A grieving mother’s outburst and a brief porn interruption of Zoom testimony in a Lowndes County courtroom proved not enough to overturn a 2022 murder trial conviction.
Mississippi Supreme Court, in a Thursday ruling, denied Jatavis Williams’ appeal of his first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Tacari Walker.
Williams shot Walker Nov. 9, 2020, outside the victim’s girlfriend’s house near the intersection of 22nd Street and Seventh Avenue North, according to court documents. A Lowndes County Circuit Court jury convicted Williams Aug. 26, following a weeklong trial, and sentenced him to life in prison.
In his appeal, Williams claims the court erred by denying requests for a mistrial following two separate instances of trial disruption. He also claims the jury verdict went against the “overwhelming weight of the evidence” that he shot Walker in self-defense.
Williams sought a new trial.
Interruptions
The trial was first interrupted when police body camera footage of the scene was being shown in open court, and the victim’s mother began wailing and crying. As she left the courtroom, she yelled, “Why did you do it, Jay? Why did you do it?” The court excused the jury, and Williams’ counsel moved for a mistrial.
The court polled the jury to determine how many heard the mother’s wailing, what she said and if the outburst would influence their ability to decide the case fairly. Only four heard the mother’s words, and none of the jurors indicated it would affect their decision. The court warned the audience that future outbursts would result in a mistrial.
Later, during Zoom testimony from a forensic psychologist, the computer screen switched to a video of a partially nude woman having her breasts groped by a man. The video played for about 30 seconds before the screen was turned off and the jury exited the courtroom.
Again, questions arose about whether the interruption warranted a mistrial, but the court determined “nobody involved in the trial of this matter had anything to do with any of that.” The jury indicated it could set aside the inappropriate video content and base its verdict on evidence, and the witness’ testimony continued without further interruption.
The supreme court ruled mistrials should only occur in exceptional circumstances where the integrity of a fair trial is compromised. In each of these instances, the ruling said, the trial court sufficiently “cured” the improper occurrences, which allowed a fair trial to continue.
Self-defense claim
On the night of the murder, Williams was sitting in a pickup near the victim’s girlfriend’s house and shot the victim as he approached the vehicle.
Williams testified at the trial that Walker had threatened to kill him during an argument outside the house. When Walker pulled a gun on him, Williams said he drove away but was stopped by a train at a railroad crossing next to the house.
Williams testified that Walker looked angry as he exited the house and approached the vehicle, claiming the victim was holding a phone in one hand, and with his other hand he held the waistband of his pants, where Williams said he had seen Walker keep a gun in the past.
Williams, who claimed he believed it was “either him or me,” shot Walker once in the chest. Walker ran back to the house and died on the front porch.
Other witnesses at the trial testified Walker was unarmed and was not holding his waistband when he was shot. He was talking on the phone and was “happy and smiling,” one said. Another witness testified that Williams and Walker had several arguments in the days leading up to the murder.
Officers did not find a weapon near Walker’s body when they responded to the scene.
The supreme court ruled the jury had been properly instructed of self-defense laws and simply rejected the defendant’s theories. The jury was within its rights to believe the accounts of other witnesses, the ruling said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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