Billy Shannell Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer a/k/a Billy S. Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer, Jr. v. State of Mississippi

CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 10, 2024
Docket2023-KA-00627-COA
StatusPublished

This text of Billy Shannell Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer a/k/a Billy S. Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer, Jr. v. State of Mississippi (Billy Shannell Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer a/k/a Billy S. Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer, Jr. 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
Billy Shannell Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer a/k/a Billy S. Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer, Jr. v. State of Mississippi, (Mich. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

NO. 2023-KA-00627-COA

BILLY SHANNELL NAILER, JR. A/K/A BILLY APPELLANT NAILER A/K/A BILLY S. NAILER, JR. A/K/A BILLY NAILER, JR.

v.

STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

DATE OF JUDGMENT: 03/02/2023 TRIAL JUDGE: HON. RANDI PERESICH MUELLER COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: HARRISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: JUSTIN T. COOK BILLY SHANNELL NAILER JR. (PRO SE) ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: CASEY B. FARMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: WILLIAM CROSBY PARKER NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 12/10/2024 MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:

BEFORE CARLTON, P.J., McDONALD AND EMFINGER, JJ.

EMFINGER, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. Billy Shannell Nailer Jr. was convicted of aggravated assault in the Harrison County

Circuit Court and sentenced to serve twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi

Department of Corrections (MDOC) as a habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code

Annotated section 99-19-81 (Rev. 2020) for firing a crossbow into a boat occupied by Tyler

and Tanner Feeney. Nailer appeals.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY ¶2. On June 14, 2020, Tyler Feeney and his brother Tanner were in their cousin’s boat

fishing on the Biloxi River. After fishing all day, at about 9 or 10 p.m., they headed in the

boat to their grandmother’s house to check on her and pick up some kayaks. With Tanner

driving the boat, they proceeded north up the river until they came upon some debris in the

river in the Snug Harbor and Moon Lake area. At that point, they turned around to head

south. Tyler knew that Nailer lived in the Snug Harbor and Moon Lake area because Tyler

grew up on the river and said “[W]e kind of know everybody.” Just before they turned

around, Tyler noticed Nailer and a woman on Nailer’s porch. Tyler testified that he did not

recognize the woman but could clearly see that it was Nailer on the porch standing under a

porch light. Tyler testified that the distance between the boat and Nailer was around fifty

yards. Although Tyler originally thought Nailer was holding a slingshot, he later realized that

Nailer was holding a crossbow.

¶3. When the Feeneys turned south at Snug Harbor, a crossbow bolt pierced the

passenger boat seat. Tyler testified that the bolt hitting the seat sounded as though it had been

hit with a rock. The brothers did not know what had hit them at first. After Tyler heard the

sound, he looked back at Nailer’s residence and saw Nailer standing under the porch light

and heard a woman yelling at Nailer to “put it down, come back inside.” Nailer was holding

the crossbow. Tyler testified that the lights went out, and he and Tanner “took off down the

river.” When Tyler realized they had been shot by a crossbow, they went back to Tyler’s

house and called the police.

¶4. Tyler and Tanner were interviewed by police that night. On June 24, 2020, the

2 brothers went to the Biloxi Police Department where they were presented with a photo

lineup. Tyler identified Nailer in the lineup.1

¶5. Investigator Mike Davis testified that while executing a search warrant at Nailer’s

home, Davis recovered a compound bow with arrows and a crossbow with crossbow bolts

or arrows. Davis said that the compound bow was located on the back porch hanging up in

the bar area on a hook. The compound bow had five arrows in the quiver. The crossbow was

found in the master bedroom and had two bolts or arrows in the quiver and one “in the rest,”

which meant the crossbow was loaded. Two other arrow or crossbow bolts were found on

an ironing board in the master bedroom closet. According to Davis, the bolts found in

Nailer’s home were the same make, model, manufacturer date stamp, and description as the

bolt removed from the boat occupied by the Feeneys.

¶6. Nailer was indicted and charged with aggravated assault. The indictment was later

amended to charge Nailer as a habitual offender pursuant to section 99-19-81. The case was

tried on September 16, 2022. At the close of the State’s case-in-chief, Nailer moved for a

directed verdict, which was denied. Nailer did not call any witnesses in his defense. The jury

returned a guilty verdict, and Nailer was sentenced to serve twenty years in the custody of

the MDOC. Nailer filed an amended motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a

new trial. After the trial court denied his post-trial motion, Nailer filed a notice of appeal.

ANALYSIS

1 Tanner identified someone other than Nailer in the lineup. At trial, he testified that he did not get a very good look at Nailer since he was driving the boat, and “his focus was on the river.”

3 ¶7. Nailer’s appellate counsel raises three issues on appeal, and Nailer raises one

additional issue in a pro se appellate brief. We will address the issues below.

I. Whether the trial court erred by denying Nailer’s requested instruction on simple assault as a lesser-included offense to aggravated assault.

¶8. The standard of review for the refusal of a lesser-included offense instruction is de

novo. Green v. State, 353 So. 3d 516, 520 (¶16) (Miss. Ct. App. 2023). In Curtis v. State, 298

So. 3d 446, 451 (¶11) (Miss. Ct. App. 2020), we explained:

A defendant has a right to a lesser-included-offense instruction if there is some evidence from which a reasonable juror could find him both not guilty of the indicted offense and guilty of the lesser-included offense. Gilmore v. State, 119 So. 3d 278, 286 (¶13) (Miss. 2013). However, “the jury should not be presented with a lesser-included-offense instruction unless the record provides an evidentiary basis for the instruction.” Franklin v. State, 136 So. 3d 1021, 1026 (¶11) (Miss. 2014) (quotation marks omitted). Therefore, “lesser-included-offense instructions should not be granted on mere speculation. Id.

¶9. Nailer complains of the trial court’s refusal to grant his Instruction D-11, which would

have told the jury:

The Court instructs you the Jury that if you find that the State did not prove any one or more of the elements of the crime charged, Aggravated Assault, then you must find BILLY SHANNELL NAILER, JR. not guilty of that crime. You will then proceed with your deliberations to decide whether the State has proved beyond a reasonable doubt all of the elements of the lesser crime of Simple Assault.

If you find beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence in this case that:

1. On or about June 14, 2020, in Harrison County, Mississippi, First Judicial District; 2. The Defendant, Billy Shannell Nailer, Jr.; 3. Attempted to cause or purposely, knowingly

4 or recklessly caused; 4. Bodily injury to Tyler Feeney.

then you shall find BILLY SHANNELL NAILER, JR. guilty of Simple Assault.

If the State did not prove any one of the above listed elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then you shall find BILLY SHANNELL NAILER, JR. not guilty of Simple Assault

Nailer argues that he is entitled to a new trial because he was denied “his constitutional right

to assert his theory of defense” when the trial court refused his instruction. He contends that

in “refusing the instruction the trial court presumed an element of the offense,” specifically

that a crossbow was a deadly weapon.

¶10. Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-7(2)(a) (Rev. 2020) defines aggravated

assault:

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Johnson v. Zerbst
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859 So. 2d 1068 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
Shelton v. State
445 So. 2d 844 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1984)
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574 So. 2d 625 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1990)
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150 So. 2d 423 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1963)
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Shirley v. State
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Arrington v. State
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Johnson v. State
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Billy Shannell Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer a/k/a Billy S. Nailer, Jr. a/k/a Billy Nailer, Jr. v. State of Mississippi, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/billy-shannell-nailer-jr-aka-billy-nailer-aka-billy-s-nailer-jr-missctapp-2024.