Pulliam v. State
| Decision Date | 08 December 2020 |
| Docket Number | NO. 2019-KA-00476-COA,2019-KA-00476-COA |
| Citation | 321 So.3d 1185 |
| Parties | Quavares PULLIAM, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER, BY: JUSTIN TAYLOR COOK
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, BY: SCOTT STUART, Jackson
EN BANC.
CARLTON, P.J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. A Washington County jury convicted Quavares Pulliam of imperfect self-defense manslaughter for the death of Dwight Thedford. The Washington County Circuit Court sentenced Pulliam to serve twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). On appeal, Pulliam argues the following: (1) the circuit court erroneously excluded evidence that Thedford had schizophrenia
; (2) the circuit court erroneously refused to instruct the jury on the castle doctrine; (3) the circuit court gave a self-defense jury instruction that misstated the relevant caselaw; and (4) there was insufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict. Finding no error, we affirm Pulliam's conviction and sentence.
FACTS
¶2. On October 20, 2016, Pulliam fatally shot Thedford. A grand jury subsequently indicted Pulliam for deliberate-design murder with a firearm enhancement. Pulliam was tried in April 2018, but the circuit court declared a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict. Pulliam's second trial took place in February 2019.
¶3. At Pulliam's second trial, Arthurly Phillips testified that he knew Pulliam socially and that the two men would sometimes talk about automobiles with each other. Phillips stated that around 2 or 3 a.m. on October 20, 2016, he was getting gas at the Double Quick gas station in Greenville, Mississippi, when Pulliam parked nearby. Phillips testified that the two men began discussing the audio equipment Phillips had installed in his vehicle. Phillips testified that on the night in question, Pulliam wore a yellow Polo-type shirt with jeans. Phillips further testified that Pulliam owned a grayish-colored Tahoe with the personalized license plate "Pull1." After the men finished their conversation about audio equipment, they each got back into their respective vehicles and left the gas station.
¶4. Shortly after Phillips and Pulliam left the gas station, the Greenville Police Department (GPD) received a call about gunshots at a nearby intersection. Officer Jeff Wilson testified that he was parked behind the Double Quick at the time and that he arrived at the intersection about thirty seconds to one minute after learning about the shooting. Upon arriving on the scene, Officer Wilson observed a gray vehicle and two individuals. Officer Wilson testified that a shirtless Thedford was lying in the street and that an unknown man was standing over Thedford.
¶5. Officer Wilson stated that as he approached the scene, the unknown man told Officer Wilson to stop. Officer Wilson asked the man to show his hands and to walk to the Double Quick parking lot. After the man complied with his instructions, Officer Wilson examined Thedford's body and observed a gunshot wound on the left side of Thedford's head between his eye and ear. After discovering Thedford's pulse, Officer Wilson called emergency personnel. Officer Wilson testified that an ambulance arrived almost immediately and transported Thedford to Delta Regional Medical Center (DRMC), which Officer Wilson stated was only about fifty to seventy-five yards away from the crime scene.
¶6. Officer Wilson testified that the unknown man left the crime scene before he could question him. After other police officers arrived at the crime scene, Officer Wilson taped off the area and located Thedford's shirt, which had been lying near Thedford's body. As he picked up the shirt, Officer Wilson discovered a shell casing tangled inside the clothing item. Officer Wilson testified that the spent shell casing was later identified as a .45-caliber casing.
¶7. Investigator Jeremey Arendale testified that he responded to a call around 3 a.m. about the incident near the Double Quick. When he arrived at the scene almost twenty minutes later, Investigator Arendale observed spent shell casings and a gray t-shirt in the road. After the evidence had been marked for photographs, Investigator Arendale went inside the Double Quick and reviewed the gas station's surveillance video. Police officers identified Phillips as a person of interest from the video footage. About fifteen minutes after they had identified Phillips, Investigator Arendale and two other officers arrived at Phillips's residence to interview him. Based on their interview with Phillips, the officers identified Pulliam as the man seen speaking to Phillips on the video footage.
¶8. Investigator Arendale found a Facebook picture of Pulliam that led the officers to an apartment complex in Leland, Mississippi. Upon arriving at the apartment complex, Investigator Arendale observed the gray SUV shown on the Double Quick's surveillance video. When Investigator Arendale knocked on the apartment door, a woman answered and informed the officers that Pulliam was inside. Pulliam voluntarily exited the apartment, and the police officers took him into custody. Investigator Arendale testified that at the time of Pulliam's surrender, he (Pulliam) was no longer wearing the yellow shirt that he had worn on the Double Quick's surveillance footage.
