Adams v. State

851 So. 2d 366, 2002 WL 31689892
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided December 3, 2002·No. 2001-KA-00353-COA·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

851 So.2d 366 (2002)

Mary Ann ADAMS and John W. Barrett, Appellants,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-00353-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 3, 2002.
Rehearing Denied March 4, 2003.
Certiorari Denied July 17, 2003.

*370 James A. Williams, Charles W. Wright, Jr., Meridian, attorneys for appellants.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, P.J., IRVING and BRANTLEY, JJ.

KING, P.J., for the court.

¶ 1. Mary Ann Adams and her brother, John Barrett, were tried together and convicted of murder by a Lauderdale County Circuit Court jury. They were each sentenced to life in prison. Following the denial of their post trial motions each has perfected an appeal in which they have asserted various allegations of error. Finding no reversible error, this Court affirms their convictions and sentences.

FACTS

¶ 2. The body of Mary Ann Woolf, was found lying face down in a creek bed in Lauderdale County. Her automobile was perched on an embankment about fifteen feet above the location of her body. Law enforcement authorities immediately suspected that the scene had been staged to look like an accident. Woolf's automobile was dusted and processed for fingerprints and an autopsy was performed on her body. The state medical examiner who performed the autopsy testified that the cause of Woolf's death was fresh water drowning. He testified that, in his professional opinion, the manner of death indicated a homicide. He testified that certain marks and bruising on the body were evidence that Woolf had been forcibly held under water when she drowned. Also, there was expert testimony that there was very little damage to Woolf's car and the minor impact of the car going down the embankment was not enough to have caused Woolf to be ejected from the automobile.

¶ 3. Adams was the last person known to have seen the victim alive and came under early suspicion. Fingerprints found on the victim's car were later matched to Adams's brother and co-defendant, John Barrett. Other facts pertinent to the resolution of the issues will be presented in the discussion of those issues.

DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

¶ 4. Adams makes the following allegations of error:

I. The trial court erred in overruling her motions for directed verdict, JNOV, judgment of acquittal and alternative motion for new trial.
II. The trial court abused its discretion by overruling her on the following:
(a) Motion in limine concerning evidence of the Sherron Walters incident;
(b) Admission of her statement into evidence;
(c) motion for severance;
*371 (d) Request to admit Sherron Walters' polygraph results into evidence; and
(e) Her cross-examination of witnesses Todd, Robinson, Franklin, Peter and Paul Clark.

I. Motions for directed verdict, JNOV, judgment of acquittal and alternative motion for new trial.

¶ 5. Adams alleges that the State's case against her is insufficient in fact and law to support a murder conviction, therefore it was reversible error for the trial court to deny her motion for a directed verdict, and judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

¶ 6. The standard of review for denial of a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and a directed verdict are identical. Sperry-New Holland v. Prestage, 617 So.2d 248, 252 (Miss.1993). Under that standard, this Court considers all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and gives the State the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. If the facts so considered point so overwhelmingly in favor of the appellant that reasonable men could not have arrived at a guilty verdict, this Court is required to reverse and render. On the other hand, if there is substantial evidence in support of the verdict of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair minded jurors in the exercise of impartial judgment might have reached different conclusions, this Court is required to affirm. American Fire Protection, Inc. v. Lewis, 653 So.2d 1387, 1391 (Miss.1995).

¶ 7. Even though Adams makes the allegation that it was error for the trial court to deny her motions for directed verdict and JNOV, she offers no legal support or reasoned argument for her allegation. As this Court has stated on previous occasions, failure to support an allegation of error with any reasoning or application of the law to the facts bars this Court from considering this issue on the merits. Thornton v. State, 724 So.2d 1003, 1006 (¶ 17) (Miss.Ct.App.1998).

¶ 8. Procedural bar notwithstanding, when we consider all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict and give the State the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the evidence we do not find that the evidence points so overwhelmingly in favor of Adams that reasonable jurors could not have arrived at a guilty verdict.

¶ 9. Adams alleges further that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and therefore the trial court erred in denying her motion for a new trial. Adams's sole argument in support of this contention consists of the following list of things that she says the State failed to prove:

1. No eyewitness placing Mary Ann Adams at the scene.
2. No eyewitness identified Mary Ann Adams with Mary Ann Woolf that night.
3. No physical evidence at the scene found at Mary Ann Adams's house or car.
4. No search of her house or car for mud, soil, drugs, muddy clothes, etc., no match for hair or fiber to victim's car or scene.
5. No fingerprints of Mary Ann Adams on car.
6. No testimony of conspiracy.
7. No evidence of motive.
8. No evidence of hate or ill will.

¶ 10. Conspicuously absent from Adams's brief, however, is any reference to facts or evidence tending to provide proof of her innocence. The Mississippi Supreme Court wrote in Clark v. State, 503 *372 So.2d 277, 280 (Miss.1987), that there is a presumption that the judgment of the trial court is correct, and the burden is on the appellant to demonstrate some reversible error. Additionally, the appellant has the duty to make more than mere assertions and should set forth reasons for her arguments and cite authorities in their support. Id.

¶ 11. In determining whether a jury verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, this Court must accept as true the evidence which supports the verdict. A new trial is the proper remedy in those instances where the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice. Baker v. State, 802 So.2d 77, 81 (¶ 14) (Miss.2001). When this Court accepts as true the evidence which supports the verdict in the case at bar we are in no wise left with the conviction that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice.

II(a). Adams's motion in limine concerning evidence of the Sherron Walters incident

¶ 12. Appellant Mary

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