State v. Mickens

• Decision Date: 14 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. W1999-01169-CCA-R3-CD.,W1999-01169-CCA-R3-CD.
• Citation: 123 S.W.3d 355
• Parties: STATE of Tennessee v. Corey MICKENS, Christopher Smith, Matthew Dixon, and Choncey Jones.
• Court: Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals

123 S.W.3d 355

STATE of Tennessee v. Corey MICKENS, Christopher Smith, Matthew Dixon, and Choncey Jones.

No. W1999-01169-CCA-R3-CD.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee, at Jackson.

July 9, 2002 Session.

February 14, 2003.

Application for Permission to Appeal Denied by Supreme Court September 2, 2003.

Steven W. Pittman, Memphis, Tennessee, for appellant Corey Mickens.

Joseph S. Ozment, Memphis, Tennessee, for appellant Christopher Smith.

Jeffery S. Glatstein, Memphis, Tennessee, for appellant Matthew Dixon.

Addie M. Burks, Memphis, Tennessee, for appellant Choncey Jones.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter; Braden H. Boucek, Assistant Attorney General; William L. Gibbons, District Attorney General; and Terry Harris and Lorraine Craig, Assistant District Attorneys General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION

ALAN E. GLENN, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which JOHN EVERETT WILLIAMS and NORMA McGEE OGLE, JJ., joined.

The defendants, Corey Mickens, Christopher Smith, Matthew Dixon, and Choncey Jones, all members of the Gangster Disciples, were indicted for various offenses as the result of the kidnapping of Marshall Shipp and Ricky Aldridge and subsequent beating of Aldridge and murder of Shipp, both of whom also were Gangster Disciples. Mickens was convicted of first degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated kidnapping and especially aggravated kidnapping of Shipp. Smith, Dixon, and Jones were convicted of first degree premeditated murder and especially aggravated kidnapping of Shipp, and all four defendants were convicted of the especially aggravated kidnapping of Aldridge. All four defendants were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole on the first degree murder charges. Additionally, Mickens was sentenced to two consecutive twenty-two-year sentences for the two especially aggravated kidnapping charges. Smith was sentenced to two consecutive forty-year sentences for the two especially aggravated kidnapping charges. Dixon was sentenced to two consecutive thirty-two-year, six month sentences for the two especially aggravated kidnapping charges. Jones was sentenced to two consecutive twenty-year sentences for the two especially aggravated kidnapping charges. On appeal, the defendants raise a number of issues, both jointly and individually. They argue that the trial court erred in denying the motions to sever, in its jury instructions, and in sentencing. Additionally, all argue that the evidence was insufficient to sustain their convictions. Jones and Mickens individually present several issues, including that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence an affidavit supposedly written by Jones, by allowing Jones's jail armband to be read to the jury, in allowing a State's witness to testify that Dixon flashed gang signs during her testimony, and in certain rulings regarding the State's closing argument. Smith argues that the trial court excused a juror without cause. Following our review, we affirm the convictions and sentences as to each defendant.

ISSUES PRESENTED

Each defendant raises several issues on appeal:

I. Whether the trial court's jury instructions were proper (Mickens, Smith, Jones, and Dixon);

II. Whether the trial court erred by excusing Juror No. 4 without cause (Smith);

III. Whether the trial court erred by allowing the introduction into evidence of an affidavit allegedly written by Jones;

IV. Whether the trial court erred by allowing Jones's jail armband to be read in the presence of the jury;

V. Whether the trial court erred by permitting testimony that Dixon flashed a gang sign at a witness during the trial;

VI. Whether the trial court erred by denying the defendants' motions to sever (Mickens, Smith, and Jones);

VII. Whether Mickens was unduly prejudiced during closing arguments by the court allowing the State to comment on stricken witness testimony during the State's closing argument and by forcing Mickens to use his visual aids individually instead of cumulatively during his closing argument;

VIII. Whether the evidence was sufficient to sustain the defendants' respective convictions (Mickens, Smith, Jones, and Dixon);

IX. Whether the defendants' sentences were proper (Mickens, Smith, and Jones); and

X. Whether cumulative error exists to warrant a new trial (Mickens, Smith, Jones, and Dixon).

FACTS

The facts and parties surrounding the murder of Marshall "Pokey" Shipp and the kidnapping of Ricky "Kuboo" Aldridge are many and well tangled due, in large part, to the infrastructure and vernacular of the Gangster Disciples, of which, as we have stated, the defendants and victims were members. The indictments charged fifteen defendants in the crimes committed against Marshall Shipp and Ricky Aldridge. In an earlier trial, prior to that which is the basis for the instant appeal, Matrin Becton and Antonio Sykes, were both convicted of first degree premeditated murder, especially aggravated robbery, and two counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the murder and twenty-five years for each of the remaining charges with all sentences to be served consecutively, for an effective sentence of life without parole plus seventy-five years. See State v. Matrin Becton and Antonio Sykes, No. W1999-00581-CCA-R3-CD, 2002 WL 1349530 (Tenn.Crim.App. June 19, 2002), perm. to appeal denied (Tenn. Dec. 9, 2002).

