Enlow v. State

878 So. 2d 1111, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 710, 2004 WL 1662276
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 27, 2004
DocketNo. 2003-KA-00623-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 878 So. 2d 1111 (Enlow 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
Enlow v. State, 878 So. 2d 1111, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 710, 2004 WL 1662276 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

IRVING, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Jeffrey Leon Enlow was convicted in the Circuit Court of Monroe County of simple assault on a police officer and sentenced to a term of five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved by the judgment below, Enlow has appealed and presents eight issues: (1) whether he was deprived of his right to effective assistance of counsel, due process and a right to a fair trial where adequate instructions were lacking, (2) whether the trial court erred in overruling the appellant’s motion to dismiss [1113]*1113the charges or in the alternative for a directed verdict at the close of the State’s case-in-chief, (3) whether the trial court erred in denying the appellant’s motion for a directed verdict at the close of appellant’s case, (4) whether the evidence was sufficient as a matter of law, (5) whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, (6) whether the court erred in allowing the State to make prejudicial reference to prior bad acts in violation of Rule 404 of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, (7) whether the court’s failure to adequately poll the jury requires reversal, and (8) whether the cumulative effect of the aforementioned errors greatly prejudiced Enlow and rendered a fair trial impossible.

¶ 2. Ascertaining no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. In the early morning hours of March 24, 2001, a disturbance transpired at Uncle Joe’s Food Mart in Nettleton, Monroe County, Mississippi. A truck suddenly sped through the store’s parking lot and abruptly stopped at the store. Within the truck were two women, both of whom seemed agitated and distressed. The women beckoned for A.D. Heard, a uniformed Nettleton police officer who was inside of Uncle Joe’s, to come outside. The women quickly explained to Heard that someone was pursuing them and possibly trying to kill them. Heard started taking their complaint. Shortly thereafter, Jeffrey Enlow appeared from around the corner of the store. At this point, the facts are largely in dispute as to the events that transpired.

A.D. Heard’s version

¶ 4. According to Heard, Enlow suddenly emerged and appeared to be very upset. He testified that Enlow continually made threats to the women. Heard explained that he repeatedly advised Enlow to stay back from the women while he was taking their statements but that Enlow persisted in approaching the women. Heard testified that he eventually put his hand on Enlow’s chest to hold him back and warned Enlow that if he continued to disobey his orders that he would have to arrest him. According to Heard, Enlow retorted that “no n-r” was going to arrest him. Heard explained that he then turned around to finish taking the women’s statements when he was suddenly struck in the back of the head by Enlow. Heard testified that a scuffle ensued between him and Enlow and that soon after, Billy Willis and James Neal, two bystanders, helped him restrain and arrest Enlow.

Enloiv’s version

¶ 5. Enlow testified that earlier that evening he and his fiancée, Debbie Coggin Smith, were at Smith’s house eating supper. He explained that a black pickup truck kept circling the house or going up and down the road. Enlow further testified that someone was coming to the house and ringing the doorbell, knocking on the door, or knocking on the outside wall of the house. He explained that when he looked out of the door, the culprit was gone and that only the black pickup truck with tinted windows was there.

■ ¶ 6. Enlow testified that Smith decided to find out who was in the truck and went to the Nettleton Police Department for help. He testified that meanwhile he called his friend Harold Neal, a distant cousin of Smith, to assist in the search of the pickup truck. Enlow further testified that Smith was unable to locate the police but informed him that Neal had located the truck at Uncle Joe’s. He explained that he then proceeded to the store.

[1114]*1114¶ 7. Enlow testified that, when he arrived at Uncle Joe’s, he saw Officer Heard talking to two women standing next to the truck. He explained that, as he approached the officer and women, he repeatedly asked the women what they were doing. He testified that Officer Heard then turned around and told him that he was taking a statement from the women and to stay back. According to Enlow, he repeated his inquiry to the women, and Officer Heard repeated his warning to En-low to stay back. At that point, Neal told him to come on. He explained that when he turned around to walk toward Neal, Officer Heard hit him with such force as to “idle” him. Enlow testified that he did not recall a whole lot after Officer Heard’s attack until the time he was arrested.

¶ 8. Enlow was indicted for simple assault on a police officer and convicted after a two-day trial. Following the filing and denial of post-trial motions, this appeal ensued.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

¶ 9. We first note that issues one and five deal with ineffective assistance of counsel. We further note that issue six is substantially incorporated in the ineffective assistance of counsel claim. Therefore, we shall address these issues jointly.

¶ 10. In order to prevail on a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, a defendant must prove that his attorney’s performance was deficient, and that the deficiency was so substantial as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). In Davis v. State, 849 So.2d 1252 (Miss.2003), our supreme court further articulated:

This Court looks at the totality of the circumstances to determine whether counsel’s efforts were both deficient and prejudicial. “Judicial scrutiny of counsel’s performance [is] highly deferential.” There is a strong but rebuttable presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance. Only where it is reasonably probable that but for the attorney’s errors, the outcome of the trial would have been different, will we find that counsel’s performance was deficient.

Id. at 1256-57(¶ 18) (citations omitted).

¶ 11. In his assignment of errors, En-low gives a laundry list of claims against his counsel for ineffective assistance:

(1) His trial counsel’s handling of the Batson issue was ineffective. Counsel failed to properly preserve the issue and argue race-neutral grounds for peremptory strikes.
(2) His trial counsel’s failure to raise issues regarding prejudicial statements (n-r) and other bad acts by utilizing pre-trial motions was ineffective.
(3) His trial counsel failed to make argument regarding instructions offered and failed to include a lesser included instruction of resisting arrest and failed to request an instruction defining bodily injury.
(4) His trial counsel failed to object to numerous “for cause” challenges of the State permitted by the court.
(5) His trial counsel failed to object to the testimony of prior bad acts timely and effectively.

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Bluebook (online)
878 So. 2d 1111, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 710, 2004 WL 1662276, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/enlow-v-state-missctapp-2004.