Benjamin Shelton v. State of Mississippi

172 So. 3d 216, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 607, 2014 WL 5437416
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 28, 2014
Docket2012-KA-01556-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 172 So. 3d 216 (Benjamin Shelton v. State of Mississippi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Benjamin Shelton v. State of Mississippi, 172 So. 3d 216, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 607, 2014 WL 5437416 (Mich. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

ISHEE, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Benjamin Shelton was convicted of sexual battery by a jury in the Lowndes County Circuit Court on August 24, 2012. He was sentenced to twelve years, with five years suspended conditioned on post-release supervision, and seven years to serve, all in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). On August 30, 2012, Shelton filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or, in the alternative, a new trial. The motion was denied. Aggrieved, Shelton appeals.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On April 29, 2009, Shelton was indicted by a grand jury in Lowndes County for two counts of sexual battery and one count of solicitation. At the beginning of the trial, the State moved to amend the indictment as to the date in the charge of solicitation. The circuit court sustained the motion, severed the third count from the indictment, and set it for a separate trial. As such, a jury trial was then held on August 21-23, 2012, on the two-count indictment, both counts of sexual battery.

¶ 3. At trial, F.N.L. 1 testified that he met Shelton in the summer of 2008 when he began attending Eastview Baptist Church in Columbus, Mississippi. F.N.L., who was seventeen years old at the time, lived near the church with his mother and younger brother. He stated that he attended church every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. On Sunday mornings, Shelton would sometimes teach F.N.L.’s Sunday school class. F.N.L. stated that Shelton helped with the church’s youth group and took members of the youth group, including F.N.L., out to eat and, in May 2008, to the Market Street Festival.

¶ 4. In July 2008, F.N.L. attended a two-night youth retreat that the church, *218 conducted at Lake Lowndes in Lowndes County, Mississippi. According to him, there were approximately fifteen to twenty children and four to five chaperones present on the retreat. The group stayed in a duplex-like cabin, with all the boys on the right side and all the girls on the left side.

¶ 5. F.N.L. described the cabin as having a large living room between the rooms for the boys and girls. From the living room, and in addition to the separate sides for the boys and the girls, there was access to a separate bedroom, a kitchen, and a sliding glass door that led to the outside. F.N.L. claimed that the separate bedroom was where Shelton slept that weekend.

¶ 6. On the first night, at roughly 2 a.m., a water-balloon fight broke out inside the cabin. F.N.L. testified that he had been asleep on the couch in the living room when he was hit by a water balloon. F.N.L; left the living room, went to the separate bedroom, and climbed in the bed. F.N.L. stated that Shelton was not in the room because he was participating in the water-balloon fight. Shortly after, F.N.L. fell back to sleep.

¶ 7. At approximately 6 a.m., F.N.L. awoke to Shelton’s hands in his underwear and Shelton’s penis in his mouth. F.N.L. testified that he pushed Shelton away, went outside to the dock, and stayed out there until everyone else woke up. F.N.L. stated that, later that morning, he told his friend, Jessica Andrews, that he had woken up to Shelton’s hands in his underwear. According to F.N.L., Shelton did not say anything until the next morning when he apologized via text message.

¶ 8. Following the retreat, F.N.L. stopped going to church for about three to four weeks. He stated that, when he returned, Shelton apologized, asked him not to tell anyone about their sexual interaction, and offered to make it up to F.N.L. F.N.L. then began to allow Shelton to give him and his friends rides and take them out to eat.

¶ 9. F.N.L. turned eighteen years old on December 27, 2008. He testified that, on January 8, 2009, he contacted Shelton about getting a ride to Wal-Mart to buy a phone card, and Shelton agreed to give him the ride. F.N.L. testified that, after they left Wal-Mart, Shelton drove to a self-storage building, parked, locked the doors, and forced F.N.L. to perform oral sex. Afterwards, Shelton dropped F.N.L. back off at his grandmother’s house.

¶ 10. F.N.L. testified that, after the incident, he was scared and decided to confide in his ex-girlfriend, Heather Richardson. Richardson then called F.N.L.’s grandmother, who later informed his mother. On January 9, 2009, F.N.L. filed a report with the Lowndes County Sheriffs Office claiming that he had been sexually assaulted by Shelton. F.N.L. testified that his statement with the sheriffs office inaccurately stated that Shelton’s mouth was on his penis. However, he corrected this statement during his testimony.

¶ 11. At trial, Tony Cooper, a detective with the sheriffs office, testified that he was present when F.N.L. gave his statement to Detective Tony Perkins. Subsequently, Detective Cooper obtained statements from Shelton regarding both the 2008 and 2009 incidents reported by F.N.L. In these statements, which were admitted into evidence at trial, Shelton admitted that he had consensual oral sex with F.N.L. on January 8, 2009. Shelton also stated that he and F.N.L. engaged in sexually explicit text messaging for months prior to January 8, 2009. However, Shelton denied any sexual allegations regarding the incident in July 2008.

¶ 12. James Eads Jr. also testified on behalf of the State. Eads stated that he was pastor of Eastview Baptist in 2008 and *219 had attended the youth retreat that summer. During the retreat, Eads was told by his niece, Andrews, that Shelton had done something to F.N.L. He testified that he approached F.N.L., who admitted that he had woken up to Shelton’s hand in his underwear. Eads confronted Shelton about the incident, but testified that Shelton denied any involvement and later told him that he worked out the issue with F.N.L. on his own.

¶ 18. After the State rested its case, the defense moved for a directed verdict. The motion was denied, and subsequently, the defense rested. Following the jury deliberations, Shelton was convicted of one count of sexual battery. He was sentenced to twelve years, with five years suspended conditioned on post-release supervision, and seven years to serve, all in the custody of the MDOC. Shelton then filed a motion for a JNOV or, in the alternative, a new trial, which was denied.

¶ 14. Shelton now appeals, arguing: (1) the circuit erred by denying his motion for a JNOV or, in the alternative, a new trial; and (2) the jury instructions did not adequately inform the jury of the charge of sexual battery. Finding no error, we affirm the circuit court’s judgment.

DISCUSSION

I. Sufficiency of the Evidence

¶ 15. On appeal, Shelton challenges the circuit court’s denial of his motion for a JNOV or, in the alternative, a new trial. A motion for a JNOV challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 843 (¶16) (Miss.2005) (citing Carr v. State, 208 So.2d 886, 889 (Miss.1968)). In contrast to a motion for a JNOV, a motion for a new trial challenges the weight of the evidence. Id. at 844 (¶ 18) (citing Herring v. State, 691 So.2d 948, 957 (Miss.1997)).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
172 So. 3d 216, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 607, 2014 WL 5437416, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benjamin-shelton-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2014.