I. The Gangster Disciples

The Gangster Disciples are a large gang operating in and around Memphis and headquartered in Chicago. They are internally governed according to an established hierarchy.¹ There is a "board" in Chicago, led by the "king," Larry Hoover, who acts as the national supervisor, which appoints an "overseer" in other cities. In Memphis, the appointed overseer was Tony "T-Money" Phillips, who had authority over all Gangster Disciple activity in Memphis. To enforce gang rules, two "chiefs of security," Robert Walker and Johnny "Jay Rock" Jefferson, served under the overseer, with Walker as "chief of security, growth and development" and Jefferson as "chief of security, enforcer." However, the practical difference appeared semantic at best: Walker "made sure everybody abided by the rules" while Jefferson "had to enforce the rules." Each chief of security had two "assistant chiefs of security." Jefferson's assistant chiefs were brothers Larry and Matthew Boister, while Walker's were two of his cousins. Also under the overseer was an "auxiliary governor" whose duties included appointing the "governors" for the different Memphis regions and acting as a middle-man between the governors and the overseer. The governor of the South Memphis region, where these crimes occurred, was defendant Corey "Tombstone" Mickens. Each regional governor had an "assistant governor," and Mickens' assistant governor for South Memphis was his codefendant, Christopher Smith. Also under the auxiliary governor was a "floating regent" who had authority under any governor in any region in Memphis. Additionally, each governor had a "regent" whose authority was limited to a particular region, Matrin "McMarcus" Becton being the regent for South Memphis. The remaining Gangster Disciples were rear-echelon "outstanding members" with no authority, which was the membership level for the defendants, Matthew Dixon and Choncey Jones, as well as the victims, Marshall Shipp and Ricky Aldridge.

In addition to having their own hierarchy, the Gangster Disciples also had their own rules and methods of enforcing those rules, with violations including cooperating with law enforcement, insubordination, shooting at other Gangster Disciples, and disrespecting gang higher-ups. Punishments included fines, three-minute violations, six-minute violations, and death. Unlike fines and death, the other punishments require some explanation: three- and six-minute violations were three- and six-minute beatings administered by other members using their fists only, no weapons. A variant of the six-minute violation was the "pumpkin head deluxe," which involved putting the victim in a full nelson prior to his six-minute beating, presumably to allow the other members to beat his head to the size of a well-ripened pumpkin. Death punishments were to be administered using weapons in remote locations and were reserved for serious violations only. Death could be imposed by the overseer, while other punishments could only be imposed by members with the rank of governor or higher.

Walker told of the symbolic methods of executions utilized by the Gangster Disciples to kill their own members, describing one as "[s]even times to the front of the body, six times to the head, one time up the butt." Walker said the punishment reserved for him because he had violated "19/19," the code of silence, was "[c]utting off the penis."

II. Shipp and Aldridge's Violations of the Gangster Disciple Rules

The L & B Lounge in South Memphis was the site of the two main events resulting in the murder of Marshall Shipp and the aggravated kidnapping of Ricky Aldridge. It was there, on August 29, 1997, that a birthday party was thrown for Gangster Disciple member Veronica Johnson. In attendance were Shipp and his girlfriend, Cheryl Patrick, a Gangster Disciple and close friend of Johnson. Also present was Devin Haywood, a mentally handicapped man whom some residents, including Shipp, had taken upon themselves to look after and protect around the neighborhood.

At some point that night, according to Johnson's testimony, defendants Dixon and Smith, along with fellow Gangster Disciples Matrin "McMarcus" Becton and "Karate Mike," had ordered Haywood, at gunpoint, to his knees where they proceeded to "beat him—hit him in the head with guns and stuff." Describing the beating administered to Haywood, Johnston testified, "His eye was like it was going to bust. You know, sitting outside his head." Witnessing the commotion, Shipp took action to stop the beating...