James v. State

86 So. 3d 286, 2012 WL 1399120, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 234
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 24, 2012
DocketNo. 2010-KA-00786-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 86 So. 3d 286 (James 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
James v. State, 86 So. 3d 286, 2012 WL 1399120, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 234 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

MAXWELL, J,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Mississippi has adopted Uniform Rule of Circuit and County Court 9.06 as a procedural safeguard to ensure an accused is competent to stand trial. Johnny James Jr. was convicted in the Newton County Circuit Court of the statutory rape of a twelve-year-old girl. On appeal, he argues his procedural due-process rights were violated because the trial court did not comply with Rule 9.06.

¶ 2. We find the retrospective competency hearing ordered by this court satisfies the requirements of procedural due process and the purpose of Rule 9.06. We also find no reversible error in the trial court’s overruling James’s objections to the State’s leading questions and that the weight of the evidence supports James’s conviction. For these reasons, we affirm James’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

I. The Rape

¶ 3. S.L. is a young cousin of James.1 In May 2007, S.L. was twelve years old, while James was twenty six.

¶4. On the night of May 25, 2007, a relative dropped S.L. and her younger brother off with James and Roger Huddle-ston, who were riding around Newton County in a pickup truck collecting aluminum cans. At some point, the group took a break and parked the truck. S.L. testified that while Huddleston went to the woods to relieve himself, James told her to “give me some or we are not going home.” S.L. understood this to mean James wanted to have sex with her. Upset, S.L. took off running down the dirt road.

¶ 5. According to S.L., James caught up with her at a point outside of eyesight from the truck. He forced S.L. to the ground and pulled down her elastic-waist pajama pants and panties. S.L. testified that, despite telling James to stop, James put his penis in her vagina and then rolled her over and penetrated her bottom. James eventually released S.L. when she said she had to go to the bathroom. Once off the ground, S.L. took off running toward the truck.

¶ 6. Huddleston testified that, when he came back to the truck, he could not find James or S.L. A few moments later he heard S.L. screaming from a distance. When S.L. came back to the truck, Hud-dleston noticed she had been crying and appeared disheveled. S.L. immediately told Huddleston James had raped her.

¶ 7. S.L. testified that the group drove back to James’s mother’s house, where S.L. was staying. S.L. testified she had been bleeding and had to throw away her panties. She also testified she told James’s mother, Brenda, that night about the rape. But Brenda did not notify the authorities. In June 2007, S.L. told Brenda about a separate incident in which Hud-dleston had fondled her. Again, Brenda did not report S.L.’s allegations.

¶ 8. In July, S.L.’s mother took S.L. to the Department of Human Services. A [290]*290DHS employee interviewed S.L., who provided a written account of the rape. S.L.’s parents then reported the rape to the Newton County Sheriffs Office. S.L. testified she had not told her parents earlier about the rape because she was afraid her father would try to hurt James, and she did not want her father to go to jail if he did.

¶ 9. Huddleston pled guilty to gratification of lust, agreeing as part of his plea to testify about what happened the night of May 25, 2007. James was charged with statutory rape.

II. The Trial

¶ 10. James was tried on August 19, 2008. His counsel did not argue James was not competent to stand trial. Nor did his attorney seek to continue the trial until James’s competency could be determined. James was convicted of statutory rape and sentenced to twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, to be served day for day.

¶ 11. James filed a post-trial motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or new trial, raising the issues of weight of the evidence, inadmissible hearsay, failure to grant his proposed jury instruction, and failure to grant his motion in limine. He did not assert he was entitled to a new trial because he had not been declared competent before the August 19, 2008 trial.

¶ 12. The trial judge denied his motion, and James timely appealed. On appeal, James argues the trial judge erred by not holding a pre-trial competency hearing and making an on-the-record determination that James was competent to stand trial. See URCCC 9.06. The record contained a motion for psychiatric exam, submitted by James’s attorney, Shawn Harris. Harris attached an affidavit in support of the examination, in which Harris stated he had consulted with “Robert B. Evans” several times and believed the defendant was not competent to stand trial. The trial judge granted the motion. The record contained two orders rescheduling the psychiatric exam, the last scheduling the exam on August 4, 2008, two weeks before trial. The record was silent about whether such an exam ever took place. The next recorded action was James’s August 19, 2008 trial, in which Christopher Collins, and not Harris, represented James. At no point did Collins raise his client’s incompetency to stand trial.

¶ 13. Because of the uncertainty in the record, on August 11, 2011, this court ordered this case be remanded to circuit court (1) for a hearing to determine whether Harris had intended to seek a psychiatric evaluation of James and, if so, (2) for a nunc pro tunc, or retrospective, competency hearing to determine whether James was competent to stand trial in August 2008.

¶ 14. On October 12, 2011, the trial judge heard testimony from Harris. Harris testified he had sought an evaluation of James and the reference to “Robert B. Evans” in the motion was a typographical error. Harris testified James was examined by a psychiatrist prior to trial and that Harris had received the psychiatrist’s report, which found James was competent. Harris testified he did not try James’s case, another public defender did.

¶ 15. Satisfied James had sought a mental evaluation under Rule 9.06, the trial judge then heard testimony on James’s competency to stand trial from Dr. Mark Webb, the psychiatrist who evaluated James in August 2008. In Dr. Webb’s report, he opined James was competent to stand trial and was not criminally insane at the time of the crime. The report was introduced into evidence. Dr. Webb testified he held the same opinion as he did in [291]*291August 2008, when he made the report. Dr. Webb testified that, while he did not keep a record of his correspondence, his protocol after making such a report was to send a copy to the defendant’s attorney, the district attorney’s office, and the clerk’s office. James’s counsel cross-examined Dr. Webb about his report and James’s family and mental history. On December 13, 2011, the trial judge issued an order finding James was competent to stand trial on August 19, 2008.

DISCUSSION

¶ 16. James raises three issues on appeal. He argues (1) his constitutional rights were violated by the trial judge’s failure to comply with Rule 9.06 and not conducting an on-the-record competency hearing prior to his August 19, 2008 trial; (2)the trial judge committed reversible error by overruling objections to leading questions; and (3) the trial judge committed reversible error by denying his motion for new trial. We find no reversible error and affirm the judgment of conviction and sentence.

I. Competency Hearing

¶ 17.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
86 So. 3d 286, 2012 WL 1399120, 2012 Miss. App. LEXIS 234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/james-v-state-missctapp-2012.