Carr v. State, 90-DP-01106
| Decision Date | 02 February 1995 |
| Docket Number | No. 90-DP-01106,90-DP-01106 |
| Citation | 655 So.2d 824 |
| Parties | Anthony CARR v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Ronald W. Lewis, Oxford, for appellant.
Michael C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Marvin L. White, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Charlene R. Pierce, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
En Banc.
On February 3, 1990, Anthony Carr was arrested and charged with the capital murders of Charlotte, Carl, Gregory and Bobbie Jo Parker in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Carr was indicted by a Quitman County Grand Jury on March 12, 1990.
Following a change of venue, Carr's trial commenced in Alcorn County on September 10, 1990. He was convicted on all four counts of capital murder and sentenced to death by lethal injection for each count. Carr's Motion for a New Trial was denied on October 15, 1990. Aggrieved by the judgment and sentence against him, Carr appealed, assigning as error the following:
I. JURY INSTRUCTION S-5 AT THE GUILT/INNOCENCE PHASE RELIEVED THE STATE OF THE BURDEN OF PROVING INTENT TO COMMIT THE UNDERLYING FELONIES, THEREBY VIOLATING THE DUE PROCESS CLAUSE OF THE FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DISALLOWING TESTIMONY THAT CARR'S CODEFENDANT HAD CONFESSED TO KILLING THE PARKERS AND PROVIDING THE WEAPONS USED IN THE CRIME.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE PROSECUTION TO ELICIT HEARSAY EVIDENCE FROM SHERIFF HARRISON IN VIOLATION OF CARR'S CONFRONTATION RIGHTS AND RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL.
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING PART OF SIMON'S OUT-
OF-COURT STATEMENT BUT EXCLUDING THAT PART IN WHICH SIMON ADMITTED HE PROVIDED THE WEAPON.
V. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN EXCLUDING EXPERT TESTIMONY THAT THE DEFENDANT HAD PASSED A LIE DETECTOR TEST.
VI. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN PERMITTING THE INTRODUCTION OF UNRELIABLE TESTIMONY.
VII. THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE VERDICTS.
VIII. THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE JURY'S FINDINGS THAT ANTHONY CARR INTENDED TO KILL AND CONTEMPLATED THE USE OF LETHAL FORCE.
IX. THE COURT ERRED IN TRANSFERRING THE CASE TO A COUNTY IN WHICH THE RACIAL MAKE-UP OF THE VOTING AGE POPULATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THAT OF THE ORIGINAL VENUE, RESULTING IN A TRIAL BY AN ALL-WHITE JURY.
X. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS THE CHARGES OR THE PROSECUTOR DUE TO PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT AND UNFAIR PREJUDICIAL PUBLICITY.
XI. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENDANT'S REQUEST FOR INDIVIDUAL SEQUESTERED VOIR DIRE.
XII. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE STATE TO PEREMPTORILY STRIKE JUROR NUMBER 14 IN VIOLATION OF BATSON v. KENTUCKY.
XIII. THE PROSECUTION VIOLATED DEFENDANT'S FIFTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS BY COMMENTING ON CARR'S RIGHT TO SILENCE.
XIV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE TESTIMONY OF DR. MONA CARLYLE.
XV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN LIMITING CROSS-EXAMINATION OF DR. CARLYLE.
XVI. THE COURT ERRED IN INSTRUCTING THE JURY THAT "DELIBERATE DESIGN" COULD "EXIST IN THE MIND OF THE DEFENDANT BUT FOR AN INSTANT."
XVII. THE TRIAL COURT'S INSTRUCTION TO THE JURY ON THE MANNER OF ITS DELIBERATIONS WAS UNDULY COERCIVE, IN THAT IT FORBADE ANY CONSIDERATION OF THE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES UNTIL AND UNLESS THE JURY HAD UNANIMOUSLY AGREED TO ACQUIT THE DEFENDANT OF THE GREATER CHARGE. THIS COERCIVE INSTRUCTION IS NOT REQUIRED BY MISSISSIPPI STATUTORY LAW, AND IN FACT VIOLATES THE DUE PROCESS CLAUSES OF THE STATE AND FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONS.
XVIII. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO INSTRUCT THE JURY THAT THE CRIME OF KIDNAPPING REQUIRES THE ELEMENT OF ASPORTATION.
XIX. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING DEFENDANT'S INSTRUCTION D-8.
XX. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN PERMITTING PORTIONS OF THE TRIAL TO TAKE PLACE WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF THE DEFENDANT.
XXI. THE COURT ERRED IN ITS LIMITING INSTRUCTION OF THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE "THE CAPITAL OFFENSE WAS ESPECIALLY HEINOUS, ATROCIOUS OR CRUEL."
XXII. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE JURY TO CONSIDER THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE PECUNIARY GAIN IN EACH OF THE FOUR CASES.
XXIII. THE PROSECUTION'S CLOSING ARGUMENTS CONCERNING BIBLICAL LAW VIOLATED ANTHONY CARR'S RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL.
XXIV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE JURY TO CONSIDER THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCE OF "AVOIDING LAWFUL ARREST" IN EACH OF THE FOUR CASES.
