Lofton v. State

818 So. 2d 1229, 2002 WL 1056982
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 28, 2002
Docket2001-KA-00487-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 818 So. 2d 1229 (Lofton 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
Lofton v. State, 818 So. 2d 1229, 2002 WL 1056982 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

818 So.2d 1229 (2002)

Matthew W. LOFTON a/k/a Matthew Lofton, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-00487-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 28, 2002.

*1230 Wayne Dowdy, Magnolia, Nelson Shane Estess, attorneys for appellant.

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

Before McMILLIN, C.J., LEE, and BRANTLEY, JJ.

BRANTLEY, J., for the court.

¶ 1. In the Circuit Court of Lincoln County, Matthew Lofton was tried on a three-count indictment charging sexual battery (count one), touching a child for a lustful purpose (count two), and contributing to the delinquency of a minor (count three). He was convicted on counts two and three and acquitted on count one. His post-trial motions were denied. Aggrieved, Walker timely appeals his conviction raising the following issues as error:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY MAKING AN ALLEGED COMMENT ON THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THE JURY.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY EXCLUDING TESTIMONY REGARDING ALLEGED FALSE ALLEGATIONS MADE BY THE VICTIM AGAINST HER FATHER.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT GRANTED STATE'S JURY INSTRUCTION S-1.
IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FAILED TO INSTRUCT THE JURY REGARDING RULE 404(b) EVIDENCE.
V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING EVIDENCE, NOT PRODUCED DURING DISCOVERY, OF THE DEFENDANT'S PRIOR SEXUAL RELATIONSHIP WITH A SIXTEEN YEAR OLD FEMALE.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Around mid October 2000, Matthew Lofton, a twenty-three year-old male, employed as a deputy with the Lincoln County Sheriffs Department, met M. M., a *1231 fifteen year-old female junior high student, whose date of birth is October 11, 1985. Thereafter, he gave her cigarettes on numerous occasions. Lofton visited M. M. several times, as well as had many phone conversations with her. On the evening of October 29, 2000, M. M. called Lofton and asked him to pick her up from church. After picking her up, instead of bringing her home, they drove and parked at a wood yard.

¶ 3. Hereafter, the facts as to the subsequent events are totally in dispute. What is undisputed is that Lofton and M. M. had kissed, he had ejaculated in her presence, M. M. had semen on her skirt, and Lofton had poured Coke on her skirt where the semen was located before bringing M. M. home.

¶ 4. During trial, M. M. testified that Lofton suggested that they go see if there was a roadblock instead of going to her house. He pulled into a wood yard and parked, despite M. M.'s statement that he needed to take her home. Lofton attempted to kiss her, but she pulled away. She asked Lofton for a cigarette and he asked what would she give him in return. She said "nothing." He leaned over and kissed her and afterwards he gave her a cigarette. At this point she stated that Lofton started his vehicle and acted like he was going towards M. M.'s home, but he turned around and went further back into the wood yard and parked. Lofton continued to initiate sexual advances, which elevated into him pulling her panties off, her skirt up, and taking his shorts off, despite her continuous objections. She also stated that he laid her back and put his sexual organ inside of her. At that time she told him to stop because "it was hurting," but he continued for about fifteen or twenty minutes until he "pulled out and some of the semen got on [her skirt]." After, instead of bringing her home, he drove to the parking lot of a "little store" and poured Coke on her skirt "to cover up the two spots" of semen. He then instructed M. M. to tell her sister that she had spilled Coke on her skirt and that someone else brought her home.

¶ 5. Alternatively, he testified that she instructed him not to take her home, but to ride around or park somewhere. He stated that he parked at the wood yard where, after giving her a cigarette, she made the sexual advances. He claimed that she kissed him and he kissed her back and that she stimulated him with her hand inside of his shorts. After leaving the wood yard, they noticed semen on the front of her skirt, down around the knee area. He testified that she wanted to get it off and suggested that he pour the Coke on the skirt. He poured Coke on the skirt and wiped it off.

¶ 6. The spots on the skirt were verified to be seminal fluid by an expert in the field of serology at the Mississippi Crime Lab. The expert testified that the tests indicated that the semen was deposited on the inside of the skirt. The parties stipulated "that the examination stains by DNA testing would prove" that the semen was that of Lofton.

¶ 7. Furthermore, the investigator from the district attorney's office, Jim Smith, questioned Lofton in the presence of the Sheriff of Lincoln County and the highway patrol investigator. All three testified that after Jim Smith stated, "we need to talk to you, Matt, about having sex with a fifteen year old girl," Lofton responded, "I thought she was sixteen."

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY MAKING AN ALLEGED COMMENT ON THE EVIDENCE BEFORE THE JURY.

*1232 ¶ 8. Lofton's first assignment of error results from his counsel's closing argument as follows:

She [M.M.] said that he had sex with her for twenty minutes and she said that was the first time, and not one word of pain, not one word of hurt. Is that believable testimony that you can put in the bank or put in your heart and soul and say I believe it so much that I'm willing to find Matt Lofton guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Not one word about pain—
BY MR. LAMPTON:—Excuse me, Your Honor, I don't believe that's an accurate characterization of the testimony.
BY THE COURT: I sustain. There was testimony to that effect. (as to the pain)
BY MR. DOWDY: Your Honor, may I be heard just a moment?
BY THE COURT: Yes, sir.
(DISCUSSION AT BENCH OUT OF HEARING OF JURY)
BY MR DOWDY: Your Honor, I move for a mistrial, now, the Court has commented on the evidence—Judge, you have commented on the evidence.
BY THE COURT: Ladies and gentleman, what was part of the testimony is what you remember the testimony to be, it's not what I say or what the lawyers say, it's your remembrance of the testimony. You think back over the last two days and you remember what you remember as being said, discuss that with your fellow jurors and determine what the facts are. Proceed, Mr. Dowdy.

¶ 9. Lofton argues that the trial court's comment prejudiced his case. He speculates that "the comment likely made the jury skeptical of everything else that defense counsel argued and left the counsel on uneven ground with prosecution." Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-17-35 (Rev.2000) states in part: "The judge in any criminal cause, shall not sum up or comment on the testimony, or charge the jury as to the weight of the evidence...." Id.

¶ 10. However, trial judge's may explain their rulings on objections "so long as they do not comment upon the evidence in a prejudicial manner." Wells v. State, 698 So.2d 497, 510 (Miss.1997). As the Mississippi Supreme Court has explained in Wells, the law

does not place the judge in a straitjacket nor prevent him from having anything to say during the course of a trial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
818 So. 2d 1229, 2002 WL 1056982, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lofton-v-state-missctapp-2002.