Spiers v. State
| Decision Date | 18 May 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2022-KA-00038-SCT |
| Parties | BRANDON JAKE SPIERS v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY W. DANIEL HINCHCLIFF GEORGE T. HOLMES
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: BARBARA WAKELAND BYRD
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: PATRICIA A. THOMAS BURCHELL
¶1. Brandon Spiers was arrested on charges of burglary of a dwelling and attempted sexual battery. His trial began on November 11, 2021. He was convicted on both charges. Spiers was sentenced to serve twenty-five years under the supervision of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) for the burglary-of-a-dwelling conviction, and he was sentenced to thirty years under the supervision of MDOC for the attempted sexual battery conviction. The sentence for attempted sexual battery was ordered to run consecutively with the burglary-of-a-dwelling sentence. Spiers appeals to this Court and argues: (1) the trial court erred by granting a jury instruction requiring Spiers to prove the affirmative defense of consent by clear and convincing evidence; and (2) the State engaged in prosecutorial misconduct during its closing argument. Upon review of the record, this Court affirms Spiers's convictions.
¶2. In the early morning hours of September 10, 2019, law enforcement responded to reports of a man in a neighborhood acting suspiciously. When they arrived in the neighborhood they saw Spiers outside of Connie Montgomery's home. Officers also noticed MM[1] and Montgomery standing on their front porch. MM and Montgomery told law enforcement that Spiers had come into their home and threatened to shoot MM if MM did not perform oral sex on him. Based on that information, law enforcement arrested Spiers for burglary of a dwelling and attempted sexual battery. Spiers waived his Miranda[2] rights and provided a statement to law enforcement. In his statement to law enforcement, Spiers stated:
I left Walmart going to my friend's house .... When I got there they were asleep so I walked around the corner to Katie's which I met a few times. Katie opened the door. I asked if I can use a phone or sleep on the couch so I can get out the streets. She told me to come on when she got to her room she went to give me the phone and when I was about to make a call she started screaming
he has a [sic] gun. I told her to calm down I have no gun and her grandmother came in and asked if I would leave. I said yes ma'am and walked out.[3]
On September 8, 2020, a grand jury indicted Spiers for burglary of a dwelling and attempted sexual battery.
¶3. Spiers's trial began on November 10, 2021. The State's first witness was Officer Tammy Shelbourn. Officer Shelbourn was a patrol officer with the Hattiesburg Police Department on September 10, 2019. Officer Shelbourn testified that she arrived at Connie Montgomery's home around 2:15 a.m., where she found Spiers. Officer Shelbourn stated that while speaking with Spiers, she noticed MM and Montgomery on their front porch. Officer Shelbourn testified that she spoke to MM and Montgomery and ultimately arrested Spiers on charges of residential burglary and attempted sexual battery. Officer Shelbourn testified that MM was "fearful, scared, [and] disheveled" and that she observed a "small injury" on MM's forearm. Officer Shelbourn also testified that Montogmery appeared "angry, fearful, [and] somewhat disheveled due to the time of morning."
¶4. On cross-examination, Officer Shelbourn stated that Officer Broome was the "initial officer on scene."[4] Officer Shelbourn testified that Montgomery's home was "disheveled" and "cluttered." She stated that when she entered MM's bedroom, she noticed that it was also "quite cluttered" and filled with "[l]ots of property." Officer Shelbourn testified that MM's bed was "[a]cross the bedroom against the left wall . . . next to the corner." Several photos of MM's bedroom were admitted into evidence during Officer Shelbourn's cross-examination. When asked if photographs were taken of other rooms in the house, Officer Shelbourn testified that she could not recall. Officer Shelbourn stated that when Spiers was searched, no weapons were found on his person. She also testified that she had no knowledge as to whether Spiers had been to Montgomery's residence prior to September 10, 2019.
