Jones v. State
| Decision Date | 17 January 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2021-KA-01263-COA |
| Parties | ROY L. JONES A/K/A ROY LEE JONES APPELLANT v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE |
| Court | Court of Appeals of Mississippi |
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY ALLISON ELIZABETH HORNE
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: DANIELLA M. SHORTER
BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., SMITH AND EMFINGER, JJ.
¶1. A Claiborne County Circuit Court jury convicted Roy Jones of capital murder for the homicide of Rosetta Ellis during the commission of a robbery. The Claiborne County Circuit Court sentenced Jones as a habitual offender to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) without eligibility for parole. On appeal from his conviction and sentence, Jones raises the following arguments: (1) the circuit court erroneously denied his motion for a mistrial; (2) insufficient evidence supported the underlying felony of robbery for his capital-murder conviction; (3) his conviction was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence; and (4) his trial attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. Finding no error, we affirm Jones's conviction and sentence.
¶2. Bobby Claiborne worked as a deputy for the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department at the time of Ellis's murder. Around noon on June 24, 2018, the sheriff's department received a phone call about a possible fire at Ellis's mobile home located at 1030 William Camphor Drive in Port Gibson, Mississippi. When Deputy Claiborne arrived at the scene around 12:18 p.m., he saw that Keon Brandon from the Claiborne County Fire Department had already arrived and was attempting to extinguish the fire. Deputy Claiborne assisted Brandon for about thirty minutes until the two men successfully got the fire under control. Once the men were able to enter the mobile home, they found Ellis's body in the back bedroom. Ellis was lying face down on her bed with a blanket covering her body. Brandon testified that Ellis's bed had been set on fire, and the men noticed burns to both Ellis's back and legs. When the men turned over Ellis's body, they observed bruises on her face and a considerable amount of blood coming from her nose and mouth. Brandon testified that the back door of the mobile home had been open when he first arrived but that he had seen no signs of forced entry. Brandon further testified that the inside of Ellis's home had appeared "kind of ransacked" with items strewn everywhere.
¶3 J.W. Mallett, the Claiborne County Coroner, provided further testimony about the condition of Ellis's body. Much like Brandon and Deputy Claiborne, Mallett observed "[a] lot of blood" at the crime scene. Mallett stated that Ellis had blood coming from her nose and mouth and appeared to have injuries consistent with some type of head trauma. In addition, although Ellis's body was discovered on a hot day in June, Mallett observed a scarf wrapped around her neck. Once the blanket was removed from around Ellis's body, Mallett also observed a purse underneath her.
¶4. Kevin Martin, a deputy fire marshal with the Mississippi State Fire Marshal, testified that he investigated fires to determine their causes and origins. During his investigation of the fire at Ellis's residence, Martin discovered three separate areas of origin for the fire: the living room, the master bedroom, and the hallway to a second bedroom. On the living room floor, Martin found paper towels that had been set on fire next to the couch. In the master bedroom, Martin observed that the bedding on the master bed had been set on fire. And on the opposite side of the trailer from the master bedroom, in the hallway leading to a second bedroom, Martin discovered grass clippings that had been used as the third origin point for the fire.
¶5. After eliminating accidental causes for the fire's origin points, Martin concluded that the fire had been deliberately started. Martin explained that Ellis's kitchen had separated the master bedroom and the living room, which were two areas of origin for the fire. Despite finding that paper towels had been spread across the kitchen floor and that the stove's knobs had been turned to the highest heat setting, Martin testified the stove did not sustain any actual fire damage to indicate that it had been an origin point for the fire. Based on these observations and others made during his investigation, Martin determined that one area of origin had not caused the other two and that each area of origin had resulted from a completely separate and intentional act. Martin also stated his investigation had revealed that the three origin points for the fire were "set relatively close" in time to one another.
