Savell v. State
| Decision Date | 09 May 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 2004-KA-01953-COA.,2004-KA-01953-COA. |
| Citation | 928 So.2d 961 |
| Parties | William Dewayne SAVELL, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee. |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
Edmund J. Phillips, attorney for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by John R. Henry, attorney for appellee.
Before KING, C.J., CHANDLER and ISHEE, JJ.
ISHEE, J., for the Court.
¶ 1. William Dewayne Savell was convicted of the murder of Mandy Davis in the Circuit Court of Neshoba County and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Mississippi Department of Corrections ("MDOC"). Aggrieved by his sentence and conviction, Savell now appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTS
¶ 2. Davis was last seen on Wednesday, September 10, 2003, visiting Savell's trailer after having dropped her car off at Savell's automobile repair shop (located next to his trailer) to be fixed. Davis had been acquainted with Savell for a number of years, and she visited him regularly. Patsy Pope, Savell's mistress through whom he fathered a child, testified that she saw Davis at Savell's trailer at approximately 6:30 p.m. on September 10, 2003. Davis's mother testified that Davis did not come home on the night of September 10, 2003. On Thursday, September 11, 2003, Davis did not show up at work at the school where she taught as a substitute. On the evening of Thursday, September 11, 2003, Savell called Davis's home and said that her automobile was ready to be picked up. When Davis's mother arrived at Savell's automobile repair shop, Savell told her that Davis had been there on Wednesday and left with someone else, who he did not see. On Saturday, September 13, 2003, Davis's mother phoned the Philadelphia Police Department and reported Davis missing.
¶ 3. Also on September 13, 2003, after officers learned that Davis had last been seen with Savell, Captain Dickie Sistrunk of the Philadelphia Police Department called Savell and asked him to come to the police station to answer some questions concerning Davis. Savell testified at the suppression hearing that when Sistrunk called him, he was told to "come to the police department or either they would pick [him] up." Savell arrived in his own vehicle. Savell was not under arrest nor even a suspect at this time, and officers did not yet know for sure that a crime had been committed. When Savell first arrived, he went to the office of a police investigator, Jimmy Reid, to answer questions concerning Davis. Savell asked to use the restroom, at which point Reid showed him the restroom and left Savell alone. Savell testified at the suppression hearing that when he returned from the restroom, he walked back into Reid's office and was there for two or three minutes before Reid returned.
¶ 4. Savell told Reid that Davis had been at his trailer on September 10, 2003 getting her automobile fixed, that she had narcotics1 in her possession, and that she had left with someone else who he did not see. He additionally told Reid that he was awakened that night by a "popping sound," and that he went outside and saw that his truck was on fire.2 At the time of the interview with Reid, Savell was wearing a splint on his hand. He stated that he had injured it breaking his truck window to get wrecker keys from inside. Reid then thanked Savell for coming in, and Savell left in his own vehicle. Savell was at the police station for approximately thirty-five to forty-five minutes.
¶ 5. Police visited Savell's property on Sunday, September 14, 2003, and looked around with Savell's consent, but found nothing helpful in locating Davis. On Monday, September 15, 2003, police began looking around on the property of Ted and Patty Pope, where Savell was known to regularly hunt. On the first trip to the Pope property, police found nothing of interest.
¶ 6. On Tuesday, September 16, 2003, police interviewed Savell again. At this time, though Savell was not under arrest, he was advised of his rights pursuant to Miranda v. Arizona, after which Savell signed, dated, timed and acknowledged a waiver of those rights. At this interview, Savell again mentioned the narcotics Davis allegedly brought to his trailer on September 10, 2003. Savell mentioned, in connection with the burning of his truck, a person named "Iceman" that he "used to run dope for." An officer testifying at trial stated that Savell "was very inconsistent" in this interview and "would say one thing, but . . . a sentence or two later . . . contradict what he said." Savell said in this interview that he suspected that "Iceman" picked Davis up from his trailer on September 10, 2003, though he did not see him. After the interview, Savell drove himself home.
