Jackson v. Commonwealth
| Docket Number | Record 1182-22-1 |
| Decision Date | 08 November 2023 |
| Parties | TASHARA MONE JACKSON v. COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Virginia |
1
TASHARA MONE JACKSON
v.
COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Record No. 1182-22-1
Court of Appeals of Virginia
November 8, 2023
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT NEWS Gary A. Mills, Judge.
(Tyrone C. Johnson, on brief), for appellant. Appellant submitting on brief.
Virginia B. Theisen, Senior Assistant Attorney General (Jason S. Miyares, Attorney General, on brief), for appellee.
Present: Malveaux, Ortiz and Friedman, Judges Argued at Norfolk, Virginia.
MEMORANDUM OPINION [*]
DANIEL E. ORTIZ, JUDGE.
Following a jury trial in the Circuit Court for the City of Newport News, Tashara Mone Jackson was convicted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Jackson appeals, arguing that the trial court erred in (1) finding the evidence sufficient to support the convictions, (2) denying her motion to suppress statements she made to law enforcement, (3) denying her motion in limine seeking exclusion of text messages sent between her and her co-conspirator weeks after the offense, (4) refusing her proposed jury instructions, and (5) denying her motion for a mistrial. We disagree
with Jackson's arguments, affirm the trial court's judgment, and remand the case for correction of a clerical error.[1]
BACKGROUND
Beginning in 2018, Jacqueline Shabazz ("Shabazz") and Jackson worked together at the United States Postal Office. Over time, their work relationship became acrimonious. In April 2021, Shabazz "crossed paths" with Jackson at a nail salon. After Jackson caused a conflict inside the salon, Shabazz retrieved a small knife from her car and poked the back tire of Jackson's car. The next day, Shabazz flew to Las Vegas with her husband, Salahuddin Ibn Shabazz ("Sal") for the weekend.
When Shabazz returned home, she saw that her car had been "destroyed." Her tires were slashed, the word "[w]hores" had been painted in red paint on the vehicle, and there was a Snickers candy bar stuck in the gas tank. Shabazz immediately sent Jackson a message via Facebook that said, "[i]t's obvious you messed my car up. Don't leave Newport News." Shabazz then decided to confront Jackson in person after learning that Jackson was having a going away party at a local establishment, Harpoon Larry's.[2] Shabazz and Sal went to Harpoon Larry's and waited until Jackson arrived, at which time the two women engaged in a physical altercation. A crowd formed as Jackson screamed for a friend to "get my gun, get my gun, grab my gun." Sal, holding a taser, put his arm out to keep the crowd away and stated, "[t]his is a one-on-one fight.... She came to
our house. She messed our car up. She's got to answer to this." The fight lasted for less than two minutes, according to Shabazz.
After the fight, Shabazz and Sal returned home and Shabazz decided to stay in a hotel for the night with her three daughters. Sal later visited the hotel to bring additional items for the girls and then returned home. Shabazz and Sal spoke over the phone during his ride home, and they continued their conversation after he arrived at their house at around 2:00 a.m. While on the phone, Shabazz heard a knock and when Sal answered the door, Shabazz heard a man with a loud voice ask for "Charles." Sal answered that no one by the name of Charles lived there, and then Shabazz heard gunshots, a bump, and then another gunshot. Shabazz hung up the phone and called 911. She then left the hotel and returned to her house. When she arrived, the police were already there. Sal had been shot and died from his gunshot wounds at the scene.
Forensic police officer Ashlynn Morgan collected four Hornaday .380 auto cartridge casings from the entryway area of the house. Morgan also collected a cell phone in the entryway. Assistant Chief Medical Examiner Elizabeth Kinnison performed Sal's autopsy. Dr. Kinnison found four gunshot wounds to Sal's head and torso and concluded that three of them combined caused fatal injuries.
Newport News Police Detective Kayla Griffin assisted in the murder investigation. She obtained search warrants for Jackson's cell phone and the cell phone of Jackson's friend, Jeremy Pettway. The cell phone records revealed, among other things, that Jackson changed her cell phone number on the day of the murder. Detective Griffin also obtained a court order for the cameras at two different intersections in Newport News along the route between Jackson's apartment and Pettway's residence.
