Appeal Set in Tippah Rape Case

JACKSON — Attorneys for death row inmate Charles Ray Crawford will argue before the Mississippi Supreme Court March 23 that the man’s 1994 rape conviction should be tossed out because he received poor legal representation at his trial.

The result of the appeal could mean the difference between life and death for Crawford.

Crawford, now 49, is on death row for the 1992 slaying of Kristy Ray in the Chalybeate community in Tippah County. Crawford argues he received ineffective counsel to defend himself against the rape charges, which were used by prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Few details of the rape conviction are discussed in earlier briefs in the death penalty case.

The Supreme Court refused in December to throw out Crawford’s appeal of his 1994 rape conviction. Prosecutors had argued in requesting the dismissal that Crawford got a fair trial and that if there was any error, it was Crawford’s for waiting 20 years to file an appeal.

Glenn Swartzfager, Crawford’s lawyer, has argued there were numerous errors in Crawford’s rape trial including poor performance by the defense, prosecutorial misconduct, and questionable rulings and jury instructions from the trial judge.

“A more error-ridden case may never have come before this court,” Swartzfager wrote in the brief to the Supreme Court.

Crawford was arrested in 1992 and charged with rape and aggravated assault. While free on bond, he was arrested on murder charges in the death of a young woman. He was convicted of rape in 1993 and sentenced to 66 years in prison. He was then found guilty of murder in 1994 and sentenced to death. Prosecutors had argued for the death penalty, saying it was justified because Crawford’s past as a rapist constituted an aggravated factor and called for the harshest of punishments.

According to his lawyers, Crawford could get off death row — where he now resides on the unrelated murder conviction — if his appeal in the rape case is successful.

The Supreme Court said it would not set an execution date for the murder until the rape appeal is resolved.

If the Supreme Court upholds Crawford’s conviction in the rape case, Attorney General Jim Hood could again petition the court to set an execution date. Crawford’s lawyers argue that the death sentence would be negated if the conviction is reversed.

In 1993, Crawford was out on bond awaiting trial on charges of aggravated assault and rape. Four days before his trial, the 20-year-old Ray, a student at Northeast Mississippi Community College, was abducted from her parents’ home in Chalybeate.

After his family and attorney notified police that they feared Crawford was committing another crime, he was arrested. Crawford told authorities he did not remember the incident but later led them to Ray’s body, buried in leaves in a wooded area.