¶6. Ellis's neighbor, Donald Reed, testified that he arrived home around noon on June 24, 2018, and noticed the fire at Ellis's mobile home. Reed stated that he knew Ellis personally and had worked with her for about ten years. Upon discovering that the back door of Ellis's home was unlocked, Reed opened the door and tried to enter the residence. As he attempted to peer into the mobile home through all the smoke, Reed observed clothes strewn across the floor of Ellis's residence. According to Reed, the state of Ellis's home was uncharacteristic because Ellis usually kept her home neat.
¶7. Another neighbor, Betty Minor, testified that she lived about three houses down from Ellis and had been friends with her. Immediately before observing the fire at Ellis's home on June 24, 2018, Minor was eating a meal inside her own residence. After finishing her meal, Minor went to her front door and looked outside. Minor testified that she saw Jones, whom she identified in court, walking along the pathway outside her home. Referring to Ellis's residence, Jones told Minor "that the lady's house was on fire." Jones then proceeded to his own mobile home, and Minor ran to Ellis's home. Minor testified that at the time Jones told her about the fire, she did not see anyone else in the vicinity until she reached Ellis's home, where she spotted Reed. Minor further testified that Jones was the only person she saw using the pathway on the day of the fire. Minor explained that the pathway Jones was walking on led to an abandoned mobile home that previously had burned down. When asked whether someone could get to Ellis's residence from the pathway, Minor confirmed that access was possible if the person went behind the abandoned mobile home.
¶8. Claude Long, the division director of electronic monitoring and registered sex offenders for MDOC, testified that on the day of Ellis's death his department was monitoring Jones's movements via an electronic ankle monitor. Director Long explained that an ankle monitor "works similar[ly] to a cell phone GPS" by using satellite and cell towers to provide "real[-]time data of time and day where a person is located, their movement, if they're in a vehicle, how fast they travel, [and] where they're at throughout the day." Director Long further explained that "every three minutes the GPS will ping a signal and find out the location of the offender" and that the monitoring system for Jones's ankle monitor was accurate to within about "200 feet or less of an area . . . ."
¶9. The GPS records for Jones's ankle monitor on June 24, 2018, indicated that at 9:13 a.m., Jones was by 1029 William Camphor Drive. Investigator James Jefferson, who worked for the Claiborne County Sheriff's Department at the time in question, testified that 1029 William Camphor Drive was close to and in the general vicinity of Ellis's home, which was located at 1030 William Camphor Drive. As Director Long affirmatively testified, Jones remained in the vicinity of 1029 William Camphor Drive until 12:17 p.m.
¶10. Three days after Ellis's body was discovered, law enforcement officers interviewed Jones about Ellis's murder and the fire at her home. After the circuit court admitted the recording of Jones's interview into evidence without any objection, the State played the recording for the jury. Investigator Jefferson testified that he had looked into the statements Jones made during the interview and had learned Jones "was not being truthful about his whereabouts at the time of the fire." Investigator Jefferson testified that Jones had stated during the interview that around 8:30 a.m. on the day of the fire, he had been going to a particular store when he "turned around and came back across several other alleys and came back in the area to his house" because "he forgot his wallet or something." Investigator Jefferson asked MDOC to check the GPS records from Jones's ankle monitor, and the records indicated that Jones remained in the vicinity of 1029 William Camphor Drive on the morning of the fire at Ellis's home.
¶11. Investigator Jefferson also conducted several interviews, including with Ellis's neighbor Minor, and with a jailhouse informant named David Claiborne, who gave a statement regarding admissions Jones made to him about details of the murder that had never been publicly released. Based on his investigation into Jones's movements prior to the fire and his interviews with Minor and Claiborne, Investigator Jefferson sought a warrant for Jones's arrest. After Jones's arrest, Investigator Jefferson observed that Jones had scratches on his hands, back, and shoulder. As a result, Investigator Jefferson obtained samples of Jones's DNA for comparison to evidence collected from the crime scene.
¶12. Investigator Jefferson testified that he subsequently received the results of the DNA analysis. The report confirmed that DNA evidence collected from inside Ellis's home was consistent with...
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