Brooks v. State

18 So. 3d 859, 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 764, 2008 WL 4866816
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided November 12, 2008·No. 2007-KA-00828-COA·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinions

BARNES, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. David Brooks was indicted on five counts of aggravated assault of law enforcement officers arising out of events that occurred during a multi-vehicle police chase. He was convicted in the Circuit Court of Oktibbeha County of two counts of aggravated assault of law enforcement officers and sentenced to two consecutive sentences of twenty years each. He now appeals his convictions and sentences.

¶ 2. On appeal, Brooks raises the following four issues:

1. Whether the trial court erred when it granted the State’s motion to amend the indictment on the day of trial where the amendment constituted a substantive change in the [863] indictment, the amendment was prejudicial to his defense, and the amendment was material to the merits of the case.
2. Whether the trial court committed error when it denied the defense-requested jury instructions as to the lesser non-included offense of reckless driving and the lesser-included offense of simple assault because both instructions were grounded in the evidence, supported the theory of the case, and were correct statements of the law.
3. Whether the trial court erred when it failed to sustain Brooks’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or, in the alternative, for failing to grant the motion for a new trial as the jury’s verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.
4. Whether the trial court erred when it sentenced Brooks to two consecutive twenty-year prison terms because under the factors of the Solem test and the specific facts of this case, the sentence was grossly disproportionate to the conviction of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

¶ 3. Finding that the amendments to the indictments were in error, and that the trial court should have granted Brooks’s proposed jury instruction as to the lesser non-included offense of reckless driving, this Court reverses the judgment of the trial court and remands the case for a new trial.

FACTS

¶ 4. On the afternoon of February 11, 2003, Brooks, a twenty-two-year-old male, was driving a gray Hyundai in Starkville, Mississippi, when he made a right turn onto Highway 82 from a left-turn lane on Jackson Street. This maneuver was observed by Starkville Police Officer Andy Fultz, who attempted to pull Brooks over to give him a warning, but Brooks did not stop. Deputy Sheriff Dennis Daniels was also a witness to the illegal turn and joined the pursuit. Brooks was observed cutting off other cars and running red lights, although it was noted by Officer Fultz that he was not driving at an excessive rate of speed. What resulted was a multi-car police chase that continued for several miles.

¶ 5. Officer Fultz pulled in front of Brooks’s car in an attempt to stop him, while Deputy Daniels remained behind Brooks. Brooks turned left onto Tally Ho Street, an extremely narrow, dead-end street. At the end of the street, Brooks began to turn around in a circular driveway with Officer Fultz behind him, but Deputy Daniels attempted to block him in at the other entrance with his patrol car. Brooks cut through a yard evading Deputy Daniels’s blockade. During this maneuvering, Brooks almost hit Deputy Daniels, who had exited his vehicle. Deputy Daniels stated that he had to “almost dive back into the patrol car and pull [the] door shut to avoid getting hit by him.” Officer Fultz testified that Brooks “did take the ditch to avoid hitting the car.”

¶ 6. Brooks then pulled onto Highway 82. Deputy Daniels called 911 to alert other officers to the pursuit. It was approximately at this point that Officer Shanks Phelps joined in the chase, videotaping the pursuit. Brooks drove through two more roadblocks, nearly striking Officer Shane Knight’s car at the second roadblock. Brooks avoided Officer Knight by passing him on the shoulder of the road. Highway Patrol Trooper Steve Gladney joined the chase near Mississippi State University. Brooks was driving on the wrong side of the road and almost hit Trooper Gladney’s vehicle. Trooper Glad-[864] ney pulled off onto the shoulder of the road to avoid Brooks. Officer Tommy Coleman had also joined the chase and attempted several times to stop or slow down Brooks by getting in front of him and decelerating. Officer Coleman stated that Brooks bumped the rear of his police car more than once, but Brooks refuted this testimony. The chase ended when Brooks lost control of his car near the airport exit and crashed into an embankment. Officer Coleman immediately brandished his weapon and ordered Brooks to get down, but Brooks did not comply. Other officers then apprehended Brooks by force. Brooks was arrested and taken to jail.

¶ 7. Brooks was indicted on five counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Brooks testified at trial that he panicked due to a recent bad encounter with the police in Memphis, Tennessee; he stated that he was looking for a safe place to pull over that had witnesses present. Brooks attested that he never intended to hit any of the law enforcement officers. In fact, he testified that Deputy Daniels was inside his police car when Brooks went off the road to avoid hitting Deputy Daniels’s police car. The jury convicted Brooks of two counts of aggravated assault — the counts involving Deputy Daniels and Trooper Gladney. The trial court sentenced Brooks to two twenty-year terms to be served consecutively.

DISCUSSION

1. WHETHER THE COURT PROPERLY GRANTED THE AMENDMENT TO THE INDICTMENT.

¶ 8. On the morning of trial, the State moved to amend the indictments in counts one through five to delete “the excess wording.” The trial court granted the State’s motion to amend the indictments. In its order granting the State’s motion, the trial court stated that there was no objection to the amendments to the indictments, but upon review of the record, we find this to be a misstatement. Defense counsel for Brooks did object to the amendments, stating to the trial judge: “I think intent is an element that should be proven, and I don’t — do not think that those clauses should be taken out.”

¶ 9. Deleted from count two was the language “by attempting to hit and/or run over the said Trooper Steven Gladney with his vehicle.” From count four was deleted “by attempting to hit and/or run over Deputy Dennis Daniels with his vehicle.”1

¶ 10. Whether an indictment is so flawed as to require reversal is a question of law. Brown v. State, 934 So.2d 1039, 1043(¶ 16) (Miss.Ct.App.2006). This Court on appeal reviews a question of law de novo. Id. The standard of review of an amendment to an indictment is also de novo. See Spears v. State, 942 So.2d 772, 773(¶ 5) (Miss.2006).

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Brooks v. State, 18 So. 3d 859, 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 764, 2008 WL 4866816 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

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