¶9. Officer Xavion Clay with the Leland Police Department testified that he transported Pulliam to the Leland Police Department, where Pulliam remained in custody until he was transported to the GPD. Officer Clay testified that without any prompting, Pulliam initiated a conversation with him. Officer Clay stated that Pulliam asked several times whether Officer Clay's body camera was activated, and each time, Officer Clay responded that his body camera was not activated. Pulliam then told Officer Clay that he knew why he had been arrested. In response, Officer Clay told Pulliam "that whatever [had] happened[,] just make sure you just tell the truth."
¶10. Officer Clay testified that Pulliam then provided the following statement regarding the events surrounding Thedford's death:
[W]hen he [(Pulliam)] was in Greenville[,] he was at a traffic light[,] and an individual approached his vehicle from the passenger's side and began yelling and cursing at the vehicle towards him. At that time he [(Pulliam)] exited the vehicle to make contact with the subject to see why the subject was so upset[,] which led to a verbal altercation between him and the subject. During the verbal altercation[,] the subject spit on [Pulliam]. At that time he [(Pulliam)] returned to his vehicle and retrieved his firearm and came back and shot towards the subject before jumping in his vehicle and fleeing.
¶11. Officer Clay testified that other than the spitting incident, Pulliam mentioned no other physical action that Thedford had committed against him during the interaction. In addition, Officer Clay stated that Pulliam never indicated that he had felt scared or threatened by Thedford's conduct toward him. Although Officer Clay made no written report about Pulliam's disclosure, he testified that he reported the statements to the GPD officers involved in Pulliam's arrest.
¶12. Deputy Darrel Saxton, who worked for the GPD at the time of the shooting, testified about a statement that Pulliam made to him later that same day. Around 7:43 a.m., Deputy Saxton walked to the GPD's booking area to retrieve some paperwork. As he passed by the holding-cell area, Deputy Saxton heard someone call his name. Deputy Saxton testified that he approached the holding cell and observed Pulliam inside. Deputy Saxton asked whether Pulliam was okay, and Pulliam stated that he was in a lot of trouble. Pulliam then asked Deputy Saxton's opinion on whether he (Pulliam) should first speak with the detectives or an attorney about the events surrounding the shooting. Deputy Saxton responded that the decision was one Pulliam would have to make on his own. Deputy Saxton testified that Pulliam then began to relate the events leading up to the shooting.
¶13. According to Deputy Saxton, Pulliam stated that he was in his vehicle and stopped at a traffic light when Thedford approached and asked for a ride. Pulliam told Deputy Saxton that after he refused to give Thedford a ride, Thedford "started talking real crazy to him ...." When Pulliam told Thedford to back away from his vehicle, Thedford apparently spit on the vehicle. Pulliam stated that he again told Thedford to back away and that Thedford spit on his vehicle a second time and continued to "talk crazy." Pulliam informed Deputy Saxton that Thedford's actions scared him, so he reached for his gun while speaking to Thedford. Pulliam stated that he then exited the vehicle and told Thedford to leave him alone. According to Pulliam, Thedford "came at him," so Pulliam punched Thedford with his fist. Pulliam told Deputy Saxton that Thedford "came at him" a second time and that he (Pulliam) drew his gun because he was scared of Thedford. Pulliam further told Deputy Saxton that as he tried to back away from Thedford, he fired the gun. After shooting Thedford, Pulliam stated that he panicked, left the area, and went to a levee. At the time Pulliam told this to Deputy Saxton, Pulliam was pointing in the direction of Lake Ferguson. Deputy Saxton testified that he reported Pulliam's statements to the officers involved in the case and wrote a report about the conversation.
¶14. Investigator Eric Sutton with the GPD testified that he was one of the two officers who interviewed Pulliam. The State offered into evidence the interview recording. During the interview, Pulliam stated that prior to the shooting he had been at the Double Quick for about an hour speaking to a friend about vehicle sound systems. Just after leaving the Double Quick, Pulliam stopped at a red light. Pulliam stated that a man, who was later identified as Thedford, approached...
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