Copple v. State

117 So. 3d 651, 2013 WL 3606009, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 421
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 16, 2013
DocketNo. 2012-KA-00237-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 117 So. 3d 651 (Copple 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
Copple v. State, 117 So. 3d 651, 2013 WL 3606009, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 421 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

ROBERTS, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Following a trial in the Lowndes County Circuit Court, a jury convicted Daniel Paul Copple of two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. Copple was sentenced to life on Count I for the murder of James Bennett-Mann, life on Count II for the murder of Mark Caudill, and fifteen years on Count III for the aggravated assault of Michael Ward. His sentences were ordered to run consecutively to one another. Copple timely executed the current appeal claiming the verdicts were against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and that the evidence against him was insufficient to support the verdicts. He also alleges that he was denied his right to a fair trial since the circuit court denied his motion for a change of venue. Finding his arguments without merit, we affirm Copple’s convictions and sentences.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. This appeal stems from events that occurred in the early-morning hours of February 16, 2011, at the Elbow Room, a local bar in Columbus, Mississippi. Around 6:30 p.m. on the evening of February 15, 2011, Ward, a bartender at the Elbow Room, was working when Caudill, a customer, pulled out a semi-automatic handgun to show him. Ward informed Caudill that he needed to put it away or leave the bar. Caudill finished his beer and left the Elbow Room. Later that evening, Caudill returned, as did another customer, Bennett-Mann. After midnight, AI Comer, another Elbow Room employee, arrived to help Ward begin closing the bar. Ward left the front bar area to repair a broken toilet. After approximately five to ten minutes, Ward finished repairing the toilet and began walking toward the bar area again. He had stopped in a room containing the pool table and jukebox to turn the music down when he heard some scuffling in the bar area and then a single gunshot. Ward was able to see the shooter based on his location in the back room. He identified Copple as the shooter and described seeing Copple shoot downward at approximately a twenty-five degree angle and stated that Copple fired at least five shots total. Copple then entered the back room and held the gun to Ward’s head. Ward, on his knees, pleaded for his life; however, according to Ward, Copple tensed his arm as if he was pulling the trigger, but the gun did not discharge. Copple looked at the gun and then turned and exited the Elbow Room.

¶ 3. Comer also witnessed the incident. He explained that while Ward was working on the broken toilet, he and Bennett-Mann had gone into the back area where the jukebox was located to use some credits on the jukebox. As the men were walking toward the bar area again, Comer saw Copple and Caudill in a “clench,” with Copple pushing Caudill to the ground. Comer started to go break up the men, and he was approximately three feet away when the gun was first fired. He stated that he saw Caudill go limp on the floor after the shot was fired. Comer ran out of the bar and across the street to a bar called Zachary’s. He informed the employees at Zachary’s that there was a shooting, and they called the police. Comer remained at Zachary’s until the police arrived at the Elbow Room just a few minutes later. A Zachary’s employee, Jer[654]*654emy Eakin, testified that he saw a man walk out of the Elbow Room and down the street with what appeared to be a gun in his hand. Police arrested that man, later identified as Copple.

¶ 4. Police arrived at the scene, found the gun lying in the street, and arrested Copple, who was approximately twenty to thirty feet away from the gun. Officers entered the Elbow Room and discovered Bennett-Mann, gasping for air and sitting on the back of the already deceased Cau-dill. Bennett-Mann was transferred to the hospital where he later died. Several police officers and investigators testified at Copple’s trial. They indicated that Cop-pie’s demeanor the night of his arrest varied from calm and laughing to irate and belligerent.

¶ 5. Copple was indicted on July 26, 2011, for two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.1 He entered a plea of not guilty, and his jury trial began on December 5, 2011. The jury heard testimony from Ward and Comer as well as from Copple. At trial, Copple testified that as soon as he walked into the bar, Caudill pulled a gun on him. The two began wrestling and Bennett-Mann joined the fight. Copple claimed he was able to wrangle the gun away from Caudill, but he did not remember anything about shooting Caudill or Bennett-Mann or about holding the gun to Ward’s head. Additionally, a forensic pathologist testified that Caudill suffered two gunshot wounds: one in the head and one in the neck. The neck wound was fired slightly downward at near-contact range, and the head wound was slightly upward at an intermediate range. Bennett-Mann suffered three gunshot wounds: one in the head, one in the chest, and one in the forearm. The forensic pathologist testified that Bennett-Mann’s forearm wound was consistent with a defensive posture. There was also testimony from Caudill’s flaneé that Caudill was not in good physical condition, having been seriously injured previously and unable to turn or twist his head without moving the rest of his body. She further testified that his shoulder was still broken, and he struggled to even dress himself. Bennett-Mann’s flaneé also testified at trial. She had been standing outside the Elbow Room just minutes before the incident attempting to persuade Bennett-Mann to come home. She testified that she saw Copple enter the bar, but she did not hear any fights or scuffles after he walked into the bar..

¶ 6. Trial concluded on December 8, 2011, with the jury finding Copple guilty on all three counts. He was sentenced to life on each count of murder and fifteen years on the aggravated-assault count, with each sentence to be served consecutively and in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Copple filed his motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial. The circuit court denied the motion, and Copple appealed, raising the following three issues for review:

I. The evidence is insufficient to support the verdict, as the State failed to prove beyond a reason[655]*655able doubt that Copple did not act in necessary self[-]defense.
II. The verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, which establishes that Copple ac[t]ed in necessary self-defense.
III. [Copple] was denied his right to a fair trial when the [circuit] court denied a change of venue.

ANALYSIS

I. SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE

¶ 7. Copple first argues that the evidence presented at trial was insufficient to support the jury’s verdicts because the State did not present proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Copple did not act in necessary self-defense. This Court’s standard of review in challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence is, when viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 843 (¶ 16) (Miss.2005). When the issue of self-defense is raised, the burden is on the State to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not acting in necessary self-defense.” Harris v. State, 937 So.2d 474, 481 (¶ 23) (Miss.Ct.App.2006) (citing Heidel v. State, 587 So.2d 835, 843 (Miss.1991)).

¶ 8.

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Related

Daniel Paul Copple v. State of Mississippi
196 So. 3d 189 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
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158 So. 3d 1190 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)

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Bluebook (online)
117 So. 3d 651, 2013 WL 3606009, 2013 Miss. App. LEXIS 421, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/copple-v-state-missctapp-2013.