Body v. State

• Decision Date: 20 May 2021
• Docket Number: No. 2020-KA-00190-SCT,2020-KA-00190-SCT
• Citation: 318 So.3d 1104
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
• Parties: Tyrone BODY a/k/a Tyrone Fitzgerald Body, v. STATE of Mississippi.

318 So.3d 1104

Tyrone BODY a/k/a Tyrone Fitzgerald Body,

v.STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2020-KA-00190-SCT

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

May 20, 2021

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: CYNTHIA A. STEWART, Madison

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: BRITTNEY S. EAKINS

BEFORE RANDOLPH, C.J., ISHEE AND GRIFFIS, JJ.

GRIFFIS, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Tyrone Body appeals his conviction of burglary of a dwelling, arguing that (1) the evidence was insufficient to support his conviction; (2) his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination was violated; (3) his indictment was legally insufficient; and (4) his twenty-five-year sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment. This Court finds no error and affirms Body's conviction and sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. In the early morning hours of November 10, 2018, Officer Jermaine Hamlin and other officers of the Madison County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the Canton Garden Apartments. They had been advised of a disturbance that involved a shotgun.

¶3. The officers approached the second floor to the apartment in question and noticed a man peek his head out of the apartment window and then back away. In response, the officers drew their weapons and instructed the occupants to come out with their hands up. Tyrone Body emerged from the apartment first followed by Kanosha Brown, who appeared to have sustained injuries from a physical altercation due to her swollen nose, burst lip, and bruises on her face

.

¶4. Body and Brown were both detained, and the officers proceeded to secure the apartment. Officer Hamlin testified that he first noticed that the latch used to lock the front door had been broken, and a piece of wood appeared to be chipped off of the back of the door, which implied that someone had forced their way inside. Further into the apartment, he discovered Brown's four minor children and recovered a cocked and loaded .12 gauge Beretta firearm under the couch. Body was thereafter taken into custody.

¶5. On March 12, 2019, a grand jury in Madison County indicted Body for burglary of a dwelling (Count 1) and possession of a firearm (Count 2) by a convicted felon. A month later, in Madison County Justice Court, Body pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence that occurred on the date of the burglary. His trial was held on August 19, 2019, September 3, 2019, and September 16, 2019. Body stipulated that he was a nonviolent habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 99-19-81 (Rev. 2020).

¶6. At trial, the State called Officer Hamlin and Brown to testify; Body did not call any witnesses. Officer Hamlin testified to the events of that night, and Brown provided her own account.

¶7. According to Brown, at about nine o'clock on the night of November 9, Body picked up Brown, who was his mistress, and her four daughters from her apartment. Body then drove to Gluckstadt and checked them into a hotel.¹ While Body and Brown talked, the girls watched cartoons, but they soon began to complain they were thirsty. Brown told Body she wanted to leave, but he refused. As a result, Brown called her former boyfriend Darian Slaughter to come over and drive her and her children back home.

¶8. Body said "nasty stuff" to Slaughter when he arrived but allowed them to leave the hotel. But as soon as Brown left, Body and Body's wife continuously attempted to contact her. Brown ignored their calls and blocked their individual phone numbers.

¶9. About ten to fifteen minutes after Brown had arrived at her apartment, she testified that Body broke into her locked apartment with a shotgun and accused her of sleeping with other men. Slaughter, who had remained with Brown, subsequently jumped out of the back window. Body seized Brown's phone and searched the apartment. Brown ordered Body to leave her home, and a physical altercation ensued. A neighbor heard the fight and contacted law enforcement.

¶10. The jury found Body not guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon but guilty of burglary of a dwelling. He was sentenced to twenty-five years without parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections as a habitual offender. Body's attorney filed a motion for a new trial or a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) and argued (1) that the lack of evidence of breaking and entering was insufficient to support the jury verdict, (2) the reference to assault in Count 1 of the indictment was not further defined, (3) the sentence was excessive and violated Body's state and constitutional rights, and (4) there was improper documentation for Body's old convictions. The court found the evidence was sufficient at trial and sentencing and that the indictment was not defective; therefore, Body's motion for a new trial and JNOV was denied. This appeal followed.

