williams v. State, however, the Court of Appeals reached a different conclusion. There, the trial court granted a jury instruction identical to S–7. Williams, 174 So.3d at 283. On appeal, the Court of Appeals found the instruction improperly shifted the burden of proof because S–7 was cumulative of three other aiding and abetting instructions provided to the jury. Williams, 174 So.3d at 283. The Court of Appeals reasoned that, given the other instructions and the possible confusion created by S–7, it was impossible to say the jury did not read S–7 as requiring Williams to prove she did not commit an act that contributed to the sheriff's death. See Williams, 174 So.3d at 283.

¶ 11. On its face, it appears the...