Crawford v. State

• Citation: 192 So.3d 905
• Decision Date: 27 August 2015
• Docket Number: No. 2014–KA–00175–SCT.,2014–KA–00175–SCT.
• Parties: Charles Ray CRAWFORD a/k/a Chuck Crawford v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi

192 So.3d 905

Charles Ray CRAWFORD a/k/a Chuck Crawford

v.STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2014–KA–00175–SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Aug. 27, 2015.

Rehearing Denied February 18, 2016.

Charles Ray Crawford, appellant, pro se.

Glenn S. Swartzfager, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Stephanie Breland Wood, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

PIERCE

, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Charles Ray Crawford appeals from his 1993 conviction for rape, raising numerous assignments of error. The record is unclear as to what caused the delay in this case being heard on appeal. For this reason, we decided to set aside the procedural bar in this matter and consider the merits of Crawford's claimed errors. Having carefully reviewed this record, we have concluded that there is no merit in any of Crawford's assignments of error. Only four issues warrant discussion:

I. WHETHER THE TWENTY–ONE–YEAR DELAY IN THIS APPEAL VIOLATES CRAWFORD'S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS UNDER THE MISSISSIPPI AND UNITED STATES CONSTITUTIONS.

II. WHETHER CRAWFORD WAS DENIED HIS RIGHT TO COUNSEL AND DUE PROCESS WHEN HE WAS CONSTRUCTIVELY LEFT WITHOUT COUNSEL DURING A CRITICAL STAGE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST HIM.

III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE

ERROR WHEN, OVER CRAWFORD'S OBJECTION, IT GAVE A JURY INSTRUCTION THAT IMPROPERLY SHIFTED THE BURDEN OF PROOF IN VIOLATION OF CRAWFORD'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

IV. WHETHER CRAWFORD'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS WERE VIOLATED BY A SEARCH OF HIS HOME BY LAW–ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS WITHOUT A WARRANT.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On April 13, 1991, seventeen-year-old Sue¹ was riding around Walnut, Mississippi, with her friend Nicole. The girls were in Nicole's grandfather's car. The girls had been told to put fluid in the car and had purchased what was needed. They saw Charles Ray Crawford in the Twin Oaks parking lot and went over to ask if he would help them put fluid in the car. Crawford had his young son with him at the time. Crawford agreed to help and told the girls to drive over to the ballpark. They did, and Crawford met them there. While putting fluid in the car, Crawford told Sue that he needed to talk to her about something but refused to say what it was about.

¶ 3. Later that evening, as the girls continued to drive around, they spotted Crawford. They flashed their lights to pull him over. Sue asked Crawford what he wanted to talk to her about. Crawford told her they needed to get out of Walnut to talk because his ex-wife Gail might find out he was talking to her and stop him from seeing his son.² Crawford told them to meet him at Chalybeate Cemetery.

¶ 4. After finding Crawford parked at the cemetery, the girls pulled up their car beside his truck and rolled down the window. Crawford, who no longer had his son with him, told Sue to get in the truck so they could talk. Sue did and Crawford told her that her boyfriend had pictures of Sue that were “pretty bad.” Crawford also told her that he had gotten the pictures from her boyfriend and planned to get rid of them. Sue told Crawford she wanted the pictures. Crawford replied that the pictures were at his house and she should tell Nicole they needed to ride to his house. Sue and Nicole then got in Crawford's truck, and he drove them to his house.

¶ 5. As they drove by the school, Crawford asked the girls to “scrunch down” in the truck so no one would see them. Crawford then parked by a nearby abandoned house instead of parking at his house. When they parked, Crawford told Nicole to stay in the car and told Sue to walk with him to his house. When Sue and Crawford got inside the back door of the house, Crawford stopped and told Sue to stay there so he could make sure nobody was home. Sue saw him walking through the house. When Crawford returned, he pulled a gun and put it to Sue's head.

¶ 6. Crawford told her to do what he said and not to yell and no one would get hurt. He told Sue to get on the floor. As she did, she asked why he was doing this. Crawford told her to shut up. He taped her mouth shut with duct tape. He then told her to put her hands behind her back. When she did, Crawford taped her hands together.

¶ 7. Crawford pulled Sue up and led her through the kitchen into a bedroom. Crawford lay Sue on the bed and began removing her shoes. Sue loosened the tape on her mouth by licking it with her tongue so she could speak. Sue told Crawford he could not touch her because she was on her period. Crawford told her he would take care of it. Crawford pulled her pants and panties off then removed her tampon. He then engaged in sexual intercourse with her.

