Lett v. State

902 So. 2d 630, 2005 WL 468321
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 1, 2005
Docket2003-KA-01967-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 902 So. 2d 630 (Lett 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
Lett v. State, 902 So. 2d 630, 2005 WL 468321 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

902 So.2d 630 (2005)

Edwin Darrell LETT, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-01967-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 1, 2005.
Rehearing Denied May 24, 2005.

*632 George S. Shaddock, Pascagoula, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., CHANDLER and ISHEE, JJ.

CHANDLER, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Edwin Darrell Lett was convicted by a jury for murder, and the Jackson County Circuit Court sentenced Lett to serve a life sentence. Lett appeals, raising the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE JURY VERDICT IS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE

II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE STATE'S JURY INSTRUCTION S-2, SUCH AN INSTRUCTION BEING A "CHECK-OFF" LIST BOLSTERING THE TESTIMONY OF THE SUSPECT WITNESSES

III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE STATE'S JURY INSTRUCTION S-4

IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING THE STATE'S JURY INSTRUCTION OF MANSLAUGHTER

V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING THE DEFENDANT'S JURY INSTRUCTION DEFINING REASONABLE DOUBT

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On December 2, 2001, in a hotel room in Moss Point, Mississippi, there was a drinking and drug-dealing party. The testimony at trial showed that there was a fight between Timothy Dickerson and Edwin Darrell Lett. Shots were fired, and these shots ultimately killed Dickerson. After the shooting, Lett left the hotel *633 room. At approximately 5:17 a.m., the Moss Point Police received a call reporting the shooting. Several eyewitnesses were present at the time of the shooting, and they all accused Lett of shooting Dickerson.

¶ 4. After investigating the incident and interviewing various witnesses, the Moss Point authorities determined Lett to be a prime suspect in the crime. While Lett was in the Moss Point Municipal Building paying traffic fines, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Dickerson. After a trial and an eight and one-half hour deliberation by the jury, Lett was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-19(1) (Rev.2000). He now prosecutes this appeal, arguing that the conviction was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and arguing that the trial court abused its discretion in granting certain jury instructions while denying other jury instructions.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE JURY VERDICT WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE

¶ 5. On appeal, courts will not reverse and grant a new trial unless the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable justice. Kingston v. State, 846 So.2d 1023, 1026(¶ 9) (Miss.2003) (citing Pruitt v. State, 807 So.2d 1236, 1243(¶ 22) (Miss.2002); Dudley v. State, 719 So.2d 180, 182(¶ 7) (Miss.1998)). Lett argues that the lack of credible evidence from the prosecution warrants a reversal. He argues that each of the State's eyewitnesses had reasons to fabricate their testimony and accuse Lett of murder, and that the jury should have rejected their respective testimonies.

¶ 6. We find that the State put on credible evidence that Lett shot and killed the victim. This evidence was established by testimony of five eyewitnesses, including Shianne Hartley, Pam Strandberg, Michael Bennett, James Bridges, and Michael Johnson.

¶ 7. Shianne Hartley testified that she was at the hotel for the purpose of buying drugs. She saw a confrontation between two men who argued. Hartley recalled hearing three shots. She testified that Lett was the only person in the room who owned a gun, and that Lett was within about three feet from Dickerson immediately before the shooting. Hartley could hear Dickerson and Lett argue about who had rented the hotel room. When the gun was fired, everyone in the room screamed and dove to the floor. When Hartley got to her feet and closed the door, she noticed that Lett's car was gone. Hartley picked Lett from a photo lineup as the person who shot Dickerson. Hartley testified that she was not high at the time, although she admitted that she had smoked and snorted cocaine approximately three hours before the shooting.

¶ 8. Pam Strandberg, who was in the hotel room when the shooting occurred, testified that she saw Dickerson and Lett approach each other. Out of the corner of her eye, Strandberg saw Dickerson push Lett on the shoulder, which appeared to be a small push. Then, a gun went off, but she was not sure how many shots were fired. Strandberg saw Lett with the gun in his hand. Although Strandberg had seen Dickerson with a shotgun earlier that day, he laid that gun on the counter. Dickerson's gun remained on the counter when Lett entered the room and when the shot was fired. Strandberg did not tell the police what had happened when they arrived *634 because she was scared. Strandberg admitted to having snorted cocaine only a few minutes before the shooting took place.

¶ 9. Michael Bennett was at the hotel at the time of the shooting and came to the hotel room with another eyewitness, Michael Johnson. He corroborated the testimonies of Hartley and Strandberg. Only twenty seconds after Dickerson and a girl entered the room, another male entered and began arguing with Dickerson over who rented the room. They were rubbing against each others' chests as they argued. He testified that Johnson unsuccessfully tried to calm the men down. The second man pulled a gun on Dickerson, and Dickerson began backing away. The man fired one shot and went towards the door, then held the gun sideways and fired another shot. Bennett left the scene after the shooting. Bennett was unable to recognize the person doing the shooting, because his eyes stayed focused on the pistol.

¶ 10. James Bridges was at the parking lot of the hotel when he heard the gunshots. After he heard the shots, he saw a man come out of the room. Although Bridges could not recall what the man was wearing or how tall he was, he did know the man's name to be "Rail."[1] Bridges left the parking lot after seeing Lett leave the room. The police interviewed Bridges two days after the shooting. Bridges identified Lett as the person that he saw leaving the room in the morning. Bridges also identified Lett in the courtroom.

¶ 11. Michael Johnson was at the hotel at the time of the shooting. It had been approximately two hours since Johnson had his last alcoholic drink. Johnson recalled Strandberg approaching his truck in the parking lot and asking him and Bennett to come in the room. Johnson was in the room approximately two minutes when Dickerson came in the hotel room with a girl. Johnson noticed that Dickerson was carrying a gun in a trench coat. Dickerson walked into the bathroom, and when he came out of the bathroom, he was wearing a t-shirt and did not have a gun. Approximately two minutes later another man knocked on the door and came in the room. Dickerson told the man to leave, and the two men engaged in a fight. Johnson stood up and tried to calm the men down, but to no avail. At that time, a shot was fired, but not by Dickerson. After the first shot was fired, the man turned the pistol upside down and fired another shot. Johnson saw the man who fired the shots drive away. According to Johnson, there were seven people in the room at the time of the shooting.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
902 So. 2d 630, 2005 WL 468321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lett-v-state-missctapp-2005.