Gaskin v. State

856 So. 2d 363, 2003 Miss. App. LEXIS 164, 2003 WL 955521
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 11, 2003
DocketNo. 2001-KA-01153-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 856 So. 2d 363 (Gaskin 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
Gaskin v. State, 856 So. 2d 363, 2003 Miss. App. LEXIS 164, 2003 WL 955521 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

KING, P. J.,

for the court.

¶ 1. William Gaskin was convicted in the Circuit Court of Jackson County of armed robbery. Aggrieved, he appeals asserting as error the following:

I. WHETHER A SECOND TRIAL ON THE SAME INDICTMENT, FOLLOWING A MISTRIAL, VIOLATED GASKIN’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF PROHIBITION AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ACCEPTING THE PROSECUTOR’S JUSTIFICATION FOR A PEREMPTORY STRIKE.
III. WHETHER GASKIN RECEIVED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.

Finding no error, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY AND FACTS

¶ 2. On February 27, 2000, the police responded to a call that the clerk at the Exxon gas station in Pascagoula, Mississippi was robbed at knife point of over $300 and a cordless phone. William Gas-kin was later arrested for this crime and indicted for armed robbery.

¶ 3. The matter was scheduled for trial on May 23, 2001. After voir dire and a ruling on challenges for cause, the trial judge instructed the attorneys to get together and select a jury. She told them to have a “jury in the box” before lunch, that she was going to “leave [them] alone until then,” and that she “depended on [them] to actually get [her] a jury by then.” The trial judge then left the courtroom. Upon her return, the prosecutor stated ten jurors had been agreed upon to that point. After further consultation, Gaskin’s attorney read the names of the agreed upon twelve jurors and one alternate to the court. The court then stated, “All right. Bring the jury in. Y’all can put your strikes on the record later.”

¶ 4. After those selected for the jury were called and seated, the trial judge dismissed the remaining veniremen and instructed the bailiff to take the selected [365]*365jurors to lunch. The judge then directed the attorneys to meet in her office at the end of the lunch period for a conference concerning other matters. Defense counsel at this time stated: “[A]nd, Judge, we will have a Batson challenge at that time.” The judge replied, “[W]ell it’s a little late. We’ve let the jury go.” After hearing the defendant’s challenge, the trial judge found that a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination had been established, and required the State to provide race-neutral reasons for its strikes. After hearing counsel’s argumente, the trial judge stated she would consider this issue during lunch. She stated, “[I]f I don’t find there to be a race neutral reason, I’d have no choice but to declare a mistrial because I can’t get the jurors back to pick other jurors. So, I’m in a precarious situation.”

¶ 5. Prior to the jury’s return from lunch, the trial judge ruled, “I’ve considered all of this, the Batson challenge, and discussed it with the attorneys. And in abundance of caution, I’m going to declare a mistrial and we’re going to reset this case for trial on Tuesday, May 28th.”

¶ 6. At trial on May 28, Gaskin again raised a Batson objection to the State’s exercise of peremptory challenges against Blacks. The trial court found that a pri-ma facie case of discrimination had been shown, and required the State to offer race-neutral reasons for its peremptory challenges. This time the trial court accepted the State’s reasons as being race-neutral, and allowed the exercise of the peremptory challenges.

¶ 7. Gaskin was found guilty and sentenced to twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER A SECOND TRIAL ON THE SAME INDICTMENT, FOLLOWING A MISTRIAL, VIOLATED GASKIN’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT OF PROHIBITION AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY.

¶ 8. Gaskin contends that when the second trial commenced on the same indictment, the State violated his right to be free from multiple prosecutions for the same offense. In Jones v. State, the Mississippi Supreme Court held:

[Bjecause 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 its conclusion, unless exceptional circumstances existed in the first case, and there was manifest necessity to declare a mistrial.

Jones v. State, 398 So.2d 1312, 1314 (Miss.1981). Gaskin argues that the mistrial in the first proceeding was caused by the State’s improper exercise of peremptory strikes, and therefore, the second attempt to prosecute him constituted double jeopardy.

¶ 9. The State rebuts Gaskin’s claim on three grounds. First, the State claims that at the first proceeding the jury was never sworn in and, therefore, double jeopardy protection never attached. Secondly, the State asserts that the claim is barred because he never raised it with the trial court. Third, the State asserts that although Gaskin claims that the mistrial was granted as a result of his Batson challenge to the State’s improper exercise of peremptory challenges, the mistrial was actually caused by exceptional circumstances and manifest necessity because there were no jurors available from which to choose an impartial jury.

[366]*366¶ 10. Neither side raises any issues concerning the selection manner and method utilized by the trial court. However, as stated above, the State has raised the question of whether the jury was ever administered the official oath at the first proceeding because the court order gives one version of what happened and the transcript gives another. The protection against double jeopardy does not attach in a criminal proceeding until after the jury is selected and sworn to try the case. See Jones v. State, 398 So.2d 1312, 1314 (Miss.1981). Therefore, before we can determine if Gaskin may raise this issue for the first time on appeal and if his constitutional right to be free from multiple prosecutions for the same offense was violated, we must first determine whether the jury had been sworn and whether the protection against double jeopardy had attached.

¶ 11. The order entered following the mistrial stated that the jury had been sworn. However, a thorough review of the transcript clearly reveals that the twelve jurors and one alternate, although finally selected, called individually by name, and seated in open court, were never administered the official oath. In fact, after the jury was seated, the trial judge told the jurors, “[Wje’re not going to do anything to start the trial right now. They’ve got everything ready to take you to lunch.” She then ordered the bailiff to take them to lunch and excused the jurors. A mistrial was declared before their return.

¶ 12. In Jenkins v. State, a criminal case where the court papers gave one version and the transcript gave another, the Mississippi Supreme Court found that the order misstated and incorrectly characterized the events of the proceeding. Jenkins v. State, 759 So.2d 1229, 1234(¶ 16) (Miss.2000). In the present case, we also find, as described above, that the order misstated and incorrectly characterized the events of the first proceeding, specifically as to the jurors being administered the oath.

¶ 13.

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Related

Gaskin v. State
873 So. 2d 965 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
William Lewis Gaskin v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001

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Bluebook (online)
856 So. 2d 363, 2003 Miss. App. LEXIS 164, 2003 WL 955521, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gaskin-v-state-missctapp-2003.