Crosby v. State

856 So. 2d 523, 2003 WL 21005304
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 6, 2003
Docket2002-KA-00422-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 856 So. 2d 523 (Crosby 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
Crosby v. State, 856 So. 2d 523, 2003 WL 21005304 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

856 So.2d 523 (2003)

Steven Lamont CROSBY a/k/a Steve Salter, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2002-KA-00422-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 6, 2003.
Rehearing Denied July 15, 2003.
Certiorari Denied December 4, 2003.

*526 Dan W. Duggan, Brandon, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, attorney for appellee.

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

BRIDGES, J., for the court.

¶ 1. The Grand Jury of Rankin County indicted Steven Crosby for the offenses of aggravated assault, kidnaping and convicted felon in possession of a firearm, all as a habitual offender. A jury trial followed in which the jury returned a verdict of "guilty." Crosby was then sentenced to serve a term of three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Following the trial court's denial of his motion for a directed verdict, motion for a new trial and JNOV, he now appeals to this Court.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL ERRED IN DENYING CROSBY'S MOTIONS FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT, A NEW TRIAL AND A JNOV FOR EACH OF THE THREE OFFENSES.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN ALLOWING THE STATE TO AMEND THE INDICTMENT PRIOR TO TRIAL.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING A SHERIFF'S INVESTIGATOR TO TESTIFY AS A FIREARMS EXPERT.
IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT GRANTING A CONTINUANCE AT THE TIME OF A DISCOVERY VIOLATION ALLEGED BY THE APPELLANT.
V. WHETHER IT WAS WITHIN THE TRIAL COURT'S DISCRETION TO ALLOW LEADING QUESTIONS.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the evening of May 5, 2001, James Kevin Gibson traveled to Otis Singleton's trailer, located in Rankin County, Mississippi. Two men, Marcus Craft and Brandon Young, were already inside the trailer when Gibson arrived. Sometime after Gibson's arrival, another car pulled up to the trailer and the two men inside the trailer heard a fight break out outside between Gibson and another person, who was later identified as the Appellant, Crosby. Crosby's girlfriend, Joyce Anne Kemp, arrived and tried to break up the fight between Gibson and Crosby, but was told to go inside. During the commotion, Craft and Young witnessed, and later testified to, a "red beam" displayed across their chests through the window of the bedroom. However, neither Craft nor Young ever saw Crosby. After Joyce went into the trailer, she soon heard a car leave and, after looking out of the window, noticed both Crosby and Gibson were gone.

¶ 3. Sometime later, Crosby was seen in Magee, twenty three miles from the scene, at a Shell service station. It was at that Shell station where Crosby was captured on a video surveillance camera. While there, he asked to use a pay phone and handed the cashier a "bloody" dollar bill for change. Crosby was also witnessed *527 wearing muddy clothing and shoes. It was also at this gas station where police found a green Ford, belonging to Gibson. What police described as "blood smears" were found on the trunk lid, sides of the door frames, inside the trunk and within the car itself. Police eventually found Gibson, still alive, on the side of the road between Magee and Mendenhall. Later Crosby arrived at Kemp's mother's home, located five minutes from Singleton's trailer. No evidence was ever presented to indicate how Crosby got from the Shell station in Magee to the mother's house. A unique gun with a laser sighting apparatus was later found by police in the trunk of Kemp's car and the clip or magazine for the weapon was found under the passenger seat where Crosby was seated.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL ERRED IN DENYING CROSBY'S MOTIONS FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT, A NEW TRIAL AND A JNOV.

¶ 4. With regards to Crosby's first issue, he argues that the trial court committed reversible error when it failed to grant his motions for a directed verdict, or in the alternative, JNOV on each of his three offenses. He states that the evidence was simply insufficient to sustain a verdict of guilty in his case and requires a reversal. Specifically, Crosby claims there was insufficient evidence of a gun being used in the aggravated assault as charged in the indictment. As for the kidnaping, he claims only that there is insufficient evidence. Lastly, Crosby claims that there was no connection made between him and the gun.

¶ 5. Our standard of review regarding motions for a directed verdict and also a JNOV is:

Sufficiency questions are raised in motions for directed verdict and also in JNOV motions. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss.1993). Where a defendant moves for a JNOV or a directed verdict, the trial court considers all of the credible evidence consistent with the defendant's guilt, giving the prosecution the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from this evidence. Id. This Court is authorized to reverse only where, with respect to one or more of the elements of the offense charged, the evidence is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could not find the accused guilty. Wetz v. State, 503 So.2d 803, 808 (Miss.1987.)

Holmes v. State, 798 So.2d 533, 538(¶ 18) (Miss.2001).

¶ 6. Motions for directed verdicts and motions for JNOV are both for the purpose of challenging the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Noe v. State, 616 So.2d 298, 302 (Miss.1993); McClain, 625 So.2d at 778. See also Strong v. State, 600 So.2d 199, 201 (Miss.1992). Our standard of review regarding the legal sufficiency of the evidence is as follows:

[W]e must, with respect to each element of the offense, consider all of the evidence—not just the evidence which supports the case for the prosecution—in the light most favorable to the verdict. The credible evidence which is consistent with the guilt must be accepted as true. The prosecution must be given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. Matters regarding the weight and credibility to be accorded the evidence are to be resolved by the jury. We may reverse only where, with respect to one or more of the elements of the offense charged, the evidence so considered is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty. *528 Wetz, 503 So.2d at 808. "The jury is the sole judge of the credibility of witnesses, and the jury's decision based on conflicting evidence will not be set aside where there is substantial and believable evidence supporting the verdict." Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 463 (Miss.1984). This Court may not make an assessment on the credibility of the trial witnesses as this task is one for the jury presiding over the matter. Kinzey v. State, 498 So.2d 814, 818 (Miss. 1986).

¶ 7. When this Court analyzes a jury's verdict to determine whether it goes against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, we must keep in mind that the jury is the ultimate finder of fact. This Court does not have the task of re-weighing the facts in each case to, in effect, go behind the jury to detect whether the testimony and evidence they chose to believe was or was not the most credible. The law provides:

Jurors are permitted, indeed have the duty, to resolve the conflicts in the testimony they hear. They may believe or disbelieve, accept or reject the utterances of any witness.

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Bluebook (online)
856 So. 2d 523, 2003 WL 21005304, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crosby-v-state-missctapp-2003.