Davenport v. State

662 So. 2d 629, 1995 WL 582298
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 5, 1995
Docket92-KA-00641-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 662 So. 2d 629 (Davenport v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davenport v. State, 662 So. 2d 629, 1995 WL 582298 (Mich. 1995).

Opinion

662 So.2d 629 (1995)

Clifton D. DAVENPORT
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 92-KA-00641-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

October 5, 1995.

Martin A. Kilpatrick, Greenville, for appellant.

Michael C. Moore, Attorney General, Deirdre McCrory, Special Ass't Attorney General, Jackson, for appellee.

Before PRATHER, P.J., and BANKS and McRAE, JJ.

BANKS, Justice, for the Court:

Here we are presented with a claim of double jeopardy where a mistrial was declared, *630 on defendant's motion, following revelation of a prosecutorial discovery violation. We conclude that the defendant has failed to preserve the issue because, although a written motion was filed raising the plea, there is nothing in the record to suggest that he brought the motion on for hearing or obtained a ruling thereon. We also conclude that the possibility that the defendant may have inadvertently been observed by one or more jurors at a time when he was in shackles being transported between the courtroom and the jail is insufficient to disturb the verdict. Accordingly, we affirm.

I.

On December 17, 1991, Clifton Davenport (Davenport) was indicted for the September 29, 1991, murder of Willie Phillips, Jr., by use of a firearm. Davenport pled not guilty and trial was set for April 22, 1992. The following is based upon Davenport's uncontradicted chronology of events.

A jury was selected and empaneled on April 22 as scheduled. Prior to opening statements, the State requested a recess to confer with witnesses after which the State advised the court of evidence of which the prosecutor claimed no prior awareness. The evidence consisted of an October 13, 1991, written statement given to the Greenville Police Department by the decedent's brother, Martlin Lee Phillips (Phillips), after he was arrested for public drunkenness with a .38 caliber weapon on his person. The weapon was matched with a spent casing found at the scene of the decedent's murder. In the statement, Phillips alleged that the day after the decedent's death, he was given the gun by a man named "Man" who told him that he believed the weapon was used to commit the murder. Man allegedly bought the gun for $20 from an individual named "Rock Star." On the night prior to his arrest, Phillips allegedly saw an individual named Roderick Franklin, also known as "Pipe," who stated that he gave the gun to the person who killed the decedent.

The State subsequently informed the court that it did not intend to use the newly discovered evidence during trial. The defense, however, requested a continuance in order to review the evidence. The continuance was granted and the case was rescheduled for May 27, 1992.

On May 15, 1992, Davenport filed a plea of former jeopardy asserting that it would have been grossly imprudent on behalf of defense counsel not to request a continuance after learning of the newly discovered evidence. He contended that a second trial would violate the guarantee against former jeopardy. There is no record of a presentation of the motion. Nor is there an order indicating the court's ruling on Davenport's motion. In his post trial motions and in his appeal before this Court, Davenport asserts that the trial court erred in "overruling" his plea of former jeopardy. He has not filed a reply brief responding to the assertion made by the State that no ruling appears of record. The case proceeded to trial on May 27, 1992. During trial, Phillips testified on behalf of the defense and recanted the same facts given in his statement to the Greenville Police.

Davenport also moved for a mistrial on two occasions, alleging that four jurors observed him in shackles. He contended that while being transferred from the court to jail, a juror saw him as she passed him in her car. Denying the motion, the court reasoned that prisoners are transported at times and in manners in which jurors can't observe them. But because the courthouse and jail are attached, it is conceivable that a juror could have observed Davenport in shackles. The court found that such an observance was not inherently prejudicial. Davenport later renewed his motion for mistrial, alleging that two other jurors saw him in shackles. He contended that one juror saw him when he was being transported downstairs in the courthouse during the lunch break, and the second juror saw him outside the courthouse when she was waiting on a ride. The court denied the motion on the same grounds.

After the close of testimony, the jury found Davenport guilty of murder and he perfected this appeal.

II.

Davenport contends that jeopardy attached in his first trial when the jury was *631 empaneled and sworn to try the case. Jones v. State, 398 So.2d 1312 (Miss. 1981). In Jones, this Court held that:

Mandated by decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the rule in this state beginning with this case is that double jeopardy attaches in any criminal proceeding at the moment the trial jury is selected and sworn to try the case. Because of the guarantee against double jeopardy granted to all citizens by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, no retrial for the same offense will be permitted in any criminal case in which the first trial, following the swearing and empaneling of the jury, was aborted prior to conclusion, unless exceptional circumstances existed in the first case, and there was a manifest necessity for the trial judge to declare a mistrial.

Jones, 398 So.2d at 1314.

Davenport contends that defense counsel was preparing for presentation of its opening statements and, but for the newly-discovered evidence, the trial would have concluded before the jury which was seated. He argues that the state was aware of the exculpatory nature of the evidence, and as a matter of strategy chose to proceed without it. Had the State requested and been granted a continuance because of the evidence, Davenport argues that he could not have been retried. Davenport contends that he was forced to request a continuance because the evidence identified four people, not including himself, who handled the gun identified as used in the murder. Had the defense gone forward with trial, they would have done so at the peril of a wholly inadequate investigation.

Davenport further argues that although the prosecution offered not to tender the new information into evidence pursuant to Rule 4.06(i)(3) of the Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice, the offer was of no aid to him because of the exculpatory nature of the evidence.

As the State correctly asserts, although Davenport contends that the court erred in "overruling" his plea of former jeopardy in his motion for new trial and in his appeal before this Court, the record contains no indication either in the court papers or the record that the trial court ruled on Davenport's motion. The record only reflects that a motion was filed. The facts here are analogous to those in Lambert v. State, 518 So.2d 621 (Miss. 1987). In Lambert, a defendant on trial for embezzlement filed a motion for continuance in order to review information supplied pursuant to discovery requests. The defendant appealed, arguing that the court erred when it failed to grant the motion for continuance. However, aside from the motion itself and a mention of the motion in the defendant's motion for new trial, there was no record of any argument in furtherance of the motion. This Court held that:

[I]t is paramount on the party filling a motion to follow up that action by bringing it to the attention of the trial judge and requesting a hearing on it. Sharplin v. State,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Shon Pierre Byrd, Jr. v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Weaver v. State
996 So. 2d 142 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Spicer v. State
921 So. 2d 292 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2006)
Payton v. State
897 So. 2d 921 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2003)
Henry Clay Payton v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001
Buckley v. State
772 So. 2d 1059 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2000)
Alexander v. State
759 So. 2d 411 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2000)
Odom v. State
769 So. 2d 189 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)
Bobby Buckley v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999
Biggs v. State
741 So. 2d 318 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 1999)
Puckett v. State
737 So. 2d 322 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1999)
Larry Matthew Puckett v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 1996
Walter Skinner v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 1995

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
662 So. 2d 629, 1995 WL 582298, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davenport-v-state-miss-1995.