Magee v. State

Decision Date05 April 2022
Docket Number2020-KA-01397-COA,2020-KA-01378-COA
PartiesKURT MISHAEL MAGEE A/K/A KURT M. MAGEE APPELLANT v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE ALLEN RAY HAYNES APPELLANT v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE
CourtMississippi Court of Appeals

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 11/16/2020

COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: JEFFERSON DAVIS COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT TRIAL JUDGE: HON. CLAIBORNE McDONALD

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY GEORGE T. HOLMES

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: JOE HOLLOMON

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: LAUREN GABRIELLE CANTRELL

DISTRICT ATTORNEY: HALDON J. KITTRELL

BEFORE WILSON, P.J., WESTBROOKS AND LAWRENCE, JJ.

LAWRENCE, J.

¶1. Kurt Magee and Allen Haynes were indicted as co-defendants for the crimes of kidnapping, sexual battery, attempted murder, and conspiracy. Following a joint trial, Magee was found guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy and not guilty of sexual battery or attempted murder. He was sentenced to serve ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) for kidnapping, followed by a consecutive five-year sentence for conspiracy. Haynes was found guilty of kidnapping, sexual battery, and conspiracy and not guilty of attempted murder. He was sentenced to serve ten years in the custody of the MDOC's custody for kidnapping with a concurrent five-year sentence for conspiracy. Additionally, the court sentenced Haynes to serve a consecutive ten-year sentence in the MDOC for sexual battery. Both Defendants' post-trial motions were denied.

¶2. Magee and Haynes appealed their convictions separately. However, because their appeals arose out of a joint trial and many of their issues overlap, this Court consolidated their appeals on January 28, 2022. For brevity and clarity, we address their identical arguments together and their remaining arguments separately. Finding no error, we affirm Magee's and Haynes' convictions and sentences.

FACTS

¶3. On August 22, 2017, T.R.[1] and his girlfriend Jessica Cochran were detained at the Marion County jail on a charge of grand larceny of an automobile. Neither one had any money, but they both wanted to post bail. Jessica knew about a bail bondsman named Allen Haynes, who owned Get Free Bail Bonding Agency. According to Jessica, Haynes was known for accepting sexual favors, as well as other forms of payment, in place of cash. Jessica contacted Haynes about obtaining a bail bond, but her attempt was unsuccessful.

¶4. T.R. also contacted Haynes. Haynes agreed to bail T.R. out of jail in exchange for two platinum baseball cards and an iPhone. Magee, an employee of Get Free Bail Bonding Agency, bailed T.R. out of jail. Magee arrived in a black Chevrolet Impala with Haynes, who was in the passenger seat drinking alcohol.

¶5. Because T.R.'s baseball cards and iPhone were in Jessica's property at the jail, T.R. was unable to use the cards and iPhone to pay the premium for his bond. So T.R. asked Magee and Haynes to take him to his friend Quarter Sims' house to try to get some money. T.R. asked Sims for $1, 500, but Sims did not have that much money. Haynes told T.R. to ask Sims for two "eight balls" of cocaine instead. T.R. went back into the house to ask Sims for cocaine, but Sims said he would not have that much cocaine until the morning. T.R. relayed that information to Haynes, and Haynes told him to get back in the vehicle.

¶6. When T.R. got back into the vehicle, Haynes threatened to do vulgar things to Jessica while T.R. watched. T.R. asked several times to go back to jail, but Haynes refused. At that point, Haynes told Magee to pull the vehicle over on the side of the road. T.R. was sitting behind Magee, who was in the driver's seat. Haynes pointed a chrome revolver at T.R. and ordered him to get out of the vehicle. Then Magee handcuffed T.R., and Magee and Haynes put T.R. in the trunk of the vehicle.

¶7. Magee drove them to Haynes' property in Carson, Mississippi. After Magee parked the vehicle, he and Haynes pulled T.R. out of the trunk. Haynes said, "Don't try anything stupid, or I'll kill you tonight." Magee removed T.R.'s handcuffs and told him to get in the backseat of the car. They locked T.R. inside while they went into Haynes' house to play pool and drink alcohol.

¶8. According to T.R., when Magee and Haynes returned, they both appeared to be drunk. Haynes ordered T.R. to get out of the vehicle and "talk" to the utility pole in the front yard. T.R. complied. Haynes then pulled out his chrome revolver and ordered T.R. to "kiss" the utility pole. T.R. kissed the pole. Then, Haynes told T.R. he was "fixing to f*** the pole." Then Haynes ordered him to "act like he was having sex" with the utility pole and eventually asked him to continue without his shorts and underwear.[2] T.R. complied. Magee recorded the events with his cell phone and Haynes' cell phone.[3] Afterward, Haynes told T.R. that his bond was paid in full, and Magee drafted a bonding receipt.