XXV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN LIMITING CONSIDERATION OF EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE MITIGATION TO "EXTREME EMOTIONAL DISTURBANCE."
XXVI. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO GIVE PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTIONS ON THE UNDISPUTED MITIGATING CIRCUMSTANCES.
XXVII. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO INSTRUCT THE JURY IT MUST MAKE FINDINGS OF THE AGGRAVATING CIRCUMSTANCES.
XXVIII. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN INSTRUCTING THE JURY AT SENTENCING IT COULD CONSIDER "THE DETAILED CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE OFFENSE."
XXIX. THE DEATH PENALTY IS DISPROPORTIONATE IN THIS CASE WHERE THE DEFENDANT HAS A LONG HISTORY OF MENTAL PROBLEMS AND RETARDATION, THE JURY DID NOT FIND THAT HE KILLED OR ATTEMPTED TO KILL, AND HIS INVOLVEMENT WAS MINOR COMPARED TO THE CODEFENDANT.
XXX. THE CUMULATIVE ERROR IN THIS RECORD REQUIRES THAT THE CONVICTION AND SENTENCE BE REVERSED.
On Friday, February 2, 1990, Carl Parker, his wife Bobbie Jo, and their children, twelve year old Gregory and nine year old Charlotte, left the Riverside Baptist Church in Clarksdale to return to their home on Highway 322 in rural Quitman County, some fifteen miles from Clarksdale. The Parkers were last seen leaving the church between 8:45 and 9:15 p.m. that evening.
Around 11:00 p.m., Billy King was driving east on Highway 322 when he spotted a fire at the Parker home. Mr. King went to the house, tried to open the unlocked carport door, but was driven back by the fire. Mr. King left the Parkers' house and drove to the house of the nearest neighbor to call for help. Mr. King did not pass any vehicles on his way to the neighbor's house, but as he looked back towards the Parkers' house from the neighbors' front door, he saw two vehicles leave the Parker house, driving west on Highway 322.
At approximately the same time that King was at the neighbor's house trying to get help, Joe McCullough was driving east on Highway 322. McCullough testified that he remembered meeting two vehicles that were tailgating closely and traveling very fast towards Clarksdale. He identified the lead vehicle as a Silverado pick-up truck.
Fireman Jerry Wages with the Lambert Volunteer Fire Department received the call reporting the Parkers' fire between 11:00 and 11:20 p.m. It was raining heavily that evening. Wages was the first to arrive at the scene of the fire, and he found the southwest corner of the house on fire. The back door was unlocked, and he crawled into the house. He recovered the body of Carl Parker. Wages went back into the house and recovered the bodies of Charlotte and Gregory. Wages recalled that Carl and Gregory were bound at their feet and ankles and their wrists were tied behind their backs. There was also a remnant of a binding on Charlotte's wrist. Charlotte was undressed from the waist down beneath the dress she was wearing. Wages said she had a wound on her hip as well. The body of Bobbie Jo Parker was not discovered until the early morning hours after the fire was finally extinguished. Her body was found in the southwest corner of the house and was burned beyond recognition.
Quitman County Sheriff Jack Harrison arrived at the scene and notified authorities that Carl Parker's red Silverado pick-up truck was missing. He saw the bodies and noticed the hands and feet of Carl and Gregory were bound. Charlotte had a red ribbon tied around her arm. Her knee high stockings Around midnight that same night, Eddie Lee Spralls, a Clarksdale resident, looked out his back window after hearing a door slam and observed a red truck backing up between two abandoned houses. Spralls called the police. Upon arrival, the Clarksdale police put a spotlight on the truck. Two black males jumped out of the truck and ran toward Highway 61.
were partially burned off, and she did not have on underclothes. Bobbie Jo Parker's body was found lying on some springs around 2:00 or 2:30 a.m.
The truck, identified by the police as Carl Parker's, was parked close to the home of Robert Simon's mother-in-law. It was filled with household items, furniture, appliances, and other valuables, all belonging to the Parkers. A shotgun was found in the back of the truck, and a pillow case containing two revolvers and other items belonging to the Parkers was found near the truck.
Martha Simon, Robert Simon's wife, had left Memphis and had driven to Clarksdale to see her mother on February 2, 1990. She said that Carr had been living with her and Robert in their Memphis apartment for the previous three weeks. Around 12:30 a.m. on February 3, 1990, Martha was in her car when she saw Carr walking down the street. Carr asked Martha if she had seen Robert. Martha replied that she thought Carr and Robert had been together, but Carr told her that he had come on ahead and Robert was behind him. She asked Carr how he got to town. Carr responded that he was driving a truck and pointed in the direction where the Parker truck was later found. Carr told her that he had parked the truck on 9th Street and that the truck had "stuff" in it. He also told Martha that he had some money. Carr said that he had put the keys to the truck along the railroad tracks and some coveralls in a dumpster, the location of which Carr told her.
Martha again saw Carr looking for Robert around 8:00 a.m. at her mother's house. The next time she saw Carr, Robert was with him. They came to Martha's mother's house and told her they were going to Memphis. Carr was wearing a black jogging suit each of the three times Martha saw him.
Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson, Jr., received information from Martha Simon that led to the recovery of a pair of coveralls and a pair of work...
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