Leffingwell v. State

747 So. 2d 879, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 466, 1999 WL 509125
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 20, 1999
DocketNo. 1998-KA-01152-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 747 So. 2d 879 (Leffingwell 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
Leffingwell v. State, 747 So. 2d 879, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 466, 1999 WL 509125 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

KING, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Donald Warren Leffingwell was convicted of murder and sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved by his conviction and sentence, Leffingwell has appealed and assigned three errors. This Court quotes those errors verbatim:

I. THE COURT ERRED WHEN, OVER OBJECTION BY THE DEFENDANT, IT REFUSED TO ALLOW THE DEFENDANT TO BE PRESENT DURING THE QUALIFYING OF THE JURY, THEREBY REMOVING HIS ABILITY TO ASSIST IN HIS OWN DEFENSE DURING THIS VITAL STAGE IN THE PROCEEDINGS.
II. THE COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI TO RECALL WITNESS, SHERIFF DONALD GRAY, OVER OBJECTION AND MOTION OF THE [880]*880DEFENDANT, ON THE SECOND DAY OF THE TRIAL TO REHABILITATE HIS FALSE AND/OR ERRONEOUS TESTIMONY OF THE PREVIOUS DAY.
III. THE COURT ERRED WHEN IT REFUSED TO GRANT JURY INSTRUCTION NUMBER D-15, REGARDING ACCOMPLICE TESTIMONY, IN THAT THE STATE RELIED UPON THE TESTIMONY OF CINDY LOU COOK, WHO WAS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE EVENTS FOR WHICH THE DEFENDANT WAS TRIED AND CONVICTED.

¶ 2. Finding no error, this court affirms the circuit court judgment.

FACTS

¶ 3. On November 8, 1997, Donald Leff-ingwell offered Cindy Cook a ride to Byha-lia, Mississippi. Before traveling to Byha-lia, Leffingwell stated a desire to have her meet three of his friends, “Red”, Red’s wife, and Tommy Thompson.

¶ 4. Leffingwell and Cook met his friends at a tattoo shop in Vaiden, Mississippi. They arrived at the shop at approximately 10:00 p.m., and thereafter drank beer and played pool. Eventually, Leff-ingwell, Cook and Thompson left the tattoo shop and went across the street to a hotel.

¶ 5. After arriving at the hotel, Leffing-well and Thompson argued outside in the parking lot. Cook remained in a hotel room. According to Cook, while looking out a hotel, room window, she saw Thompson wave a gun and then walk out of the parking lot. At this point, Leffingwell walked into the hotel room and stated that Thompson had shot at him.

¶ 6. Later that evening, Thompson returned to the hotel room and apologized to Leffingwell. Leffingwell refused the apology and insisted that Thompson leave. According to Cook, when Thompson left, Leffingwell stated to her that he was going to kill him.

¶ 7. The next morning, Leffingwell and Cook went to the tattoo shop where they ran into Thompson. After talking to Thompson momentarily, Leffingwell decided to give him a ride to Grenada, Mississippi. While riding to Grenada, Thompson mentioned that he had to urinate. Leff-ingwell took an exit off the highway and began to look for a dirt road. Thompson indicated three times that he had seen an appropriate place to stop, but Leffingwell continued to drive. Leffingwell finally stopped on a dirt road, and both men got out of the truck to urinate.

¶ 8. Leffingwell returned to the truck, but yelled at Thompson to remain off the road. He removed a nine millimeter handgun from underneath his coat, aimed it partially out of the truck window and shot Thompson five times. Leffingwell then got out of the truck and walked over to Thompson. He picked up Thompson’s left hand, and stated to Cook that Thompson was dead.

¶ 9. Leffingwell returned to the truck and ordered Cook to get down on the floorboard. They left the area and headed back to Vaiden to retrieve Leffingwell’s tattoo guns. Upon retrieving the tattoo guns, Leffingwell went to talk to Red. He and Cook then drove to Nevada.

¶ 10. Later that evening, Derek Kendall drove down the dirt road where Thompson had been shot. He noticed Thompson’s body lying on the ground. Mr. Kendall called the sheriffs department to report that he had seen an injured man.

¶ 11. Sheriff Donald Gray, several deputies and an ambulance went to the reported scene. The ambulance personnel were unable to revive Thompson. He died at the scene.

¶ 12. Dr. Steven Haynes, a pathologist, performed an autopsy on Thompson. He determined that Thompson sustained five gunshot wounds: two in the back, one in the back of the left arm, one in the back of the head, and one on the left side of the left jaw. It was Dr. Haynes’s opinion that [881]*881Thompson died of a distant and penetrating gunshot wound to the back. The manner of death was homicide.

¶ 13. After several weeks, Cook returned to her home in Memphis, Tennessee. She reported the incident to the Carroll County Sheriffs Department and gave a statement. Cook was charged as an accessory to Thompson’s murder.

¶ 14. Leffingwell was arrested in Reno, Nevada on December 24, 1997, and subsequently indicted for murder. A trial was held, and the jury convicted Leffingwell. His motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and new trial was denied. Leffingwell now appeals his conviction and sentence.

ISSUES

I. THE COURT ERRED WHEN, OVER OBJECTION BY THE DEFENDANT, IT REFUSED TO ALLOW THE DEFENDANT TO BE PRESENT DURING THE QUALIFYING OF THE JURY, THEREBY REMOVING HIS ABILITY TO ASSIST IN HIS OWN DEFENSE DURING THIS VITAL STAGE IN THE PROCEEDINGS.

¶ 15. Leffingwell contends that the trial court erred by not allowing him to be present during the qualification of the jury.

Law

¶ 16. The supreme court has determined that “a defendant has the right to be present only at ‘critical stages’ of the trial.” Ludgood v. State, 710 So.2d 1222, 1224 (Miss.App.1998). These stages have been defined as “proceedings in which the defendant’s presence has a reasonably substantial relation to his opportunity to defend himself against the charges.” Id.

Analysis

¶ 17. Prior to the calling of the instant case, the trial judge proceeded to qualify the pool of prospective jurors. Leffing-well’s attorney objected, stating that his client was entitled to be present during this stage of the trial proceedings. The trial judge overruled the objection and held that the defendant was not entitled to be present at jury qualification because the case had not officially been called. ¶ 18. A defendant has the right under the Sixth Amendment to be present in the courtroom only at critical stages of the trial. Id. These stages dictate that the defendant’s presence in the courtroom has a reasonably substantial relation to his opportunity to defend himself against the charges. Id.

¶ 19. In the instant case, Leffingwell argues that he should have been present during the qualification of the jurors. Yet, he alleges nothing to demonstrate that his presence would have assisted his attorney in his defense. Id. at 1225. During the qualification process, the trial judge merely asked questions regarding the availability of the prospective jurors to serve on a jury. His questions centered around their ages, ability to read and write, existence of felony convictions, registered voter status, past jury service, present status of any personal case pending in court, employment with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, personal or family illness, and business and financial hardships. At this stage prior to trial, Leffingwell’s presence in the courtroom did not have a reasonably substantial relation to his opportunity to defend himself against the charge of murder. His case had not been called nor had juror selection begun.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
747 So. 2d 879, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 466, 1999 WL 509125, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leffingwell-v-state-missctapp-1999.