Mark Matthews v. City of Madison, Mississippi

143 So. 3d 579
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 31, 2014
Docket2012-CT-01528-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 143 So. 3d 579 (Mark Matthews v. City of Madison, Mississippi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mark Matthews v. City of Madison, Mississippi, 143 So. 3d 579 (Mich. 2014).

Opinions

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

WALLER, Chief Justice, for the Court:

. ¶ 1. Mark Matthews was convicted of simple assault and disorderly conduct in Madison County Municipal Court. The decision subsequently was affirmed on appeal by the County Court of Madison County and the Madison County Circuit Court. The Court of Appeals found no error and also affirmed. Matthews v. City of Madison, 143 So.3d 579, 582-83, 2013 WL 5184708, *2 (¶ 11) (Miss.Ct.App. Sept.17, 2013). While the result reached by the Court of Appeals is correct, we granted certiorari to clarify the proper burden of proof when the Castle Doctrine is asserted as a defense.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. The following facts are taken from the Court of Appeals opinion:

¶ 2. Matthews and Brittany Sullivan had a daughter, Macy Kate, in 2008. Because they were not married, custody arrangements were established by a final judgment of filiation and support filed in Madison County Chancery Court, granting joint legal and physical custody to both parents. The custody agreement provided that Matthews had custody of Macy Kate on Wednesday nights and was to return her “the next morning at 7:30 a.m. or such time [that accommodated] both [parents’] travel to work.”
¶ 3. On the morning of Thursday, May 26, 2011, Matthews arrived at Brittany’s [573]*573residence, which was also the residence of her mother, Pam Sullivan, to drop off Macy Kate. Matthews parked his vehicle at the curb, because he was required to park on the street and stay off the Sullivans’ property as a result of a trespassing conviction from a year earlier. Pam exited the house, and Matthews asked Pam where Brittany was. Pam testified that she told him that Brittany had spent the night at her grandparents’ house because she did not want to see Matthews. Pam walked to the rear passenger door of the vehicle and opened it to unbuckle Macy Kate from her car seat. Matthews, who had exited the vehicle, slammed the door on Pam, pinning her in the door. After a struggle, Pam freed herself from the door, removed Macy Kate, and walked onto her property, where Matthews was not allowed to go....
¶ 5. Pam filed an affidavit against Matthews for assault. Matthews was convicted of simple assault and disorderly conduct in the City of Madison Municipal Court.
¶ 6. Matthews appealed to the County Court of Madison County. After a bench trial de novo, Matthews was found guilty of simple assault under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-7(l)(a) (Rev. 2006) and disorderly conduct for refusing to comply with a police officer’s request under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1) (Rev. 2006).

Matthews v. City of Madison, 143 So.3d 579, 581-82, 2013 WL 5184708, *1-2 (Miss.Ct.App. Sept.17, 2013).

¶ 3. The Madison County Circuit Court affirmed the county court and found, in part, that the Castle Doctrine did not apply, therefore, Matthews was not entitled to the statutory presumption. On appeal to the Court of Appeals, Matthews argued that the county court had erred because it had failed to apply the Castle Doctrine. Id. at 582-83, 2013 WL 5184708, at *2. Specifically, Matthews asserted “that under the Castle Doctrine, the assault was justified to prevent Pam from kidnaping his child.” Id. The Court of Appeals stated that “[t]he statute requires that the ‘person who uses defensive force shall be presumed to have reasonably feared imminent death or great bodily harm....’” Id. (quoting Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-15(3) (Rev. 2006)). “No evidence was presented that Matthews had feared imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or Macy Kate.” Id. at 583, 2013 WL 5184708, at *2. Therefore, the Court of Appeals found the county court did not err in refusing to apply the doctrine. Id. at 583-84, 2013 WL 5184708, at *3.

DISCUSSION

¶ 4. When reviewing the findings of a county-court judge sitting in a bench trial without a jury, we will reverse only if his or her findings are manifestly in error or clearly wrong. Pride Oil Co., Inc. v. Tommy Brooks Oil Co., 761 So.2d 187, 193 (Miss.2000) (quoting Amerson v. State, 648 So.2d 58, 60 (Miss.1994)). “The trial judge has sole authority to determine the credibility of a witness when sitting as the trier of fact in a bench trial.” Pride Oil Co., 761 So.2d at 193. We will affirm a trial judge sitting without a jury on a question of fact unless substantial evidence shows the trial judge was manifestly wrong. Id.

¶ 5. In his petition for certiorari, Matthews argues the Court of Appeals findings regarding the application of the Castle Doctrine are in conflict with this Court’s prior decisions. Matthews states that the statute’s presumption justifying defensive force has no requirement for proof that he be in “reasonable fear” be[574]*574fore using defensive force. See, e.g., Newell v. State, 49 So.3d 66, 68-69 (Miss.2010).

¶ 6. The City of Madison argued in its supplemental brief that the Castle Doctrine does not apply to this case because it deals with “justifiable homicide.” Whether the Castle Doctrine may be applied as a defense to a charge of simple assault is a matter of first impression for this Court. The Legislature adopted the Castle Doctrine in 2006, and it was codified at Mississippi Code Section 97 — 3—15(3)—(4),1 See Miss. Laws 2006, Ch. 492, § 1 (eff. July 1, 2006). Since the passage of the law, we have had the occasion to interpret the Castle Doctrine only when deadly force was used. See White v. State, 127 So.3d 170 (Miss.2013); Sanders v. State, 77 So.3d 484 (Miss.2012); Maye v. State, 49 So.3d 1124 (Miss.2010); Newell v. State, 49 So.3d 66 (Miss.2010). Interpreting the doctrine for the first time, this Court stated that there are two prongs to Mississippi’s Castle Doctrine. See Newell, 49 So.3d at 74. In the case before us, subsection (4) does not apply because it deals with the use of “deadly force under subsection (l)(e) or (f).... ” Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-15(4) (Rev. 2006).

¶ 7. The other prong requires the trier of fact to look to the circumstances listed in subsection (3), which states in pertinent part that an individual “who uses defensive force shall be presumed to have reasonably feared ... the commission of a felony upon him ... against a vehicle which he was occupying ... if the person against whom the defensive force was used, was in the process of forcibly entering ... [an] occupied vehicle.... ” Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-15(3) (Rev. 2006) (emphasis added). Thus, the presumption in subsection (3) applies to any use of defensive force if it is under one of the circumstances listed in that subsection, not only deadly force.

¶ 8. Matthews argues that the felony being committed was kidnapping; he was in a place he had a right to be and was not the initial aggressor and was not engaged in any unlawful acts; therefore, the lower court should have applied the statutory presumption to justify Matthews’s reaction.2

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Mark Matthews v. City of Madison, Mississippi
143 So. 3d 579 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2014)

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Bluebook (online)
143 So. 3d 579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mark-matthews-v-city-of-madison-mississippi-miss-2014.