¶5. On redirect examination, the State discussed the photographs of MM's cluttered bedroom. The State asked Officer Shelbourn to look at Exhibit 10, which depicted MM's bedroom. The photograph showed MM's bed in the far left corner of the room. The room had cups and soda bottles on top of pieces of furniture, a white table with a monitor, and other clutter throughout the room. The State asked Officer Shelbourn, "Is there anything about the amount of items in that room, the layout of that room, that would prevent somebody [from] trying to sexually batter another person?" Officer Shelbourn responded, "Absolutely not."
¶6. MM was the State's next witness. MM testified that she was living with her grandmother, Montgomery, on September 10, 2019.[5] MM testified that her bedroom was "adjacent" to Montgomery's. MM explained that her grandmother always left her front door unlocked every night. MM stated that she was sleeping naked on September 10, 2019, which was "common" for her as no men lived in the home.
¶7. MM testified that around 2:15 a.m. on September 10, 2019, she heard her dogs barking. MM stated that she initially thought they were barking at racoons, which happened "every night." MM testified that she opened her bedroom door to tell the dogs to stop barking, but she "heard the front door opening." MM testified that she tried to "push" her bedroom door shut, but Spiers "pushed through."[6] MM stated that she was naked when Spiers came into her room. MM testified that Spiers "pushed [her] into a mirror that [she] had and it snapped in half and cut [her]" arm and back.
¶8. MM testified that Spiers told her her breasts and her genitalia. MM stated that she did not consent to Spiers touching her. MM testified that Spiers told her to perform oral sex on him or else he would shoot her. MM testified that when he was making these threats, his penis was "out." MM testified that Spiers told her he had a gun and was "searching through a bag that he had." MM explained that she assumed the gun was in that bag.
¶9. MM testified that she was screaming for help and tried to "fight [Spiers] off." MM testified that Montgomery came into the room while Spiers was there, and MM told her what was happening. MM stated that her grandmother was "shocked" and told Speris "to get out right now." MM testified that once Spiers left, she stepped outside to talk to the police and saw that Spiers had already been apprehended.
¶10. MM stated that she did not invite Spiers into her home or into her bedroom. MM also stated that Spiers had never been in her home or invited into her home prior to the incident on September 10, 2019. Further, MM testified that she never met Spiers at a tattoo parlor prior to the night of September 10, 2019.
¶11. MM testified that prior to September 10, 2019, she saw Spiers one time. He was outside of Montgomery's house and asked if MM and Montgomery needed someone to cut their yard. They told Spiers no. MM testified that Spiers had later MM stated that Spiers asked her what her name was and she told him. MM testified that her name was not "Katie."
¶12. On cross-examination, MM testified that she went to bed at 10:00 p.m. on September 9, 2019. MM agreed that she cannot see the front door from her bedroom nor can her bedroom door be seen from the front door. MM stated that the hall light was on when Spiers came into the home. When asked, "How would Mr. Spiers know which door was yours[?]" MM responded, MM explained that opening her door can be loud because the doorknob is broken. MM testified that after Spiers pushed her into the mirror, he "dragged [her] by [her] arm" across the floor to take her from the mirror to her bed. MM testified that Spiers never told her he had a gun-only that he was going to shoot her.
¶13. On redirect examination, MM testified that her bedroom window had no curtains or blinds. She agreed that if someone walked around the home, he could see through her bedroom window. The State asked MM "did you go willingly at any time with this man that broke into your home?" MM answered, "No." The State asked, "At any point did you allow him to touch you? . . . To drag you? . . . To push you onto a mirror?" MM answered each question, "No." The State also asked, "Did you allow him to come into the sanctity of your bedroom even if it's a messy bedroom?" MM answered, "No, ma'am." The State asked MM, "If [Spiers] says that you opened the front door of your residence naked and allowed him to come in, is that true?" MM responded, "No."
¶14. The State's next witness was Montgomery, MM's grandmother. Montgomery testified that it was common for her to leave her front door unlocked. Montgomery stated that MM usually slept "in the nude." Montgomery stated that around 2:00 a.m. on September 10, 2019, she was awakened by her dogs'...
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