Jeycob England v. State of Mississippi

195 So. 3d 830, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 14, 2016 WL 123168
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 12, 2016
Docket2014-KA-00048-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 195 So. 3d 830 (Jeycob England v. State of Mississippi) 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
Jeycob England v. State of Mississippi, 195 So. 3d 830, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 14, 2016 WL 123168 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Jeycob England was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Scott Ford, and sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. England appeals his conviction and sentence, asserting two grounds: (1) the State’s medical expert’s testimony violated England’s Confrontation Clause right; and (2) England received an illegal sentence above the statutory maximum. This Court affirms.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On July 22, 2011, England went to the Electric. Cowboy, a bar in Jackson, Mississippi, with his girlfriend, Bridget Gagliardi, and his friend, Christian Craft. Also at the club were Ford and his friends, Christopher Fodi, Noel Castillo, Ryan Connelly, and Mark Laxton. When the club closed for the night, Ford allegedly waved to Gagliardi, whom he met a couple of months earlier. England disliked Ford’s interaction with Gagliardi, and a verbal altercation between Ford and England ensued.

¶ 3. After the men separated, each got into a different car and left the club. Coincidentally, the two cars went to the same gas station down the street from the club. Once again, England and Ford got into a shouting match. The men decided to have a physical fight, but wanted to go somewhere other than the gas station. England, who drove Gagliardi and Craft, backed into the other car driven by Laxton on the way out of the gas station. Both cars continued down the road until they reached the Target parking lot.

¶ 4. Once at the parking lot, Craft decided to fight for England in a one-on-one fight against Ford. Witness accounts vary greatly as to what happened next. Craft apparently attempted to tackle Ford at the knees, but Ford got the upper hand and placed Craft in a headlock. At some point, England and the other men joined in the fight until England broke away from the group and reached his car.

¶ 5. Castillo, Connelly, and Fodi testified the fight essentially ended with everyone returning to their respective cars, when they heard England’s car coming towards the group. The men were walking in a line with Ford on the far left of the group. Everyone got out of the way of the car, except Ford, who was hit with the right-front of the car. The car ran over Ford before speeding off through the parking-lot exit and onto the interstate.

¶ 6. In contrast, England, Craft, and Ga-gliardi testified that the fight was still ongoing at the time England hit Ford. Craft stated he was able to get up just before England hit Ford. England testified he drove towards the crowd to save Craft from the other men, and unintentionally ran over Ford. Ford subsequently died from his injuries.

*833 ¶ 7. A Hinds County grand jury indicted England for deliberate-design murder under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(l)(a) (Rev.2006) on August 31, 2011. The jury found England guilty of the lesser-included offense of manslaughter, for which the trial court sentenced him to twenty years in prison. England initially appealed his conviction alleging a Confrontation Clause violation because Dr. Mark LeVaughn testified about Ford’s autopsy and toxicology results, but did not conduct the autopsy and toxicology tests himself. England then filed a supplemental brief attacking his sentence as illegal. This Court will address both issues.

ANALYSIS

¶ 8. England asserts the trial court erred in letting Dr. LeVaughn testify about his final autopsy report when he did not conduct the autopsy himself. England also finds error in Dr. LeVaughn relying on and testifying about Ford’s toxicology report, which he did not conduct or prepare himself. Further, England argues his sentence of twenty years for manslaughter violates the statutorily set maximum sentence for a death caused by a motor vehicle.

I. Whether Dr. LeVaughn’s testimony violated England’s constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him.

¶ 9. At trial, the State’s expert witness, Dr. LeVaughn, testified about Ford’s final autopsy report. England objected on grounds of a Confrontation Clause violation because Dr. Adel Shaker, not Dr. LeVaughn, performed Ford’s autopsy and created the preliminary autopsy report. England also objected because Dr. Le-Vaughn did not perform the toxicology test he relied on in making his final report.

¶ 10. An appellate court’s “standard of review regarding admission or exclusion of evidence is abuse of discretion.” Jenkins v. State, 102 So.3d 1063, 1065 (¶ 7) (Miss.2012) (citing Smith v. State, 25 So.3d 264, 269 (¶ 11) (Miss.2009)). However, “[cjonstitutional issues are reviewed de novo.” Id.

¶ 11. The United States and Mississippi Constitutions guarantee the right of the defendant to confront witnesses against him. U.S. Const, amend. VI; Miss. Const, art. 3, § 26. “The United States Supreme Court has held that the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause bars the admission of ‘testimonial statements’ made by a witness who does not appear at trial, unless the witness is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine him.” Jenkins, 102 So.3d at 1066 (¶ 9) (citing Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 53-54, 59, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004)). “Forensic laboratory reports created specifically to serve as evidence against the accused at trial are among the ‘core class of testimonial statements’ governed by the Confrontation Clause.” Id. (citing Melendez-Diaz v. Massachusetts, 557 U.S. 305, 310, 129 S.Ct. 2527, 174 L.Ed.2d 314 (2009)).

¶ 12. However, the Mississippi Supreme Court has held that, “[b]y contrast, when the testifying witness is a court-accepted expert in the relevant field who participated in the analysis in some capacity, such as by performing procedural checks, then the testifying witness’s testimony does not violate a defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights.” McGowen v. State, 859 So.2d 320, 339 (¶ 68) (Miss.2003).

To determine if a witness satisfies the^ defendant’s right to confrontation, we apply a two-part test: First, we ask whether the witness has “intimate knowledge” of the particular report, *834 even if the witness was not the primary analyst or did not perform the analysis firsthand. Second, we ask whether the witness was “actively involved in the production” of the report at issue. We require a witness to be knowledgeable about both the underlying analysis and the report itself to satisfy the protections of the Confrontation Clause.

Jenkins, 102 So.3d at 1067 (¶ 13) (internal citations omitted). Using this framework, this Court must decide whether Dr. Le-Vaughn could testify about the final autopsy report or the toxicology report without violating England’s right to confrontation.

¶ IS. Looking to the test, this Court must ascertain whether Dr. Le-Vaughn possessed “intimate knowledge” and was “actively involved in the production” of the autopsy report. England primarily objected to Dr. LeVaughn’s testimony about Ford’s final autopsy report because Dr.

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Bluebook (online)
195 So. 3d 830, 2016 Miss. App. LEXIS 14, 2016 WL 123168, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jeycob-england-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2016.