ANALYSIS

I. Sufficient evidence supported Body's conviction.

¶11. This Court uses a de novo standard of review when testing the sufficiency of the evidence. Sanford v. State , 247 So. 3d 1242, 1244 (Miss. 2018) (citing Brooks v. State , 203 So. 3d 1134, 1137 (Miss. 2016) ). "In applying de novo review, we determine ‘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.’ " Johnson v. State , 235 So. 3d 1404, 1410 (Miss. 2017) (quoting Brooks , 203 So. 3d at 1137 ).

¶12. When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, "the critical inquiry is ‘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.’ " Parish v. State , 176 So. 3d 781, 785 (Miss. 2015) (quoting Bush v. State , 895 So. 2d 836, 843 (Miss. 2005), abrogated by Little v. State , 233 So. 3d 288 (Miss. 2017) ). "This Court must accept all evidence supporting the guilty verdict as true, and the State must be given the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the evidence." Burleson v. State , 166 So. 3d 499, 512 (Miss. 2015) (citing McClain v. State , 625 So. 2d 774, 778 (Miss. 1993) ).

¶13. Under Mississippi Code Section 97-17-23(1) (Rev. 2020), "[b]urglary of a dwelling has two elements: (1) unlawful breaking and entering, and (2) intent to commit a crime therein." Alston v. State , 287 So. 3d 182, 185 (Miss. 2019) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Jackson v. State , 90 So. 3d 597, 604 (Miss. 2012) ). Body asserts that the evidence is insufficient because (1) the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Body's entry was unauthorized and that Body knew he lacked consent; (2) no evidence proved breaking and entering; and (3) no evidence proved Body entered with the intent to commit a felony.

A. Consent

¶14. First, Body claims the State failed to prove that he was unauthorized to enter Brown's apartment and that he knew he lacked consent to enter. He reasons that lack of consent must be proved for a burglary conviction because every burglary necessarily includes a trespass.

¶15. Body supports his argument with case law in which one spouse burglarizes the other spouse's dwelling or marital residence. He insists that, according to hornbook law and in cases of marriage or its functional equivalent, spouses are recognized to have "conjugal rights," and per the marriage contract, the spouse would expect to be admitted into the marital dwelling absent a restraining order or an order granting one spouse exclusive possession of the marital dwelling. See Mitchell v. State , 720 So. 2d 492 (Miss. Ct. App. 1998) ; Tribble v. Gregory , 288 So. 2d 13 (Miss. 1974), distinguished in Choctaw, Inc. v. Wichner , 521 So. 2d 878 (Miss. 1988) ; 12A C.J.S. Burglary § 38 (2015).

¶16. This argument, however, is without merit. No evidence suggests Body had an ownership interest in Brown's apartment or that Body and Brown had any form of a marital relationship outside of an ongoing affair. Therefore, Body lacked implied consent to enter Brown's apartment.

¶17. In Bowman v. State , 283 So. 3d 154 (Miss. 2019), the defendant, like Body, also for the first time on appeal, argued that the State failed to prove he lacked or knew he lacked consent to enter a hunting camp where he knew his wife was residing that night. Id. at 158, 162, 164. Bowman claimed he was able to see evidence of his wife's unfaithfulness from outside of the cabin and entered through a sliding glass door because the front door was locked. Id. at 158. He located his wife and then proceeded to physically assault her and her alleged paramour. Id.

¶18. The jury found Bowman guilty of burglary, and he appealed. Id. at 160. This Court upheld Bowman's conviction and determined:

Instead, "[c]onsent is an affirmative defense to the charge of burglary rather than an essential element of the offense." 13 Am. Jur. 2d Burglary § 54 (2019). Burglary has only two required elements—the "(1) ‘breaking and entering the dwelling house or inner door of such dwelling house of another’ (2) ‘with the intent to commit some crime therein[.]’ " Windless v. State , 185 So. 3d 956, 960-61 (Miss. 2015) (quoting Miss. Code Ann. § 97-17-23(1) (Rev. 2014)). We note that Bowman never argued a consent defense.

Id. at 162. The State is not required to prove lack of consent as a required element of burglary. Id. Body, like Bowman, never attempted to raise or submit a jury instruction in relation to this consent theory of defense during his trial; therefore, he waives it as an issue for appeal. Id.

¶19. Moreover, the evidence suggests Body lacked explicit permission to enter the apartment. Brown testified she ignored Body's calls prior to his arrival and that her door had been closed and locked with the deadbolt, which Body broke open in order to enter. Officer Hamlin's testimony corroborated these events. He described the latch that was used to lock the door appeared "busted in," and a piece of wood had been...