Anderson v. State

914 So. 2d 1239, 2005 WL 3047174
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided November 15, 2005·No. 2004-KA-00957-COA·Published·Cited by 3 cases

Opinion

914 So.2d 1239 (2005)

Jonathan ANDERSON a/k/a Jonathan Allen Anderson, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-KA-00957-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

November 15, 2005.

*1240 Daniel Christopher Jones, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Daniel Hinchcliff, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

MYERS, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This case is on appeal from the Circuit Court of Simpson County in which Jonathan Anderson was convicted of the crime of murder and sentenced to life in prison in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Following his conviction, he appeals to this Court raising three points of error:

I. THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI FAILED TO PROVE THAT ANDERSON HAD THE INTENT TO KILL JOHN MILTON PACE.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO GRANT ANDERSON'S MANSLAUGHTER JURY INSTRUCTIONS.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING ANDERSON'S MOTION FOR JUDGEMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, A NEW TRIAL.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

¶ 2. On February 16, 2003, the partially burned and decomposing body of John Milton Pace was found in a dump in Simpson County. Jonathan Anderson was arrested for the crime following notification by Terry Hinton, Anderson's sister, to the Simpson County Sheriff's Department that Anderson had admitted to her that he had "shot a black man in the back of the head, [and] burned him and the car."

¶ 3. Through the investigation by the sheriff's department, the events on the night of February 8, 2003, were uncovered. Anderson and his girlfriend, Roberta Luebke (Luebke), met at a gas station in New Hebron in order to go to "Dope Road." They walked one to two hours to Dope Road where they met Pace at a trailer. While at the trailer the trio engaged in the use of drugs. Luebke smoked marijuana while Pace and Anderson did crack cocaine.

¶ 4. After the trio finished with their period of drug use they went riding in Pace's car. Anderson was driving with Pace in the front passenger seat and Luebke in the rear seat. At some point during the period of riding, Anderson stopped by his parents' home where he obtained a shotgun. When Anderson returned to the car, he and Luebke exchanged *1241 places, while Pace remained in the front passenger seat.

¶ 5. Luebke testified that while she was driving, the gun went off and Pace was shot in the head and the glass of the passenger door shattered. After the shooting, Anderson drove the car to a dump in Simpson County where Pace's body was removed from the car and his shoes and socks were removed. Anderson then covered the body with leaves, trash, and a portion of the passenger seat he cut with his pocket knife from the car. Anderson then set Pace's body on fire. Anderson then drove the car to Jefferson Davis County where he removed a flashlight and a rifle owned by Pace. Anderson then stuffed a sock in the gas tank and set the car on fire. The car was burned in the ensuing fire.

¶ 6. The couple, using the flashlight, then began to walk back to Anderson's parents' house in Simpson County. When Anderson determined that the rifle taken from the car did not work, he threw it down. He kept the shotgun and broke it down into three parts. Anderson cut a hole in the liner of his jacket and placed the rifle, the flashlight and his pocket knife inside the liner and wrapped it into a bundle. Anderson removed the shotgun shell from the gun and gave it to Luebke to dispose of. She placed it in her jacket pocket. Before the couple reached Anderson's parents' home they passed Fred Berry's (Anderson's grandfather) house where Anderson hid the bundle beneath some gravel. At some point later Anderson moved and buried the bundle ten feet from a deer stand.

¶ 7. On the evening of March 13, 2003, Anderson made the admission to his sister that lead the investigators to him. Hinton informed the sheriff's department on March 14, 2003. Deputy Bernard Gunter interviewed Luebke on March 16 and 17. During the initial questioning, on March 16, Luebke denied knowing anything about the murder but on March 17 she acknowledged her involvement and lead the deputy to her mother's house where her jacket was found with the shotgun shell in the pocket. A search was then conducted of the Berry property where the jacket with the gun, flashlight, and pocket knife were found.

¶ 8. Anderson was arrested, charged and convicted of the murder of Pace pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated § 97-3-19(1)(a) (Rev.2000).

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI FAILED TO PROVE THAT ANDERSON HAD THE INTENT TO KILL JOHN MILTON PACE.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 9. In reviewing any challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence of guilt in a criminal trial, the appellate court is obligated to view the evidence in the light most favorable to upholding the verdict. Norman v. State, 725 So.2d 247 (¶ 14) (Miss.Ct.App.1998). We ought to intercede only in those instances where, upon viewing the evidence in that light, we are convinced that a reasonable juror considering all the evidence could, because of the deficiency of the State's proof as to one or more of the critical elements of the crime, only find the defendant not guilty. Flowers v. State, 726 So.2d 185(¶ 8) (Miss.Ct. App.1998).

DISCUSSION

¶ 10. Anderson argues that the State did not produce sufficient evidence to prove that he acted with deliberate design as required by the simple murder statute. Mississippi Code Annotated § 97-3-19(1)(a) provides that "[t]he killing of a human being without the authority of *1242 law by any means or in any manner shall be murder in the following cases: (a) When done with deliberate design to effect the death of the person killed, or of any human being." To argue this point Anderson directs us to our opinion in Coffield v. State, 749 So.2d 215 (Miss.Ct.App. 1999). He argues that nothing in the record shows his intent to kill Pace as required by this Court in Coffield. We disagree and find our opinion in Coffield as directly on point, so much so that we quote directly from that opinion.

The Mississippi Supreme Court has observed that evidence of premeditation, as contemplated by the phrase "deliberate design" in our present murder statute, is often not capable of direct proof. See, e.g., Higgins v. State, 725 So.2d 220 (¶ 26) (Miss.1998)(stating malice may be inferred from use of a deadly weapon); Strong v. State, 600 So.2d 199, 202 (Miss.1992)(finding reasonable inferences that flow from facts of killing established "deliberate design"); Porter v. State, 57 Miss. 300, 302 (1879)(stating proof by circumstances is often the only proof accessible and is "frequently of the highest credibility"). It is, thus, entirely proper that "deliberate design" be proven by the inferences reasonably drawn from the objective facts of the incident itself. Id.
Further, the court has noted that the design to kill another need not be of any particular duration, so long as there is evidence that the defendant formed the requisite intent to purposely kill another in advance of the actual killing. Graham v. State, 582 So.2d 1014, 1018 (Miss.1991); Hudson v. State, 185 Miss. 677, 685-86, 188 So. 561, 562-63 (1939).

Coffield,

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