Leonard v. State

972 So. 2d 24, 2008 WL 73241
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 8, 2008
Docket2006-KA-02160-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 972 So. 2d 24 (Leonard 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
Leonard v. State, 972 So. 2d 24, 2008 WL 73241 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

972 So.2d 24 (2008)

Randy LEONARD, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2006-KA-02160-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

January 8, 2008.

*26 Randy Leonard, pro se.

George T. Holmes, Leslie S. Lee, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General, by Deirdre McCrory, attorneys for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., IRVING and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

¶ 1. A jury sitting before the Winston County Circuit Court found Randy Leonard guilty of sexual battery. The circuit court sentenced Leonard to fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with five years to serve and ten years of post-release supervision. The Mississippi Office of Indigent Appeals filed a brief pursuant to Lindsey v. State, 939 So.2d 743 (Miss.2005) and reported that, after a good faith effort to find arguable error, it could find none. Leonard filed a pro se brief and, to paraphrase, submits that the circuit court erred when it (1) tried him without jurisdiction, (2) allowed the prosecution to amend the indictment to reflect the correct date of the offense, (3) overruled his motion to dismiss, (4) overruled his motion for JNOV, (5) violated his rights to a speedy trial, and (6) impaneled a jury comprised of more women than men. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. Before we proceed with the facts of this case, it is necessary to discuss the relationships between the various people involved. Leonard was found guilty of sexually battering sixteen-year-old Jane at the home he shared with Jane's aunt, Donna, in Louisville, Mississippi.[1] Donna's mother, Linda, also lived with Donna and Leonard. Linda's other daughter, Belinda, is Jane's mother.

¶ 3. On August 12, 2005, Jane spent the night with Linda, Donna, and Leonard. Jane slept on the couch that night. According to Jane, around 4:00 a.m., Leonard woke her up when he put his finger in her vagina. Leonard denied that allegation. According to Leonard, he got up around 11:00 p.m. or 12:00 when "one of [his] partners named Charles" visited. Leonard claimed that Jane was undressed and asleep on the couch. Leonard maintained that he only "picked [Jane's] leg up and put it on the couch and covered her up with a big towel."

¶ 4. In any event, Jane left early the next morning and did not tell anyone what happened. She later went to another *27 grandparent's house. Belinda stopped by Leonard's house to borrow a skirt for a funeral. After the funeral, Belinda went back to Leonard's house before she went to pick up Jane. Leonard asked Belinda to drive him to the store. Belinda agreed.

¶ 5. At some point during their drive, Leonard told Belinda that Jane mistakenly thought he tried to touch her inappropriately. When they arrived at Jane's grandmother's house, Jane let her mother inside. However, she slammed the door in Leonard's face. Shortly afterwards, Jane relayed her version of events to Belinda. When Belinda told Donna about Jane's accusation, Donna kicked Leonard out of the house. Donna later asked Leonard to return.

¶ 6. Greg Clark, an investigator with the Louisville Police Department, took statements from Jane and Belinda. When Leonard was picked up for questioning, Leonard waived his right to remain silent and gave a statement in which he reiterated his version of events.

¶ 7. On October 25, 2005, the Winston County Grand Jury returned an indictment against Leonard and charged him with sexual battery. Leonard pleaded not guilty and proceeded to trial. Ultimately, the jury found Leonard guilty of sexual battery. Consequently, the circuit court sentenced Leonard to fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with five years to serve and ten years of post-release supervision. Leonard appeals.

¶ 8. The Mississippi Office of Indigent Appeals prepared a brief on Leonard's behalf. However, the Office of Indigent Appeals stated:

Counsel for the Appellant hereby represents to the Court pursuant to Lindsey v. State, 939 So.2d 743 (MS 2005), that counsel has diligently searched the procedural and factual history of this criminal action and scoured the record searching for any arguable issues which could be presented to the court on Mr. Leonard's behalf in good faith for appellate review, and upon conclusion, has found none.

Leonard prepared a pro se brief in which he appears to raise five issues: (1) the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to try and sentence him "according to 97-3-95(1)(a) [citation to the record] Discovery Violation," (2) the circuit court erred when it allowed the prosecution to amend the indictment, (3) the circuit court erred when it overruled his motion to dismiss and/or his motion for JNOV, (4) the circuit court violated his right to a speedy trial, and (5) he suffered prejudice because there were more women than men on the jury.

¶ 9. Leonard did not include an argument incident to any of those issues. Leonard included an argument portion with his brief, but he did not address those five issues. Instead, he suggested that he is entitled to bail pending appeal. We can offer no relief in that regard, as Leonard's appeal is now presently before us.

¶ 10. After Leonard filed his pro se brief, the Office of Indigent appeals filed a supplemental brief. The Office of Indigent Appeals did not discuss Leonard's first issue, stated as "THE TRIAL COURT erred because it was without jurisdiction to try to impose sentence according to 97-3-95(1)(a) [record citation] Discovery Violation." Instead, the Office of Indigent Appeals stated, "Counsel cannot locate anything in the record to discuss any discovery violation." However, the Office of Indigent Appeals submitted arguments for Leonard's other four issues. We will begin our analysis of Leonard's remaining four issues, renumbered for clarity.

*28 ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE CIRCUIT COURT ERRED WHEN IT ALLOWED THE PROSECUTION TO AMEND THE INDICTMENT AFTER TRIAL.

¶ 11. The original indictment reflected the date of the offense as August 13, 2005. Prior to Leonard's trial, the prosecution moved to amend the indictment to reflect the date of the offense as of August 14, 2005. Leonard objected. The circuit court did not rule on the prosecution's motion at that time. Instead, the circuit court took the matter under advisement. However, the circuit court ultimately granted the prosecution's motion to amend the indictment. Even so, the circuit court did not enter an order amending the indictment. Leonard seems to claim the circuit court erred when it granted the prosecution's motion to amend the indictment. The Office of Indigent Appeals suggests there are three questions within this issue: (1) "whether the state was entitled to amend the indictment," (2) "whether the amendment was `effective due to a lack of an order being entered,'" and (3) "if the amendment was not effective and there is a variance between the date of the offense in the indictment and the date of the offense from the trial evidence, whether such variance is fatal?"

1. Whether the trial court erred when it allowed the prosecution to amend the indictment.

¶ 12. "The question of whether an indictment is fatally defective is an issue of law and deserves a relatively broad standard of review by an appellate court." Davis v. State, 866 So.2d 1107, 1110(¶ 11) (Miss.Ct.App.2003). Trial courts may amend indictments only to correct defects of form. Spears v. State, 942 So.2d 772, 774(¶ 6) (Miss.2006).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
972 So. 2d 24, 2008 WL 73241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leonard-v-state-missctapp-2008.