¶9. At that point, T.R. asked to be taken to Bassfield or his friend Sims' house. Haynes ignored T.R. and told Magee to start the engine on his nearby utility terrain vehicle (UTV). Magee got in the driver's seat of the UTV, and Haynes got in the passenger seat. They told T.R. to get in the back of the UTV, and he complied. Magee drove them behind Haynes' house to a log cabin by a lake.

¶10. When they arrived at the cabin, Haynes took T.R. to the porch and "handcuffed" him to a post next to a five-gallon bucket of diesel fuel. Haynes told T.R. that he needed "to start talking with God" because he was going to "pour gasoline" on T.R., "set [him] on fire," "shoot [him] the head," and "put [him] in the lake." While T.R. was handcuffed to the pole, Haynes threw diesel fuel from the bucket onto T.R.'s chest. Haynes had his revolver drawn the entire time.

¶11. Next, Haynes told T.R. to "strip again" and "bend down." Haynes then shoved a "stick" into T.R.'s rectum, which broke and remained in T.R.'s rectum.[4] Haynes received a phone call, and he and Magee left the area. Haynes told T.R. that he would be back and that T.R. was going to die. While Haynes and Magee were away, T.R. remained handcuffed to the pole. Haynes and Magee eventually returned with a third man, who was never identified. Haynes then received another phone call and said he had to leave again "to go take care of some business." Haynes then threatened T.R. that when he returned, his "son will be the one to shoot you in the head and I'm going to set you on fire and throw you in that lake." T.R. was still covered in diesel fuel.

¶12. All three men left, and T.R. used some nearby metal sunglasses to pick and unlock the handcuffs. T.R. ran barefoot[5] to a nearby highway and hid in a truck near a barn shed until the next morning. T.R. found the key in the truck's ignition, so he cranked the truck and drove away. However, the truck eventually broke down on a nearby bridge, and T.R. exited the truck and ran. The police later confirmed they discovered a broken-down truck on the bridge T.R. identified. Two men in a vehicle saw T.R. running and pulled over to ask him what happened. T.R. asked the men to take him to the "quarters" in Bassfield, and they complied.[6] T.R. called his brother, Tyrone Steward, and Steward and his girlfriend drove to get T.R. Steward's girlfriend then took T.R. to Wesley Medical Center in Hattiesburg. At the hospital, T.R. was seen by Dr. Emily Nix, who removed sticks from his rectum.

¶13. Haynes and Magee were indicted together in a multi-count indictment for the crimes of kidnapping, sexual battery, attempted murder, and conspiracy. They had a joint trial and were represented by the same two attorneys. Before trial, the trial court discussed with the Defendants the potential conflict of using the same defense attorneys. Each defendant signed a "Waiver of Conflict of Interest," which detailed the risks involved when a lawyer represents two defendants. Further, before accepting the Defendants' waivers, the circuit court conducted a hearing on the record to ensure that the Defendants were aware of their constitutional right to effective counsel. The circuit court additionally warned the Defendants of the perils of dual representation. Ultimately, the Defendants chose to have both attorneys jointly represent them, and the circuit court accepted the Defendants' waivers and proceeded to trial.

¶14. At trial, the State presented nine witnesses: Investigator John Wayne Tolar; Dr. Emily Nix; Amy Winters, an employee at the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory; Special Agent Frank Riley of the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI); Anna Savrock, a forensic scientist for the MBI; Tyrone Steward (T.R.'s brother); Antoinette Griggs (Steward's girlfriend); Jessica Cochran; and T.R. Essentially, Magee and Haynes' defense was that T.R. fabricated the evening's events in order to get his grand larceny charge dismissed. In support of that theory, the defense presented one witness-Chelsea Courvelle, who was in the Marion County jail with Cochran for a few months following the incident. The witnesses' testimony, pertinent to the issues raised on appeal, will be discussed in the analysis below.

¶15. At the close of trial, the jury found Magee guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy. The jury found Haynes guilty of kidnapping, sexual battery, and conspiracy. Magee was acquitted of sexual battery, and both defendants were acquitted of attempted murder. Following the denial of their post-trial motions, both Defendants appealed.

ANALYSIS
I. Defendants' Representation by the Same Attorneys

¶16. Both Defendants argue that the circuit court erred in allowing the same two attorneys to jointly represent them during the trial because an actual conflict existed, which rendered their counsel ...

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