Court of Appeals of Mississippi Finds Ineffective Assistance of Counsel in Failing to Introduce Alleged Suicide Note in Homicide Prosecution

This letter, which Shelton claimed she discovered in her child’s baby book a few months after Young’s death, state[d] in pertinent part: “I pretty much gotta start my life over again. I have no life without [Ketina, Shelton’s sister]. These are my last words….Tell Trin I said Bye and be a good girl ok. Tell Treasure about me one day. Bye Bye.”…At the evidentiary hearing, Shelton produced a report and testimony by handwriting expert Grant Sperry, who identified Young as the person who wrote the letter; the letter’s contents indicate it was written in close proximity to the time of his death.

Shelton’s trial attorney did testify at the PCR hearing that the letter was important because “it somewhat corroborated through a couple of sentences our theory that suicide may have been on Mr. Young’s mind.” Although her attorney wanted to introduce the letter through Shelton’s testimony, Shelton decided not to testify. Shelton’s trial attorney testified that the trial court would not allow him to introduce the letter.

reviewing the record, we cannot find where the admissibility of this letter was argued and decided at trial. While defense counsel questioned Young’s girlfriend (and Shelton’s sister), Ketina Tutton, about a “note” Young had written to her after the couple had a disagreement, it does not appear from the context of the record that note is the same document as the letter in question. Thus, it is unclear if this is the evidence to which Shelton’s trial attorney refers when saying the trial court would not allow Young’s letter into evidence. We therefore agree with Shelton’s contention that “the transcript does not show that [Shelton’s trial counsel] ever questioned any witness about the letter. Nor does the record disclose that he made any efforts at all to secure its admission into evidence.”

In this case, there was a letter supporting the defense’s theory that Young committed suicide. The content of the letter was relevant, particularly in light of Ketina’s testimony that Young was upset when she told him shortly before the shooting that she had been hired for a job and would not be moving with him in a couple of months to Meridian “like [they] had previously planned.” But according to affidavits by Shelton and her family members, trial counsel only asked Shelton to produce the original letter on the second day of trial, and the trial transcript contains no discussion of the letter either from a procedural or substantive standpoint. As noted by Dr. Funte at the trial, “a history of suicidal ideation” would have been relevant to the examiner’s determination of the manner of death. Considering the potentially exculpatory nature of this letter, we find it difficult to conclude that its absence did not prejudice Shelton’s defense.