Jenkins v. State

913 So. 2d 1044, 2005 WL 1154214
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided May 17, 2005·No. 2003-KA-01953-COA·Published·Cited by 8 cases

Opinion

913 So.2d 1044 (2005)

Eddie JENKINS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-01953-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 17, 2005.
Rehearing Denied October 25, 2005.

*1046 Patsy Ann Bush, attorney for appellant.

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

Before LEE, P.J., MYERS and BARNES, JJ.

MYERS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. An indictment was returned against Eddie Jenkins by the Copiah County, Mississippi Grand Jury during the July 2003 term, charging him with the offense of aggravated assault pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated § 97-3-7 (Rev.2000). Jenkins was tried in the Copiah County Circuit Court, found guilty of the crime charged, and sentenced to a term of fifteen years imprisonment, with nine years suspended, six years to serve, and three years post-release supervision. Aggrieved by the findings and sentence imposed by the trial court, Jenkins appeals raising the following three issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING JENKINS'S MOTION TO QUASH THE INDICTMENT.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY GRANTING JURY INSTRUCTIONS S-4, D-10 AND D-13.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY FAILING TO GRANT JENKINS'S PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION AND/OR JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT OR ALTERNATIVELY FOR A NEW TRIAL.

Finding no error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. On Friday, October 4, 2003, Jenkins was accompanied by Troy Ayers, and the two went to the Oak Ridge Apartments, which is located immediately outside Hazlehurst, Mississippi. Upon arriving, Jenkins parked his vehicle in a parking lot adjacent to the apartments and began socializing with the crowd that had gathered there.

¶ 3. At approximately 10:30 that evening, Bernard Windom, a resident of Oak Ridge Apartments, came to the parking lot so that he could leave and go to work, but he was unable to do so because his car was blocked by Jenkins's vehicle. Windom recognized the car as belonging to Jenkins and asked him to move the vehicle so that he could go to work. Windom, believing that Jenkins would move his car as requested, got into his vehicle and prepared to leave. Jenkins did not move his car; so, Windom again went to ask Jenkins to move and a fight ensued.

¶ 4. The two men were separated momentarily and Jenkins retrieved a pistol from his car, returned to Windom, and struck Windom over the head and in the face with the pistol. The two men were again separated and Jenkins fired two *1047 shots in the air, which dispersed the crowd which had gathered.

¶ 5. At some point during the confrontation, Mattrea Washington came to Windom's aid, and Jenkins threatened to strike her if she refused to move. Washington refused to move and was struck by Jenkins's pistol as she was attempting to aid Windom.

¶ 6. After firing the pistol, and upon word that the police were coming, Jenkins left the scene. Officer Keith McElveen of the Copiah County Sheriff's office arrived at the apartments, where he noticed a large gathering of people. McElveen found Windom in an apartment, lying behind the door with head injuries. Windom was then taken to the emergency room for medical treatment, which required the use of staples for his wounds. Through his investigation, McElveen developed Jenkins as the suspect and soon arrested him at a home in Crystal Springs, Mississippi.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING JENKINS'S MOTION TO QUASH THE INDICTMENT.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7. "The issue of whether an indictment is fatally defective is an issue of law and deserves a relatively broad standard of review by this Court." Nguyen v. State, 761 So.2d 873, 874(¶ 3) (Miss.2000) (citing Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647 (Miss.1996)). We note that the Mississippi Supreme Court has previously stated that the "question of whether an indictment is fatally defective is an issue of law." Peterson v. State, 671 So.2d 647, 652 (Miss.1996). "However, where questions of law are raised, the applicable standard of review is de novo." Graves v. State, 822 So.2d 1089, 1090(¶ 4) (Miss.Ct.App.2002) (citing Pickett v. State, 751 So.2d 1031, 1032(¶ 8) (Miss.1999); Brown v. State, 731 So.2d 595, 598(¶ 6) (Miss.1999)). Therefore, Jenkins' claim will be reviewed de novo.

DISCUSSION

¶ 8. Jenkins contends that the trial court erred by failing to quash the indictment, because the charge of aggravated assault was fatally flawed for failing to recite an essential element of aggravated assault. Jenkins contends that the grand jury's failure to find that Jenkins used the gun as a means likely to produce death or serious bodily injury, or that Jenkins had caused "serious" bodily injury, constitutes a fatal defect in his indictment. The indictment in question read in pertinent part as follows:

Eddie Jenkins, late of county aforesaid, on or about the 4th day of October, 2002, in COPIAH County, Mississippi, and within the jurisdiction of this court, did wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously and purposely cause bodily injury to another, namely, one Bernard Windom, a human being, with a deadly weapon, to-wit: a handgun, by then and there striking the said Bernard Windom about the head and face, contrary to and in violation of Section 97-3-7 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi.

¶ 9. At the trial level, Jenkins filed his motion to quash the indictment, arguing that the indictment was fatally flawed for its failure to recite an essential element of the crime of aggravated assault. Specifically, Jenkins argues that the grand jury failed to find that he used the gun as a means likely to produce death or serious bodily injury, nor did the grand jury find that Jenkins caused "serious" bodily injury. Prior to trial, Jenkins's counsel filed a *1048 motion to quash the indictment on this theory. During argument of Jenkins's motion, his counsel inquired as to under which subsection of Mississippi Code Annotated § 97-3-7(2) (Rev.2000) Jenkins was charged. This colloquy is as follows:

MS. BUSH: At this point, Your Honor, may I make a ore tenus motion to ask her which one of the sections that she's traveling under. He's only indicted under the general statute, and I want to know if she's going under (a) or (b).
MS. BUCKLEY (assistant district attorney): The statute speaks for itself, Your Honor.
MS. BUSH: Well, I —
MS. BUCKLEY: The victim was assaulted with a deadly weapon.
MS. BUSH: I believe if I'm not — under Rushing, I believe that I am entitled to, you know, know which section.
THE COURT: She just told you.
MS. BUSH: Is that 2(b)?
MS. BUCKLEY: I don't have the — I don't' have the statute in front of me. If you can't look at the indictment and look at the statute, we'll go upstairs and do that together —
MS. BUSH: Well, I've got it. Here's the statute, if you'll take a look at it.
THE COURT: Counsel, the assistant district attorney just told you that your client produced bodily injury with a deadly weapon. I don't know if that's section (a) or se

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