Fowler v. State

566 So. 2d 1194, 1990 WL 120173
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 1, 1990
Docket07-KA-59042
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 566 So. 2d 1194 (Fowler 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
Fowler v. State, 566 So. 2d 1194, 1990 WL 120173 (Mich. 1990).

Opinion

566 So.2d 1194 (1990)

Jerry FOWLER
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 07-KA-59042.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

August 1, 1990.

*1195 Donald J. Steighner, Kittanning, Pa., for appellant.

Jerry D. Fowler, Columbus, pro se.

Mike C. Moore, Atty. Gen., John R. Henry, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and ROBERTSON and BLASS, JJ.

ROBERTSON, Justice, for the Court:

I.

Jerry Fowler appeals his conviction of manslaughter and presents questions regarding discovery and evidence and the trial court's instructions to the jury. We have considered the matter with care and find that, although no one witnessed the homicide other than Fowler himself, no legal error appears requiring reversal, and the judgment below must be affirmed.

II.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, September 1, 1985, thirty-six year old Jerry Fowler, proprietor of Hooter's Lounge, shot and killed nineteen year old Sammie Richardson near the lounge in Columbus, Mississippi. Fowler immediately called the police, who arrived within a minute and investigated the homicide and the scene extensively, including questioning of Fowler.

Time went by and, four days short of the second anniversary of the homicide, the grand jury of Lowndes County returned an indictment charging that Fowler murdered Richardson. Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-19(1)(a) (Supp. 1985).

The case was called for trial some three months later. The prosecution produced circumstantial evidence to prove that Fowler had shot Richardson outside the rear door of Hooter's Lounge and had dragged the body into the bar to create the appearance that Richardson had been a burglar who was shot in the commission of a crime.

Hooter's Lounge is located at 106 22nd Street South in Columbus. The building's exterior dimensions are approximately 40 feet east and west by 81 feet north and south. A bar runs along the south wall with tables located from the center of the building to the north wall. There is a room on the east side of the building separated completely from the rest of the lounge where owner/proprietor Hooter slept and lived. Sometime after 3:00 a.m. on the morning of September 1, 1985, Fowler shot Richardson with his 30/30 rifle, killing him instantly. Responding to Fowler's call, Detective Donald Freshour arrived within minutes and at trial described his investigation through a series of photographic exhibits.

In support of the prosecution theory that Fowler had murdered Richardson, Detective Freshour and others offered evidence which showed:

(1) There was no blood or other matter splattered on the walls or the inside part of the door;
(2) There was a blood splatter on the outside face of the door and the adjoining wall which looked to be part of the same pattern;
(3) There was grass and other debris consistent with that outside the rear door — the rest of the interior of the building was free of any debris;
(4) There was a piece of cardboard like that outside the rear of the building wedged between the feet of Richardson's body;
(5) The blood streaks found on the floor were linear, indicating the body was dragged in the rear door, rather than circular which would have been more consist with Fowler's version of what happened.
(6) All traces of splattered blood and skull fragments were found on the outside of the building.
*1196 (7) A cap with traces of hair probably belonging to Richardson was found on the ground outside the rear door.

The prosecution also called Dr. John Parker, the coroner, to explain the angle of the head wound and its inconsistency with the gun being fired from waist level as Fowler claimed. Dr. Parker noted the absence of any trail of blood consistent with the body being swung around and the absence of any splattering on the interior of the lounge. Forensic scientists from the state crime lab reported on results of tests run on the physical evidence that substantiated the evidence highlighted in the photographs.[1]

Fowler's defense was self-defense and defense of habitation. He testified that he closed the lounge at midnight on August 31. He says he padlocked the front door and went around to the rear and re-entered and worked cleaning up for an hour to an hour and a half and then went to bed. Sometime after 3:00 a.m., Fowler says he was awakened by a noise that sounded like someone breaking in the rear door. He got out of bed, put on some clothes and says he looked into the bar area where he could see someone standing in the doorway of the rear door. Fowler went back to his room and retrieved his 30/30 rifle. He says he worked his way from the bedroom to the south wall, then down along the side the bar. By this time, he said the intruder was some three to four feet inside the building. Fowler was six or seven feet away when he said, "Just stand still and don't move." He said the intruder was turned sideways, looking back toward the rear door as if somebody or something were there. Fowler described his version of what happened next:

Well, after I told him to stand still and don't move, he took a step toward me, he said "You son of a bitch," and jumped at me. And I saw something in his hand, and I thought it was gun when he turned. And it was just automatic. I just — I shot him before I knew it ... At the time I shot him, I know what he had. But when he fell backwards, I saw the two-by-four fall from him.

Fowler said the intruder's body fell backward and landed with his head approximately one to one and a half feet outside the threshold of the rear door, that is, where the photographs of the scene show a puddle of blood and brain matter. Fowler said he started toward the phone to call the police and an ambulance when he heard someone else running over the gravel outside the rear door.

In due course, the jury returned a verdict that Fowler was guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter. The Circuit Court sentenced Fowler to ten years imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-25 (1972).

Fowler appeals his conviction and sentence to this Court.

III.

Fowler first argues that the Circuit Court erred when it received into evidence, over his objection, evidence of certain oral statements he had made to police officers on the morning of September 1, 1985, some five hours following the homicide. According to notes Officers Freshour and Bowden had recorded,[2] Fowler stated:

On 9/1/85 I went to sleep around 2:00 a.m. I was awakened by a noise at the back door. I came out and saw someone standing in the rear doorway just under the exit light. I went and got my rifle. I went back into the lounge area. I told him to stay where he was. He stopped for a minute. I could see a 2 X 4 in his hand. I didn't see the 2 X 4 until he *1197 raised it at me. The door was standing open and he was standing inside. Now that I think about it the door would not have stayed open by itself so someone had to be holding it. I had the gun at waist level and fired at him. He fell just inside the door a few feet. I heard someone else outside. I pulled the boy I shot out of the way where I could get out the door.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
566 So. 2d 1194, 1990 WL 120173, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fowler-v-state-miss-1990.