Houston v. State

911 So. 2d 1018, 2005 WL 2358092
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 27, 2005
Docket2004-KA-00856-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 911 So. 2d 1018 (Houston 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
Houston v. State, 911 So. 2d 1018, 2005 WL 2358092 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

911 So.2d 1018 (2005)

Jerome HOUSTON, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-KA-00856-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

September 27, 2005.

*1019 Thomas P. Welch, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., IRVING and BARNES, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Jerome Houston was tried and convicted of sexual battery in the Circuit Court of Pike County, Mississippi. He was sentenced to twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with five years suspended, twenty years to serve and five years' post-release supervision, and was fined $5,000. From his conviction, Houston appeals to this Court alleging that the jury verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and that the district attorney's mention of a polygraph test constituted reversible error. Finding no error, we affirm.

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. At the time of Houston's trial, twenty-one-year-old "Jane"[1] was a third-year student at Ohio State University and planned to enter veterinary school in the fall. Her parents were divorced, and her father, a medical doctor, had remarried and moved to Pike County. During the summer of 2003, Jane worked on the farm of Dr. Middleton, a friend of her father, in order to obtain experience working with large animals. Each morning Jane went to Dr. Middleton's farm to feed the horses located in his "big barn" and clean their stalls.

¶ 3. Jerome Houston also worked on Dr. Middleton's farm; however, Jane testified, *1020 she and Houston had little opportunity for contact, as Houston worked primarily in the farm's other barn. Jane testified that she had spoken to Houston only twice during her employment at the farm: once when he asked her to help him place a bandage on his hand, and second when he directed Jane to a supply of additional food for the horses.

¶ 4. On July 26, 2003, Jane arrived at the farm at 7:00 a.m. to perform her usual duties. No one accompanied her, and because Dr. Middleton and his family were out of town, when she arrived no one else was at the farm. Jane testified that as she was sweeping the big barn, Houston entered the property, parking his truck between the two barns. She stated that Houston approached her in the barn and asked her if she knew when the Middletons would be returning. Jane replied that she thought it would be sometime Sunday night. Houston then asked Jane if he could show her something in the other barn, and she agreed and followed him.

¶ 5. Jane testified that when she and Houston arrived at the door to the tack room of the other barn, she "got a weird feeling" and started to back away. At that point, Houston grabbed her arm and attempted to force her into the tack room. Jane testified that she screamed and fought with him, trying to escape. Houston then threw her down on the ground outside the tack room. Several of Dr. Middleton's dogs arrived at the scene, and Jane said she "tried to sic them" on Houston, but Houston kicked the dogs out of the way. Jane testified that when she again tried to escape, Houston pulled a gun out of his pocket, held it to her head and said that he would kill her if she did not cooperate. After Houston put the gun back into his pocket, Jane tried once more to escape, but Houston again caught her. He then threw her, causing her to slide into a stall. Jane stated that Houston held her down so that she could not breathe, and at that point, thinking that she was going to die, she stopped fighting. Houston then pulled her up by her hair and forced her into the tack room. Hoping to deter him, Jane told Houston that she was menstruating; Houston, however, was not deterred. Houston then pulled Jane's pants down, pulled his down as well, and commanded Jane to take his penis into her mouth. She did so. After "a little while" Houston threw Jane down on a sack of feed and put his penis inside her vagina. Jane testified that Houston asked her whether she "liked it," and that she said "yes," again hoping that this would deter Houston from killing her. Finally, Houston stopped.

¶ 6. Jane testified that after the ordeal was over, Houston wiped himself with a towel, offered her one, and asked if he could see her again. She stated that she lied and "told him yes" because she was afraid that if Houston thought she would tell the police, he would kill her or her family. In order to convince Houston that she was sincere and to further her plan of escape, Jane made conversation with Houston and gave him her phone number. She then returned to the big barn and finished sweeping it, afraid that if she left right away Houston would catch her. After about ten minutes of sweeping, Jane started walking to her car. At this point, Houston called after her and asked for a kiss. She stated that she gave him a quick kiss in order to keep him from panicking. Jane then got into her car and left the farm.

¶ 7. Jane drove toward Southwest Regional Medical Center, the hospital where her father and stepmother worked. On the way to the hospital, Jane called her boyfriend. He testified that he could immediately tell that something was wrong, *1021 as Jane's "voice was shaking, and she was extremely upset." He testified that Jane told him that Houston had strangled her, held a gun to her head and raped her, and that during the incident she thought she was going to die. Furthermore, Jane's boyfriend testified that "[Jane] said she had to act like she liked it because she was so afraid that he was going to kill her."

¶ 8. Four staff members from the hospital testified that when Jane arrived at the hospital she was in hysterics and asked repeatedly to see her father. One of the staff members, Felicia Wells, testified that Jane was hysterical and dirty, with her hair "all pulled out of place." Betty Davis, a nurse at the hospital, also testified that Jane appeared scared and hysterical, and noted that Jane had a red mark on her neck.

¶ 9. Jane's stepmother also worked at Southwest Regional Medical Center as a nurse. She testified that when she first saw Jane at the hospital, "Her clothes were dirty. Her hair was all messed up.... Of course, her face was red, you know, she was sobbing, she could hardly breathe. She just looked a mess." She further noted that Jane's throat was red and that she had a bruise on one of her arms, a large bruise on one of her legs, a scratch on her neck and what appeared to be a rug burn on her lower back. Jane's stepmother also testified that when she first saw Jane there was still gravel embedded in the skin on her back. Lastly, Jane's stepmother testified that Jane complained for several days afterward about pain in her head, shoulder and neck. In his own testimony, Jane's father, a doctor, corroborated the descriptions of Jane's injuries and appearance at the time she arrived at the hospital. He also recounted to the jury Jane's description of the attack by Houston.

¶ 10. Jane's father and stepmother escorted her to the hospital's emergency room, where she was examined by nurse Louette Smith and Dr. Scott Smith. Louette Smith, who performed a sexual assault kit on Jane, testified that when Jane entered the emergency room, she was crying and seemed anxious. Nurse Smith also testified that Jane described Houston's attack to her.

¶ 11. Dr. Smith, accepted by the court as an expert in the field of emergency medicine, testified that he examined Jane in the emergency room on the day of the attack. Dr.

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911 So. 2d 1018, 2005 WL 2358092, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/houston-v-state-missctapp-2005.