Underwood v. State

• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court
• Citation: Underwood v. State, 380 So.3d 239 (Miss. 2024)
• Docket Number: 2022-KA-00976-SCT
• Decision Date: 15 February 2024
• Parties: Jeremy UNDERWOOD a/k/a Jeremy H. Underwood a/k/a Jeremy Hawkins Underwood v. STATE of Mississippi
• topic: Civil Rights,Criminal procedure

380 So.3d 239

Jeremy UNDERWOOD a/k/a Jeremy H. Underwood a/k/a Jeremy Hawkins Underwood

v.STATE of Mississippi

NO. 2022-KA-00976-SCT

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

02/15/2024

FORREST COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, HON. ROBERT B. HELFRICH, JUDGE

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: GEORGE T. HOLMES, Jackson, HUNTER NOLAN AIKENS

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: CASEY BONNER FARMER

BEFORE RANDOLPH, C.J., MAXWELL AND BEAM, JJ.

¶1. Jeremy Underwood was indicted by a Forrest County grand jury for second-degree murder in the stabbing death of Marcus Steele. A jury found Underwood guilty of manslaughter. Underwood appeals, claiming the evidence was insufficient to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not act in self-defense under the Castle Doctrine (pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 97-3-15(3), (4) (Supp. 2016)); that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence under the Castle Doctrine; and that the prosecution engaged in misconduct during open and closing arguments. We find no merit to Underwood’s claims, and we affirm his conviction.

FACTS

¶2. Underwood moved to Ida Avenue in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in September 2018, His cousin Iesha Wright and her husband Felix moved in with Underwood soon after. Steele lived across the street from Underwood, and Steele’s cousin LaSalle Broach lived next door to Underwood.

¶3. On January 12, 2019, Underwood got off work around 10:30 p.m. and went home. Steele and Broaeh were outside in Broach’s yard "drinking and stuff." As Underwood was walking inside his house, Broaeh asked Underwood if he knew where they could get some cocaine. Underwood told him that he had a little bit.

¶4. Underwood testified that he went inside his house and went to the bathroom. He heard a knock at the door, and when he left the bathroom to answer the door, Steele and Broach were already inside his house. Broach told Underwood that Steele wanted to buy some of Underwood’s cocaine. Underwood told them that he did not have very much, and Steele said, "Man, come on, man. Sell me some for ten." Underwood agreed to sell him $10 worth.

¶5. Underwood sat down on a couch, and Steele and Broach sat down on another couch across from Underwood. Steele put $10 on the table, and Underwood reached over the arm of the couch to get the cocaine. When Underwood turned back around, the $10 was gone from the table.

¶6. According to Broach, Underwood got mad and accused Steele of taking the money. Broach said he did not take the money, and he did not see Steele or Underwood take it either. Nor did he see Underwood give Steele the cocaine. Instead, Underwood went to the kitchen and grabbed a long knife. Underwood came back waving the knife around and threatening to "stick" Steele. Steele and Broach then left.

¶7. According to Underwood, when he saw that the money was not on the table, he began looking around to see if it had fallen off. When he said the $10 was gone, Steele jumped up and demanded, "I want my sh**. You’re gonna give me my sh**." Underwood said, "Man, one of y’all had to pick it up," and Steele replied, "Nah, I want my sh**. I want my sh**."

¶8. Underwood said he picked up a knife during the dispute "because they crowded me in my own house. That’s why I had the knife." He said Iesha came into the room after hearing the commotion. When Underwood told her what had happened, she told him to just give Steele the cocaine, which Underwood did. Underwood said Steele and Broach would not leave the house afterwards until lesha and Felix told them to leave. They left sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight.

¶9. Broach testified that he went to his house to get $20 to give to Underwood to "squash the situation." He also grabbed a baseball bat, "just in case" Underwood tried to stab him. Broach and Steele walked back to. Underwood’s house, and Broach knocked on the door. Underwood took the money and went back inside. It was about 2:00 a.m by that time, and Broach thought the dispute was over.

¶10. Broach and Steele walked back to Broach’s house, got their dogs, and Broach put the bat away. He and Steele sat on the sidewalk in front of Broach’s house, "playing with the dogs" until the early morning hours. Broach said he and Steele never went back to Underwood’s house after giving him $20. Later, Broach went inside to shower and get ready for a trip to New Orleans for a football game. He told Steele he should do the same. Broach left Steele outside; he said Steele was wearing a red hoodie sweatshirt at the time.

