Bennett v. State

76 So. 3d 736, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 476, 2011 WL 3452119
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 9, 2011
DocketNo. 2010-KA-00324-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 76 So. 3d 736 (Bennett v. State) 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
Bennett v. State, 76 So. 3d 736, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 476, 2011 WL 3452119 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

MYERS, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Joseph Bennett was found guilty by a jury sitting before the Hinds County Circuit Court of one count of murder, four counts of aggravated assault, one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling, and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. Bennett appeals asserting four assignments of error, which we relate verbatim:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SUPPRESSING EVIDENCE OF OTHER WEAPONS OWNED BY THE VICTIM AND FOUND IN THE AREA, IMPEDING THE DEFENSE’S THEORY OF THE CASE.

II. THE INDICTMENT WAS FATALLY DEFECTIVE, AND THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE STATE TO AMEND IT WITH A “PEN-CHANGE” DURING TRIAL.

III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING HEARSAY EVIDENCE BEFORE THE JURY OVER THE OBJECTION OF THE DEFENDANT.

IV. THE TRIAL COURT IMPER-MISSIBLY ALLOWED PRIOR[-]BAD[-]ACTS EVIDENCE BEFORE THE JURY.

¶ 2. Finding no reversible error, we affirm Bennett’s convictions and sentences.

FACTS

¶ 3. On May 26, 2008, “Memorial Day,” approximately thirty people were hanging out at the house located at 302 Manship Street, Jackson, Mississippi. In the early part of the evening, an incident occurred between Melvin Parker, Terrance Lamp-kin, and Charlie Taylor. A friend of Parker’s, referred to in the record simply as “Trey,” handed Parker a paint-ball gun. Parker pointed the paint-ball gun at Lampkin, and Lampkin pushed Parker, causing the paint-ball gun to discharge, causing Parker to spill Taylor’s liquor. An argument ensued, and Taylor reportedly [740]*740said, “Y’all better be gone when I get back.... I’m going to clear this block.” Taylor then left the premises.

¶ 4. Thirty minutes later a green Grand Marquis and a black sports-utility vehicle (SUV) pulled up in front the 302 Manship residence. Inside the vehicles were Taylor; Randy Johnson; James Warren; Milton Michaels; and the defendant, Bennett.

¶ 5. Johnson, who was driving the Grand Marquis, called Lampkin over to the vehicle. Lampkin walked over and briefly spoke with Johnson. As Lampkin turned to walk away from Johnson’s vehicle, Bennett emerged from the backseat of the Grand Marquis with a semi-automatic rifle in his hands. Bennett reportedly exclaimed: “I’m sick of y’all n* * * * *s,” and he began firing the rifle at the 802 Manship residence.

¶ 6. Three bullets struck Cordarel Brown, killing him. Alexis England, Mar-tez Samuels, Lampkin, and Parker were also struck by bullets allegedly fired from Bennett’s rifle; each survived their injuries.

¶ 7. Investigators from the Jackson Police Department (JPD) were dispatched to the scene immediately following the shootings. They found, photographed, and retrieved eleven spent .223-caliber casings lying in the street fronting the 302 Man-ship residence. The weapon allegedly used in the shooting, which an expert later testified at trial was a “.223-caliber semiautomatic high-powered rifle,” was never recovered.

¶ 8. The following day, JPD Investigator Robert Bufkin, found and recovered a twelfth spent .223-caliber casing near where the eleven others were discovered on the night of the shootings. Investigator Bufkin also recovered a “SKS 7.62 mm assault rifle,” which somebody (the record does not disclose who) had discovered lying underneath an abandoned house at 320 Manship Street on the day after the shootings. The abandoned house is located immediately adjacent to the 302 Manship residence. Investigators later determined that none of the casings recovered from the crime scene were fired from the SKS rifle.

¶ 9. A couple of days after the shootings, Phyliss Adams, the owner of the 302 Man-ship residence, and who was not present at the time of the shootings, was allowed by investigators to return to her home. Upon entering her home, Adams discovered a .22-caliber handgun located “near her bedroom door.” Adams called the JPD, which retrieved the weapon sometime thereafter.

¶ 10. Prior to trial, the State filed a motion in limine to exclude any evidence relating to the discovery of the handgun recovered inside the 302 Manship residence, as well as the SKS rifle found underneath the house next door. The trial court initially reserved ruling on the State’s motion. Ultimately, however, neither weapon was allowed into evidence based on the trial court’s finding during the State’s case-in-chief that no adequate showing had been made as to either weapon’s relevancy to the case.

¶ 11. Bennett was the only person to testify on his behalf at trial. Bennett claimed that Michaels, not he, was the one who had fired the rifle at the 302 Manship residence that “Memorial Day” evening.

¶ 12. In recounting what had transpired immediately prior to the shootings, Bennett said he, Taylor, and Johnson drove over to 302 Manship in Johnson’s Grand Marquis so that Johnson could speak to Lampkin about what had occurred earlier with Taylor. Bennett said when they pulled up in front of the residence, he noticed an individual standing behind a tree with a gun in his hand. Bennett said Lampkin approached Johnson’s Grand Marquis and began conversing with Johnson. As Lampkin and Johnson were talking, a black SUV pulled up behind John[741]*741son’s vehicle. Bennett said Lampkin looked over at the SUV and then starting walking back toward the 302 Manship residence. Lampkin then hollered out, “Man, get my gun.” At that point, the individual behind the tree emerged. Bennett recognized the individual as Brown. Bennett said Brown walked toward Lampkin, who was then sitting on the porch steps, and handed Lampkin a gun, which Bennett indicated was a handgun. According to Bennett, Lampkin began acting “like he was fixing to point [the gun]” in the direction of Johnson’s vehicle. At that point, Michaels, who Bennett said went by the street name of “Hit Man,” got out of the black SUV and hollered out, “Man, don’t make no false moves like that. Don’t make no false moves.” According to Bennett, everybody began “spreading out,” and that is when the shooting started. Bennett said he immediately instructed Johnson to drive away, which Johnson did. Bennett told the jury that he did not have a weapon on him at the time, nor did anyone else in Johnson’s vehicle, and he claimed that he never left Johnson’s vehicle the entire time they were at 302 Man-ship.

¶ 13. The jury found Bennett guilty of murder, four counts of aggravated assault, shooting into an occupied dwelling, and felon in possession of a firearm. Bennett appeals his convictions. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis of the issues.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN SUPPRESSING EVIDENCE OF OTHER WEAPONS OWNED BY THE VICTIM AND FOUND IN THE AREA, IMPEDING THE DEFENSE’S THEORY OF THE CASE.

¶ 14. “Relevancy and admissibility of evidence are largely within the discretion of the trial court, and reversal may be had only where that discretion has been abused.” White v. State, 742 So.2d 1126, 1134 (¶ 29) (Miss.1999). “[T]he trial court’s discretion must be exercised within the scope of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, and reversal will be appropriate only when an abuse of discretion resulting in prejudice to the accused occurs.” Id.

¶ 15. Bennett contends that he announced early in the trial that he intended to assert a claim of self-defense to the charges set forth in his indictment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
76 So. 3d 736, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 476, 2011 WL 3452119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bennett-v-state-missctapp-2011.