Knight v. State

854 So. 2d 17, 2003 WL 1702493
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 1, 2003
Docket2001-KA-01255-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 854 So. 2d 17 (Knight 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
Knight v. State, 854 So. 2d 17, 2003 WL 1702493 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

854 So.2d 17 (2003)

Edward Stafford KNIGHT, Sr., Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-01255-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 1, 2003.
Rehearing Denied June 24, 2003.
Certiorari Denied September 4, 2003.

*19 Anthony L. Farese, David Lee Robinson, Ashland, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

LEE, J., for the court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. In July 2001, Edward Knight was tried before a Calhoun County jury on change of venue from Union County, on charges of murder and aggravated assault. He was convicted on both counts and sentenced to serve life in prison for the murder conviction and sentenced to serve twenty years in prison for the aggravated assault charge, with five years suspended and fifteen years to serve, the sentences to run concurrently. Knight's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative a new trial was denied, and he now appeals to this Court raising the following issues: Did the judge err (1) in failing to grant Knight's motions for mistrial; (2) in failing to grant Knight's motion for new trial due to prejudicial comments the prosecutor made during closing argument; (3) in allowing the State to use peremptory strikes against jurors based on race; (4) in failing to grant Knight's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict due to insufficiency of the evidence; and (5) was the cumulative effect of errors sufficient to warrant reversal? We review each of these issues and find no error; thus, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Edward Knight worked for Piper Industries (Piper) in New Albany. During his tenure at Piper, Knight challenged those in authority and encouraged others who were disgruntled with the Piper management to speak out. On May 30, 2000, Knight, no longer employed at Piper, received unfavorable news from the unemployment office. Thereafter, he went to visit two of his Piper superiors, Paul Ferguson and Tom Jones, to find out why they told the unemployment office Knight had refused to accept the work offered to him at Piper. When Knight entered the room where Ferguson and Jones were waiting, Knight told the men he was mad at them for lying to the unemployment office, then he pulled out a gun and shot both men, killing Ferguson and wounding Jones. At trial, Knight pled insanity and offered experts and witnesses from his workplace to show that he was mentally unstable.

DISCUSSION

I. DID THE JUDGE ERR IN FAILING TO GRANT KNIGHT'S MOTIONS FOR MISTRIAL?

¶ 3. Knight argues in two separate discussions that his motions for mistrial should have been granted. The applicable standard of review for denial of a motion for mistrial and for reviewing discovery violations is abuse of discretion. Spann v. State, 771 So.2d 883(¶ 9) (Miss.2000); Graves v. State, 767 So.2d 1049(¶ 6) (Miss. Ct.App.2000).

a. Motion for mistrial—discovery violations

¶ 4. Knight first claims that the State improperly allowed New Albany Police *20 Chief David Grisham to testify about a statement Knight made to him which had not been disclosed in discovery. During interrogation, Officer Grisham and Investigator Tim Kent talked with Knight, who refused to sign a written statement reflecting the oral statement he gave to the officers. At trial, Officer Grisham testified that he asked Knight why he shot the men, and Knight replied, "It was just something I had to do." When asked how he felt at that point after the shootings, Knight stated, "Well, I don't have any feelings for Paul Ferguson." Knight argues that these statements were not disclosed during discovery, and, thus, were inadmissible as he was not able to have his experts prepare a rebuttal.

¶ 5. Officer Grisham was called as a rebuttal witness, and Knight moved for a mistrial twice during Grisham's testimony. At a bench conference during Grisham's testimony, Knight's attorney stipulated that the prosecutor had told him that Officer Grisham was going to testify that Knight offered no remorse after the shooting. Knight argues that, while this is true, he did not know Grisham would testify that Knight stated he did not have any feelings for Paul Ferguson, which would be a motive for the shooting. This Court fails to see how these two statements differ materially. Thus, we find no error, since Knight was aware of and stipulated to the introduction of Officer Grisham's testimony prior to his taking the stand. The trial judge did not abuse his discretion, and this point is without merit.

b. Motion for mistrial—reference to race

¶ 6. Knight also moved for a mistrial during the prosecutor's closing argument. We adhere to our previously stated standard of review in determining whether the trial judge abused his discretion in declining to grant the motion.

¶ 7. Anthony Robinson, Knight's former co-worker, testified in Knight's defense. During cross-examination, the prosecutor asked, "You know in all these statements that he talks about when he's talking to other people, he refers to you as that little black guy. Did you know that?" Knight immediately objected to the form of the question, moved to strike and moved for a mistrial. The court responded by sustaining the objection and asking the jury to disregard the question.

"It is presumed that the jury follows the instructions of the trial court." We have repeatedly held that where the trial court sustains an objection to the inadmissible testimony of a witness and instructs the jury to disregard same, prejudicial error does not result from that improper testimony. "[W]here an objection to such impermissible testimony is sustained and the jury is admonished by the trial court to disregard the statement, this Court has repeatedly held that refusal to grant a mistrial is proper."

Baldwin v. State, 784 So.2d 148(¶ 31) (Miss.2001) (citations omitted).

¶ 8. Mississippi forbids the State from in the "remotest degree" prejudicing the jury against a defendant on account of race, or indeed any other invidious prejudice. Tate v. State, 784 So.2d 208(¶ 33) (Miss.2001). In recalling Knight's description of Robinson as "a little black guy," the prosecution was referring to reports from psychiatrist Dr. Gerald O'Brien who had penned Knight's precise words in his reports. However, the prosecutor may have overstepped his bounds in choosing to use these words in his examination. Regardless, pursuant to the above-stated rule from Baldwin, the judge took the necessary corrective measures, and he did not *21 abuse his discretion in failing to grant a mistrial.

II. DID THE JUDGE ERR IN FAILING TO GRANT KNIGHT'S MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL DUE TO PREJUDICIAL COMMENTS THE PROSECUTOR MADE DURING CLOSING ARGUMENT?

¶ 9. Knight argues that the judge erred in declining to grant his motion for new trial; however, we find this issue barred from our review. Knight contemporaneously objected at the time the prosecutor made the objectionable comments in his closing argument, and the judge sustained, admonishing the jury to disregard the statements. However, Knight failed to ask for a mistrial at that point, which bars him on appeal from requesting our review. "[T]he Mississippi Supreme Court has held `in order to take advantage of improper argument on the part of a prosecuting attorney, objection must be interposed at the time the statement is made, and the point will not be considered on appeal unless motion for a mistrial is timely made.'" Logan v. State,

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Related

Stewart v. State
29 So. 3d 12 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Burnside v. State
912 So. 2d 1018 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
854 So. 2d 17, 2003 WL 1702493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/knight-v-state-missctapp-2003.