Brandon Jake Spiers v. State of Mississippi, 361 So.3d 643

Background:

In the early morning of Sept. 10, 2019, Brandon Spiers entered the home of Connie Montgomery and her granddaughter (MM); MM alleges Spiers forced entry into her bedroom, touched her, threatened to shoot her unless she performed oral sex, and left when the grandmother intervened.
Police arrested Spiers outside the residence; he gave a statement saying MM (referred to as "Katie") opened the door and invited him in to use a phone, and denied threats or exposure.
A Forrest County jury convicted Spiers of burglary of a dwelling and attempted sexual battery; sentences were 25 years (burglary) and 30 years (attempted sexual battery), served consecutively.
At trial the defense and State collaborated on a consent jury instruction (Instruction 7) stating the defendant must prove consent by clear and convincing evidence; defense counsel did not object to the final instruction.
On appeal Spiers argued (1) the instruction improperly placed a clear-and-convincing burden on him to prove consent and (2) the prosecutor committed misconduct in closing argument; he also raised ineffective-assistance claims tied to both matters.
The Mississippi Supreme Court (majority) affirmed convictions, finding Spiers waived the instruction objection and that any plain error caused no prejudice; it also rejected the prosecutorial-misconduct and ineffective-assistance claims.

Issues:

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the jury instruction requiring Spiers to prove consent by clear and convincing evidence was erroneous	Spiers: the consent defense should not be burdened by clear and convincing proof; instruction misstated law and deprived him of his defense	State: parties jointly drafted the instruction; defendant acquiesced and failed to object—issue waived; clear and convincing was an acceptable, conservative standard	Court: waived by collaboration/no objection; plain‑error review found no prejudice given overwhelming evidence of unlawful entry and intent; conviction affirmed
Whether prosecutor’s closing remarks were improper and prejudicial	Spiers: rebuttal comments (calling hypothetical victim a “whore,” accusing victim of fabricating story) were inflammatory, unfairly vilified defense and should have warranted reversal	State: remarks challenged defendant’s theory and credibility; were within permissible latitude and supported by evidence; defense made assertions prompting rebuttal	Court: no plain error—statements did not depart entirely from evidence or require trial judge sua sponte intervention; no reversible prosecutorial misconduct
Ineffective assistance of counsel for drafting/agreeing to Instruction 7	Spiers: counsel’s role in proposing/accepting the instruction was constitutionally deficient and prejudiced outcome	State: record does not show Strickland prejudice; jury rejected consent theory under other correct burglary instructions proving breaking and intent beyond reasonable doubt	Court: claim fails—no reasonable probability of different outcome; doctrinal Strickland relief not warranted
Ineffective assistance for failure to object to closing argument	Spiers: counsel should have objected to prosecutor’s inflammatory remarks	State: objections not raised, and remarks were not extreme such that plain error occurred; no prejudice	Court: no Strickland prejudice shown; claim fails

Key Cases Cited

Roby v. State, 183 So. 3d 857 (Miss. 2016) (standard for reviewing jury instructions)
Williams v. State, 234 So. 3d 1278 (Miss. 2017) (acquiescence to instruction waives appellate review)
Ambrose v. State, 254 So. 3d 77 (Miss. 2018) (plain‑error framework for unpreserved errors)
Dartez v. State, 177 So. 3d 420 (Miss. 2015) (applying Strickland two‑prong test for ineffective assistance)
Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (establishing deficient performance and prejudice standard)
Brewer v. State, 704 So. 2d 70 (Miss. 1997) (limits on inflammatory or prejudicial closing argument)
Body v. State, 318 So. 3d 1104 (Miss. 2021) (elements of burglary and definition of breaking)
Green v. State, 269 So. 3d 75 (Miss. 2018) (elements of attempted sexual battery)