Gibson v. State

895 So. 2d 185, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 1142, 2004 WL 2857570
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 14, 2004
DocketNo. 2003-KA-00048-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 895 So. 2d 185 (Gibson 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
Gibson v. State, 895 So. 2d 185, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 1142, 2004 WL 2857570 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

IRVING, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. James Allen Gibson, Jr. was convicted by a Harrison County jury of murdering his wife, Cynthia Gibson. He was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Feeling aggrieved by this verdict and sentence, he appeals and asserts the following issues: (1) whether his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance, (2) whether the circuit court erred in admission of certain testimony and multiple evidentiary rulings, (3) whether the circuit court erred in overruling his motion [187]*187for a directed verdict and not granting his peremptory instruction, (4) whether the circuit court erred in giving a certain jury instruction, (5) whether the circuit court erred in not granting a mistrial and/or new trial upon learning (a) that a juror had withheld vital information during voir dire, and (b) that the jury was deliberating, not based on the evidence adduced at trial, but on extraneous facts and evidence having no relation to the case at hand, and (6) whether the circuit court erred in not granting Gibson’s motion for a new trial because the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 2. Ascertaining no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On the night before her death on February 24, 2001, Cynthia Gibson was staying with a friend, Glenda “Mickey” Lindsey. On this night, Cynthia received several phone calls from her husband, James Gibson, Jr. As a result of these calls, Cynthia agreed to meet Gibson at a Jitney Jungle grocery store the next morning. The purpose of this meeting was for Cynthia to get her mail, specifically a Social Security check. The next morning when Cynthia asked Glenda to take her to the Jitney Jungle, Glenda refused. However, Glenda did take Cynthia to the home of a woman known as “Mee Maw.”1 After going inside of Mee Maw’s house, Cynthia waved to Glenda and told her everything was all right and that she would see her later.

¶ 4. On the day of Cynthia’s death, Gibson asked his father, James Gibson, Sr., to take him to Gulfport to the old house where Gibson grew up. Apparently, the old house is located next to Mee Maw’s house. Gibson was dressed in blue jeans, shirt and tennis shoes. After James Gibson, Sr., dropped Gibson off, he did not see Gibson again until about two or three o’clock the next morning. Around 3:30 p.m. or 4:00 p.m. on February 24, 2001, Gibson went to the home of Joseph Edward Bosarge, the fiancé of Gibson’s sister, Samantha Lewis.2 Gibson told Bosarge that Gibson had “killed the b — h.” Gibson also told Bosarge that the killing occurred at the old house. Later that evening Bosarge told Lewis what Gibson had told him. Lewis then went to her father’s house. After reaching her father’s house in Saucier, Lewis called the police. After the police were alerted, Gibson, Sr. and his daughters went to the old house and waited outside of the old house for the police to arrive. The police found Cynthia’s body on the floor and determined that her death was caused by blood loss resulting from her throat being cut. Additional facts will be disclosed during our discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

(1) Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

¶ 5. Gibson asserts the following nine instances in which his trial counsel was allegedly ineffective: (1) trial counsel failed to object to hearsay, (2) trial counsel failed to object to speculation, (3) trial counsel failed to object to improper medical testimony, (4) trial counsel failed to object to leading questions, (5) trial counsel failed to object to other irrelevant and/or improper evidence, (6) trial counsel improperly solicited hearsay or other objectionable evidence, (7) trial counsel failed [188]*188to request a mistrial or other relief, (9) trial counsel failed to request a manslaughter instruction, (9) trial counsel failed to object to implicit remarks regarding Gibson’s decision to not testify.

Although Gibson asserts these instances which he contends resulted in his being ineffectively represented, he cites no authority holding that such lapses in trial counsel’s performance amount to ineffective representation. Moreover, Gibson has embellished what occurred during the course of his trial and made broad accusations which really have no solid underpinning in the record. Nevertheless, we consider his allegations in the summary fashion in which he presented them.

¶ 6. To make a successful claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must meet the two-pronged test set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Strickland explains the test as follows:

First the defendant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient. This requires showing that counsel made errors so serious that counsel was not functioning as the “counsel” guaranteed the defendant by the Sixth Amendment. Second, the defendant must show that the deficient performance prejudiced his defense. This requires showing that counsel’s errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is unreliable.

Id. at 687, 104 S.Ct. 2052. The Strickland court further teaches that “[t]he constitution does not guarantee a right to errorless counsel” and declares:

[A] court must indulge a strong presumption that counsel’s conduct falls within the wide range of reasonable professional assistance; that is, the defendant must overcome the presumption that, under the circumstances, the challenged action “might be considered sound trial strategy.” See Michel v. Louisiana, supra, 350 U.S., at 101, 76 S.Ct., at 164. There are countless ways to provide effective assistance in any given case. Even the best criminal defense attorneys would not defend a particular client in the same way.

Id. at 686, 689-90, 104 S.Ct. 2052

¶ 7. In the case at bar, Gibson must overcome the strong presumption that his trial counsel’s decisions were a result of sound trial strategy and fall within a reasonable range' of acceptable conduct. While Gibson’s trial counsel’s performance might have been less than perfect, we find nothing in the record that proves that Gibson’s trial counsel’s performance was not in the “wide range of reasonable professional assistance.”

¶ 8. To satisfy the second prong of the test, “the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for counsel’s unprofessional errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. A reasonable probability is a probability sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome.” Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. 2052. We find that even if Gibson’s trial counsel was deficient, there is no reasonable probability that the proceeding would have been different given the plethora of evidence against him, including his confession that he “killed the b — h.”

(2) Admission of Testimony and Evi-dentiary Rulings

¶ 9. Gibson argues that the circuit judge erred in many of his rulings, which deprived Gibson of a fair trial. He cites three instances in which the trial judge allegedly erred.

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466 U.S. 668 (Supreme Court, 1984)
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697 So. 2d 777 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
895 So. 2d 185, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 1142, 2004 WL 2857570, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibson-v-state-missctapp-2004.