Carlisle v. State

822 So. 2d 1022, 2002 WL 418714
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 19, 2002
Docket2000-KA-01796-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 822 So. 2d 1022 (Carlisle 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
Carlisle v. State, 822 So. 2d 1022, 2002 WL 418714 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

822 So.2d 1022 (2002)

Troy CARLISLE a/k/a Troy Lee Carlisle, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2000-KA-01796-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 19, 2002.
Rehearing Denied June 11, 2002.

*1024 Jack R. Jones, III, Southaven, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General, by Jean Smith Vaughan, attorney for appellee.

Before McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, and IRVING, JJ.

BRIDGES, J., for the Court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Troy Carlisle was indicted for depraved heart murder in the Circuit Court of DeSoto County in May of 2000. A change of venue was granted, and the case was tried in Rankin County, Mississippi, with the Honorable George B. Ready presiding. Carlisle was convicted by a jury of *1025 his peers for the lesser-included offense of manslaughter and sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Following the denial of all post-trial motions, Carlisle perfected his appeal and comes before this Court citing four issues of error:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO SUSTAIN THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS CARLISLE'S STATEMENT;
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING INSTRUCTION S-1;
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT THE DIRECTED VERDICT MOTION, PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION AND REQUEST FOR JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT OR NEW TRIAL; AND
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT CARLISLE'S CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE INSTRUCTION.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

¶ 3. On May 7, 2000, Kenny Peeples, Troy Carlisle, Dallas (age seven) and Garrett (age four) went to the Arkabutla Lake for a day of fishing. The Arkabutla Lake is located in north Mississippi and is known for its high winds. On the day in question, the lake was experiencing extremely high winds, in excess of twentyfive miles per hour. It was the plan of this group to fish in an area known as Mussacuma Creek where the water is shielded from the winds.

¶ 4. The group fished at the Mussacuma Creek for about four and one-half hours and then decided to take the children to a different area of the lake called "the island" for swimming. As they were leaving the creek area, the starter on the boat malfunctioned. Kenny was examining the engine, attempting to correct the problem and told Dallas and Garrett they could sit at the end of the boat where a small ski deck protruded out on either side of the outboard motor, and dangle their feet in the water. The boat was stalled in the area of the lake where the winds were high and the water had swells up to two feet. The children were wearing life jackets or vests, but the adults were not.

¶ 5. As the adults were working on the engine, Dallas decided to go for an unpermitted swim. She jumped into the water, just off the back of the boat, and Garrett followed her. Garrett jumped out away from the boat, and knowing Garrett could not swim, Kenny jumped in after Garrett and told Carlisle to go after Dallas. Carlisle's statement to the police indicated he was not a good swimmer, but jumped in anyway to try to save Dallas. Testimony revealed that in a short time, all parties involved were in a state of panic. The now empty boat was pushed far away from the people by the wind.

¶ 6. Kenny testified that he reached Garrett, tightened his life vest, turned him on his back and told him to cross his arms over his chest. Kenny then swam over to Carlisle and Dallas and did the same procedures to Dallas. Kenny testified that he knew this would protect the children from drowning. During these safety measures, the boat had drifted to near "the island" area of the lake. Kenny attempted to swim to the boat; however, the swim was against the swift current and he was not able to reach it. Therefore, Kenny decided to swim to the shore for help and told Carlisle to swim with him. Kenny testified that Carlisle said that he could not do it and was scared. Carlisle decided to swim against the current toward the island and Kenny swam toward the shore for help. Kenny testified that he could hear *1026 Dallas screaming and telling Carlisle to stop drowning her. Kenny further testified that the screams stopped.

¶ 7. Kenny found help from a fisherman and got the fisherman to take him back out into the water so he could get the others. The fisherman and Kenny reached Garrett first and pulled him in the boat. Kenny then saw Carlisle sticking his hand out of the water, so they went to him next. Carlisle got into the boat and when asked about Dallas, he said he had not seen her in a while. The fisherman tried to steer the boat away, but was unable to do so because the motor locked up. When the motor was pulled out of the water, Dallas's life jacket was wrapped up in the prop.

¶ 8. The search and rescue for the child lasted for two days. At noon on the day following the accident, Carlisle asked to speak to the sheriff's deputies on the scene. He then went to the sheriff's department, gave a confession telling how he removed Dallas's life jacket to save himself, and then was arrested. Carlisle was charged with depraved heart murder for the death of Dallas but was convicted by a jury of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter.

LEGAL ANALYSIS AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO SUSTAIN THE MOTION TO SUPPRESS CARLISLE'S STATEMENT.

¶ 9. A suppression hearing was held prior to trial, attempting to exclude the statements made by Carlisle. There was one audio taped confession, one written statement and one statement spoken to a detective which the detective wrote down. All confessions were signed by Carlisle and gave details of how he removed Dallas's life jacket. The verbal statement confessed that Carlisle knew that "the moment [he] took the flotation device off Dallas, that [he] would survive and she would not. [He] knew that at least [he] would have a better chance to survive or make it to safety." The suppression hearing was primarily an attempt to exclude the verbal statement given to the detective which was later reduced to writing.

¶ 10. Carlisle asserts that his confessions, specifically the verbal statement, were improperly admitted. Carlisle denies making the verbal statement as it was presented to him. The State rebuts that the judge looked at the totality of the circumstances and determined that his confessions were voluntarily made.

¶ 11. When the trial court has denied a motion to suppress a confession, this Court will reverse the trial court's decision only if the ruling is manifest error or contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Palm v. State, 748 So.2d 135, 142 (¶ 25) (Miss.1999) (citing McGowan v. State, 706 So.2d 231, 235 (Miss. 1997)). We will not reverse a trial court finding that a confession was voluntary and admissible as long as the correct principles of law were applied and the finding is factually supported by the evidence. Palm, 748 So.2d at 142 (¶ 25). See also Greenlee v. State, 725 So.2d 816, 826 (¶ 26) (Miss.1998). Where the evidence is contradictory, this Court "generally must affirm." Lesley v. State, 606 So.2d 1084, 1091 (Miss.1992).

¶ 12. Carlisle approached the sheriff's deputies at the scene. He volunteered to speak with the authorities. Carlisle, who was not under arrest, agreed to go to the sheriffs department for further questioning. Carlisle properly received and waived his Miranda warnings upon arrival at the sheriffs department.

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Bluebook (online)
822 So. 2d 1022, 2002 WL 418714, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carlisle-v-state-missctapp-2002.