¶ 8. Afterwards, Sue asked Crawford not to hurt Nicole. Crawford told her not to move and went outside. Sue heard a noise then heard Crawford come back inside the house. Crawford ran into the bedroom and said somebody was there. Crawford grabbed Sue up and they ran out of the house. As they ran out, Crawford said, “What have I done? We've got to get out of here. Somebody is here.”

¶ 9. When they got back to the truck, Sue did not see Nicole, but she did see a hammer. Sue asked Crawford where Nicole was and Crawford responded that he had hit Nicole and she had run away. Crawford then looked at Sue and said, “What have I done? Janet is going to hate me.” Sue responded by saying “please don't hurt me.”

¶ 10. Crawford and Sue walked back toward Crawford's house, and he untaped her. Sue was able to pull her clothes back on as they got back to the house. Crawford then handed Sue the gun and told her to shoot him. Sue told him that she could not do it. Crawford then said that he needed to see Janet. Crawford asked her to go to Memphis, Tennessee with him to see Janet. Sue agreed to go because she was worried he might hurt her or her sister if she did not.

¶ 11. Sue and Crawford got back in Crawford's truck and began driving on back roads toward Memphis. On the way, they stopped at Barry King's house and Crawford asked to borrow his car because he knew the law would be looking for him. King refused but told Crawford to go ask Jackie Brooks if he could borrow his vehicle. Crawford and Sue drove to Brooks's house and Crawford asked Jackie to borrow his truck because he was running from the law. Brooks refused to allow him to borrow his truck but did agree to drive him to Memphis. Brooks told Crawford to park his truck behind his house. Brooks and his wife then drove Crawford and Sue to Memphis. There, they dropped Crawford and Sue off at Timmy Joiner's house and returned home.

¶ 12. Joiner, a friend of Crawford's, drove Crawford and Sue to a nearby Budget Inn and secured a room for them. Joiner left the two of them in the room and went back to his house. Crawford asked Sue if she was scared. When she said she was, Crawford responded that she should not be. Sue asked to talk to Janet, and Crawford began crying and saying he was sorry. Crawford slept on the foot of Sue's bed holding her foot so she could not get away.

¶ 13. The next day, Joiner picked up Crawford and Sue and they drove to a few different convenience stores where Crawford tried to use the phone. Crawford finally told Joiner to pull over somewhere so he could think. They pulled down a little road and stopped. Crawford began saying he was going to kill himself. Joiner calmed him down, and Crawford told Joiner to take Sue to call Janet.

¶ 14. Joiner and Sue then left Crawford where he was and drove to a pay phone. Sue talked to Janet and told her that Crawford had raped her. Janet asked to speak to Joiner again. When Joiner got off the phone with Janet, he said that he did not understand what was going on but that Janet had told him to tell Crawford to turn himself in to the police. Sue cried as they drove back to where they left Crawford, and Joiner told Crawford that Janet said he should turn himself in to the police.

¶ 15. Joiner then drove Crawford to a convenience store where Crawford dialed 911 and turned himself in to police. Joiner drove Sue to meet Janet. Sue was taken to a local hospital, and a rape kit and hair samples were taken.

¶ 16. Meanwhile, Deputy Greg Hopper, Chief Deputy Tommy Story, and other officers from the Tippah County Sheriff's Department responded to a call that someone had been hit in the head. They arrived at Crawford's grandparents' house and found Nicole lying on a stretcher. Nicole told the officers that Sue needed help and that she was at Crawford's house.

¶ 17. The deputies then went to Crawford's house. They knocked and yelled, but no one answered the door. Deputies found no one inside the house but did find a used tampon in the bedroom, a roll of duct tape with hair on the kitchen table, and a strip of duct tape with hair inside the house. The back door was open and the deputies saw blood on the stairs. They also saw footprints in the garden and followed them to a nearby abandoned house. Outside they found more duct tape with hair. Relatives gave the deputies a description of Crawford's truck and an all points bulletin (APB) was sent out.

¶ 18. Later, deputies located Crawford's truck behind Brooks's residence. The Memphis Police Department recovered a .22 caliber R & G revolver and apprehended Crawford. The hair found on the roll of duct tape and various pieces of duct tape found in and outside of Crawford's residence were compared with known samples of Sue's hair and Crawford's hair. Some hair on the tape matched Sue's known hair samples and some matched Crawford's known hair samples.

¶ 19. Crawford was indicted by the Tippah County Grand Jury for the kidnap and rape of Sue (cause number 5780)—the case now before us. Crawford also was separately indicted for aggravated assault of Nicole (cause number 5779). Both cases eventually were tried separately in Chickasaw County, after the trial court granted Crawford's motion for a change of venue.

¶ 20. Prior to both trials, Crawford indicated that he planned to pursue an insanity defense. Crawford was thereafter evaluated and examined by multiple mental-health...