¶ 7. Later in the afternoon on September 16, 2003, police received a call from Patty Pope saying Savell had called her that day saying he had been attacked. Police arriving at the scene noted that Savell was bleeding from both his eye and from his rib cage area. He told police that Iceman had hit him in the eye with a two-by-four and kicked him while he was on the ground. At a police interview the next day, September 17, 2003, Savell, after again waiving his Miranda rights, stated that he was wearing his glasses when Iceman hit him, but when police questioned as to how he got hit in the eye with a two-by-four without breaking his glasses, Savell got angry. Savell stated that he owed Iceman money from when he ran dope for him five years previously, but Savell could not explain why Iceman waited until five years later to attack him. Police also asked him during this interview, "if you were in our shoes, where would you look [for Davis?]," and Savell gave them three locations: "off highway 16 up past the casino," "old Longino Road," and on the Pope property.
¶ 8. Also on September 17, 2003, Patty Pope went to Savell's property to bring him food, and noticed Savell in a truck on top of a hill. She drove up and noticed "a bunch of blood on the ground." She stated that Savell told her he had taken some pills and cut his wrist. He also had a gun to his forehead. Patty stated that, when she examined the cut, she noticed that it "was not really cut for the amount of blood that — that I noticed was everywhere." Patty stated that eventually Savell calmed down and went back to the trailer.
¶ 9. On September 18, 2003, police again went to search the Pope property, this time with the aid of a helicopter. An officer spotted something red in a pond on the property, and when investigators retrieved it, they found that it was a red fireman's bag with black handles, partially unzipped. Through the partially unzipped opening, officers saw what appeared to be human remains. Upon opening the bag, police found two severed arms, a severed head, and a severed leg, along with blue plastic material, a glove and several bricks. The crime lab experts later determined the limbs and head to belong to Davis. Davis's torso, with one leg attached, was found on September 19, 2003, in a nearby creek, partially burned, with nine stab wounds to the left chest area. A glove matching the one found in the red fireman's bag was found in the area near the torso. Crime lab experts determined Davis's cause of death to be the nine stab wounds to the chest.
¶ 10. After the bag was found, charges were filed against Savell. When police went to arrest him, Savell would not come out of his trailer. Members of the SWAT team arrived, forced entry to the trailer, and arrested Savell. It was later discovered that the red bag belonged to Ted Pope and was kept in his GMC truck. Savell had borrowed Ted Pope's truck on Sunday, September 14, 2003, after his truck burned. Savell's truck was not returned until a week after the body was found, and the bag was not in the truck when it was returned. Further searches of the Pope property led officers to a brick pile, where shoe prints were observed. The shoe prints matched a pair of shoes later confiscated from Savell's residence. The blue vinyl material in the bag was from a children's swimming pool cover Ted Pope had behind his house. A kaiser blade with hairs from Davis on it was found in the back of the black GMC truck.
¶ 11. Ruth Ann Smith, a neighbor of the Popes who knew Savell well, testified at trial that she saw Savell on September 17, 2003 on the Popes' property. She was standing in her kitchen window, washing dishes, when she saw Savell driving a four-wheeler out of the woods. He parked the four-wheeler at a shed, ran to the carport of the Popes' home, and ran back to the four-wheeler carrying a red bag with black handles. He also had "something blue" that he attached to the four-wheeler. Savell left for some time, and then reappeared riding the four-wheeler, at which point he retrieved "something long and shiny" from the Popes' shed. He then went back into the woods. He reappeared a long period of time later, threw something into the Popes' shed, and then drove the four-wheeler to the Popes' home. Smith then saw Savell drive away at a high speed in Ted Pope's GMC truck.
¶ 12. On September 25, 2003, while Savell was in jail, he allegedly passed word to investigators that he wanted to talk. Savell contended at trial, however, that he never said he wanted to talk to anyone. At any rate, an investigator subsequently went to get him and took him outside to smoke a cigarette. Savell told the investigator that he would tell him everything he needed to know, and the investigator took Savell back into the jail, where he advised him of his Miranda rights. Savell waived them. Savell then admitted to killing Davis, but he claimed it was an accident. He claimed that he, Davis and Iceman were at a shack in the woods where Davis allegedly hid narcotics. He said that she retrieved the narcotics, but then got into an argument with Iceman about them. Savell claimed that he then hit Davis "up side her head" to get her to be quiet, causing her knees to buckle, after which she fell to the ground face forward. He...
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