Fuqua v. State

938 So. 2d 277, 2006 WL 540549
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 7, 2006
Docket2004-KA-00491-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 938 So. 2d 277 (Fuqua 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
Fuqua v. State, 938 So. 2d 277, 2006 WL 540549 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

938 So.2d 277 (2006)

Leon FUQUA a/k/a Fugua Leon a/k/a Leomie Fuqua, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-KA-00491-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 7, 2006.
Rehearing Denied June 27, 2006.

*280 George T. Holmes, Jackson, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Scott Stuart, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

MODIFIED OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

CHANDLER, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. The State's motion for rehearing is granted. The original opinion issued in this case is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted therefor.

¶ 2. The appellant, Leon Fuqua, was convicted in the Circuit Court for the First Judicial District of Hinds County of the crimes of capital murder and arson. Fuqua was sentenced as a habitual offender to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. Fuqua appeals, asserting six assignments of error.

¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 4. Fuqua resided with Janis Taylor and her boyfriend, Roy Williams, on East Davis Street in Jackson, Mississippi. On the evening of February 16, 2002, Taylor and Williams returned to the apartment to find Fuqua, his boyfriend, Albert Pitts, and Ray Charles Ainsworth in the living room. Fuqua and Ainsworth were naked and engaged in oral sex. While the pair was so engaged, several witnesses came and went from the apartment.

¶ 5. At some point during the encounter, Fuqua and Pitts began striking Ainsworth's head with various objects whenever Ainsworth stopped performing oral sex upon Fuqua. Witnesses described these objects as a belt, an axe, a pipe and a crowbar. Taylor observed that the repeated beatings caused Ainsworth's face and head to swell severely. After a time, Fuqua and Pitts allowed Ainsworth to take his clothes and leave. Ainsworth did not leave, but sat down. Taylor heard Ainsworth complain to Fuqua of feeling cold. Fuqua brought Ainsworth a blanket and Ainsworth lay down on the floor.

¶ 6. Early the next morning, Taylor inquired as to Ainsworth's whereabouts. Fuqua told her that, when he checked on Ainsworth, Ainsworth was not breathing and his body was very cold. Fuqua told Taylor that he and Pitts had wrapped Ainsworth in the blanket, carried him to an empty house, and set the house on fire.

¶ 7. Around 6:30 a.m. that day, the Jackson Fire Department was dispatched to East Davis Street in response to a fire at an abandoned house. An arson investigator concluded that the fire had been intentionally set using rubbing alcohol as an accelerant. A badly burned human corpse was found inside the house. From dental records, the corpse was determined to be that of Ainsworth. The pathologist, Dr. Steven Hayne, determined that the cause of death was a subdural hemorrhage secondary to a closed head injury. The manner of death was homicide. Dr. Hayne partially based his finding of homicide upon witness statements provided by the district attorney.

¶ 8. The Jackson Police Department's investigation of the death led to the issuance of a search warrant for Fuqua's apartment. After the search, Fuqua waived his rights and gave the police two confessions, one hand-written and one typed. According to the typed confession, Pitts beat Ainsworth to death by himself and then Pitts and Fuqua rolled up Ainsworth's body in a blanket, took it to the abandoned house, and set the house on fire using rubbing alcohol. Fuqua stated that Pitts threatened to kill him if he told anyone what had occurred.

*281 ¶ 9. When the State rested its case, Fuqua did not present any evidence. He was convicted of capital murder and arson. Fuqua timely appeals, asserting the following errors: (1) whether the trial court erred by not dismissing Count 1 of the indictment for lack of an essential element; (2) whether Fuqua was prevented from developing testimony in support of theories of defense; (3) whether the trial court erred in disallowing Fuqua's proffered jury instruction on duress; (4) whether Fuqua was impermissibly prejudiced by the admission of irrelevant evidence; (5) whether the verdict of guilty of capital murder, as opposed to manslaughter, is supported by the evidence; and (6) whether the defendant was illegally sentenced as a habitual offender.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY NOT DISMISSING COUNT 1 OF THE INDICTMENT FOR LACK OF AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT.

¶ 10. Fuqua argues that Count 1 of his indictment insufficiently charged the crime of capital murder with the underlying felony of sexual battery. Specifically, Fuqua argues that the indictment failed to state the elements of the underlying felony of sexual battery. Count 1 of Fuqua's indictment stated:

Fuqua . . . without authority of law, and with or without any design to effect the death, did then and there wilfully, unlawfully, and feloniously, kill, slay, and murder Ray Charles Ainsworth, a human being, in violation of Section 97-3-19(2)(e), Mississippi Code, 1972, as amended, while, the said [Fuqua was] engaged in commission of the crime of sexual battery of Ray Charles Ainsworth or in the attempt to commit such offense, by wilfully, unlawfully and feloniously engaging in sexual penetration with Ray Charles in that, he the said [Fuqua] forced the victim, Ray Charles Ainsworth to perform fellatio on the said [Fuqua].

Before the trial, Fuqua objected to the sufficiency of the indictment. The trial court found that the indictment was sufficient and overruled Fuqua's motion.

¶ 11. "[I]t is a well-established principle of law that in order for an indictment to be sufficient, it must contain the essential elements of the crime charged." Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647, 652-53 (Miss.1996). More specifically,

it is fundamental . . . that an indictment, to be effective as such, must set forth the constituent elements of a criminal offense; if the facts alleged do not constitute such an offense within the terms and meaning of the law or laws on which the accusation is based or if the facts alleged may all be true and yet constitute no offense, the indictment is insufficient. . . . Every material fact and essential ingredient of the offense — must be alleged with precision and certainty, or, as has been stated, every fact which is an element in a prima facie case of guilt must be stated in the indictment.

Id. at 653 (quoting Love v. State, 211 Miss. 606, 611, 52 So.2d 470, 471 (1951)). "The ultimate test, when considering the validity of an indictment on appeal, is whether the defendant was prejudiced in the preparation of his defense." Medina v. State, 688 So.2d 727, 730 (Miss.1996).

¶ 12. In Peterson, the court applied these principles to find that an indictment was insufficient to charge the defendant with sexual battery. The definition of sexual battery provides, in pertinent part, that "(1) A person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she engages in sexual penetration with: (a) Another person without his or her consent." Miss.Code Ann. *282 § 97-3-95 (Rev.2000). Peterson's indictment failed to include the words, "without her consent." The court held that "[l]ack of consent is an essential fact necessary to constitute the crime of sexual battery." Id. at 655. Since Peterson's indictment did not charge the essential element of lack of consent, the indictment was fatally flawed. Id. Fuqua argues that, as in Peterson,

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