Detective Trevor Buchanan testified as an expert in call detail records and geolocation analysis. Detective Buchanan's review of data revealed that cell phones associated with Jackson
and Pettway traveled to the area of Shabazz's home on the morning her car was vandalized. Detective Buchanan presented a video at trial and provided narration regarding this incident. The detective also testified about Jackson's Google searches inquiring how to damage car gas tanks and engines.
Cell phone data revealed that Jackson and Pettway were on the phone together for twenty minutes before the murder. During the conversation, red-light cameras captured a car matching the description of Jackson's SUV driving through two main intersections in Newport News as it headed toward Pettway's house. Ring cameras from area homes and video-surveillance from several schools captured a man leaving the vicinity of Pettway's house on foot and walking toward a nearby elementary school. The SUV picked up that individual in front of the school at the same moment that the phone connection between Jackson's and Pettway's cell phones ended. The SUV was then captured driving toward Sal's residence and eventually turning onto the road where his house was located. The SUV sat stationary one to two hundred yards from Sal's residence, with his house in the line of sight, for about a minute and a half while one of the occupants left the vehicle and approached Sal's house. A few minutes later, the SUV returned in the same direction and along the same route toward Pettway's house. The SUV stopped in front of the elementary school and dropped off a person, who then walked back toward Pettway's house. The SUV then drove back on the same route in the direction from which it originally came.[3]
Jackson drove to Florida after the shooting. Over the course of several weeks, she and Pettway exchanged numerous text messages. In those texts, many of which were admitted at trial over Jackson's objection, Jackson and Pettway discussed how he was her protector and how much
their friendship meant to each other. Jackson mentioned a song with lyrics that discussed committing a crime but keeping quiet about it and said that the song "explains our situation" to a "T." In texts, Jackson expressed fear that Pettway had told his friend Ada Malone too much when he gave her his gun to hide and she suggested the police were following him. In another text message, Jackson referred to the couple as "Bonnie and Clyde forever." Many of the text messages describe their friendship and love for each other. Pettway later sent a text that said, "I'm sorry I put you in this situation but very happy you still here with me." He also wrote in a text, "[d]elete messages as we talking." In fact, the text messages between Pettway and Jackson were deleted from their phones and only remained in the files of their respective phone companies.
Pettway asked Malone to keep his firearm at her home. Police later seized the gun from under Malone's bed. Forensic testing of cartridge casings recovered at the homicide scene revealed that Pettway's gun fired the shots that killed Sal.
Detective Griffin interviewed Jackson upon her arrest for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. After being advised of her Miranda[4] rights, Jackson initially indicated that she did not wish to speak to the officers. Detective Griffin explained, "if at any point in time you change your mind, and you want to knock on the door and talk to me about anything, you can. We will come back in and talk to you." Griffin asked if she needed water, Jackson declined, and Griffin left the room. Jackson was left alone in the interrogation room for about an hour and fifteen minutes. For much of this time, Jackson rested her head on her arm with her eyes closed. The only interaction between Jackson and a detective in this one-hour-and-fifteen-minute period was a quick check by an officer to ask if she needed anything.
When Detective Griffin returned to the room, she mentioned twice that she was waiting on a search warrant. Detective Griffin stated, "I know you didn't really want to talk today." Jackson responded "um-hum." Detective Griffin then stated,
That's fine. I get that. After, if, you have had some time to think about it, I would like to talk to you and get your side of the story with us. Because quite frankly, it's not a matter of if you were involved. I know you were there. I have all of the details regarding that. I just know that there is a lot bullshit.
The detective then stated,
I would really like to talk to you about this and get your side of it, but I'm not going to push anything . . . so if you decide you want to talk that's my phone number there. Like I said it's not a matter of placing you there. I know it was there, I just want to know like why. I want to know your side of the story because this is really convoluted about how there are a lot of like issues between you and the victim's wife too.
Jackson then proceeded to talk to Detective Griffin.
Jackson described the incident at Harpoon Larry's and Sal's involvement in the fight. Jackson told Griffin that during the physical altercation she had with Shabazz, Sal placed one foot on her head and used his other foot to kick her in the head twice. Jackson called the police after the incident. Jackson told Griffin that she and Pettway had no connection other than being co-workers and stated that after the incident at the...
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