¶11. Underwood testified that when Steele and Broach had left his house after Iesha had told them to leave, they both came back a few minutes later. Broach knocked on the door and tried to convince Underwood that only he (Broach) was there. Underwood opened the door thinking it was just Broach, but both Broach and Steele were at the door. He said Broach had a bat, a knife, and a gun in his hoodie pocket; and Steele had a knife in his hand.

¶12. When Underwood opened the door, Steele and Broach tried to push their way in, and Underwood and the Wrights had to push them back out. Steele remained on the porch after they got the door closed, "hollering threats and stuff through the door, banging on the house." Underwood said Steele kept walking off and coming back for about five to ten minutes before it got quiet. Underwood later saw Steele and Broach sitting outside with their dogs, which Broach had testified were pit bull breeds. Underwood went to bed, and although he could still hear Steele and Broach outside, he tried to ignore them and go to sleep.

¶13. Broach testified that, about ten minutes after he had left Steele outside to go take a shower, a friend came and told him that Underwood "had stuck" Steele. Broach ran outside in his underwear and found Steele, shirtless, lying on his back near Underwood’s driveway. Broach tried to pick Steele up, but blood starting coming out, so Broach laid him back down. Steele died at the scene.

¶14. Broach said Underwood was inside his house when he (Broach) arrived to check on Steele, and he saw Underwood come to the door at one point. Broach returned to his house to finish putting on his clothes. He testified that Steele’s red hoodie, his knife, and his t-shirt were sitting on a table next to Broach’s porch. Broach said Steele curried a knife on his person from time to time,

¶15. Kevin McClendon testified that he drove to Ida Avenue that morning around 9:00 a.m. to pick up Steele. He wanted to ask if Steele would drive them to New Orleans for a football game. When he arrived, he saw Steele standing bare cheated in the street, and Underwood standing in the doorway to Underwood’s house, Steele approached McClendon and told him that Underwood was trying to accuse him of taking "some money" and that Steele was "fixin’ to kick his ass." McClendon "just stood there" while Steele and Underwood argued. He could not hear what they were saying, but they were both "exchanging words."

¶16. McClendon could see a knife in Underwood’s hand; he saw nothing in Steele’s hands. Steele then "[took] off’ toward Underwood’s porch and went on to the porch. The two of them then were "standing face to face, and they were just having some words." McClendon said, "[t]he next thing I knew, [Steele] fell off the porch."

¶17. Underwood testified that when he woke up that morning and opened the door to go outside, Steele was standing in the street near the corner of Underwood’s and Broach’s yards. Underwood said that Steele took his sweatshirt off and wanted to fight him as soon as he saw Underwood open the door and walk out onto the porch. Underwood said, "man, you’re still with this, bro? I don’t want no problem." Steele took his t-shirt off and said, "you can’t stay here no more. You got to go. We’re moving you out." Underwood told the jury that Steele was saying, "He’s gonna break my neck. They own the street and all that."

¶18. Underwood testified that he did not have a knife at that point, but when Steele walked onto Underwood’s yard, Under wood retrieved the knife and told Steele not to come in his yard. While Steele was standing in the street yelling, Steele’s sister "pulled up" and told Steele to go home. Steele said, "F that," and he tore Underwood’s mailbox off its pole. At that point, McClendon had pulled up and Steele went over to talk to him. Underwood then stepped off his porch holding the knife to go look at the mailbox.

¶19. Underwood said that Steele then began walking back to the street near his (Underwood’s) yard. Underwood walked back to the front door of his house, and Steele "came advancing faster." By the time Underwood got to his front door, Steele was already on the porch steps. Underwood said to Steele, "Man, why you in my yard, bro?" And Steele said, "I ain’t scared of no knife."

¶20. Underwood testified that, "I turned around to brace myself." But then Steele "just attacked me." Underwood said that he was standing near his front door holding the knife, "Like, go ahead and get out of my yard." Steele came toward him and lunged, and Steele stepped back and fell off the porch. Underwood told the jury that he never moved toward Steele, lunged at him, or swung at him. Underwood said that his brother-in-law Felix was out on the porch at the time, sitting with his back turned toward him and Steele.

¶21. Captain Daniel Miller, with the Hattiesburg Police Department, testified for the State. He interviewed Underwood afterwards at the police station. Underwood said that Broach and Steele came over to his place the night before wanting to purchase $10 worth of cocaine. During the transaction, the $10 was misplaced. Underwood gave Steele the cocaine anyway "to keep the conflict down." Underwood told Captain Miller that Broach and Steele came back to his house throughout the night, knocking on the door with bats, knives, and guns, "trying to get in." Around sunrise, they came over and tried to kick the door in and...