McDowell v. State

813 So. 2d 694, 2002 WL 307838
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 28, 2002
Docket2000-KA-01671-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 813 So. 2d 694 (McDowell v. State) 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
McDowell v. State, 813 So. 2d 694, 2002 WL 307838 (Mich. 2002).

Opinion

813 So.2d 694 (2002)

Antonio McDOWELL
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2000-KA-01671-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 28, 2002.
Rehearing Denied April 18, 2002.

*695 David L. Walker, Southaven, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Scott Stuart, attorneys for appellee.

Before SMITH, P.J., WALLER and COBB, JJ.

*696 COBB, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. In March of 2000, Antonio McDowell (McDowell) and Deaigo Hill (Hill) were jointly indicted by the grand jury of Tallahatchie County, First Judicial District, on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and capital murder by killing Bobbie J. Whitten while engaged in the commission of the crime of robbery. Hill pled guilty to simple murder and subsequently testified against McDowell. At the conclusion of trial, a jury convicted McDowell on both counts, and he was sentenced to serve consecutive sentences of five years for the conspiracy and life without parole for the capital murder. Following the denial of his post-trial motion for a new trial or in the alternative for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, McDowell now appeals raising the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS D-1 (PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION), D-6 (SELF DEFENSE) AND GIVING JURY INSTRUCTION C-10 (ELEMENTS OF ARMED ROBBERY).
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL ERRED IN DENYING THE APPELLANT'S MOTION IN LIMINE TO EXCLUDE AND IN THE ALTERNATIVE TO LIMIT INTRODUCTION OF PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE.
III. WHETHER THE VERDICTS OF THE JURY OF GUILTY OF CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT ROBBERY AND CAPITAL MURDER ARE AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

Concluding that all of McDowell's issues are without merit, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. The facts in this case are seriously in dispute. Hill freely admits to being an accomplice to McDowell during the robbery and murder of Bobbie J. Whitten, while McDowell asserts that he was never present at the Whitten's Store and had nothing to do with the robbery and shooting of Mr. Whitten.

¶ 3. According to Hill, on November 2, 1999, McDowell invited him to come to McDowell's home so they could go fishing. Once Hill arrived at McDowell's home, however, McDowell decided they should go hunting instead. Later that day, after hunting for rabbits with McDowell's .22 rifle, McDowell showed Hill a sawed-off.410 shotgun that he had put together and hidden in the ceiling. This shotgun was later determined to be the one used in the shooting death of Whitten. Hill spent that night at McDowell's house, and the next morning they dressed and prepared to go to school. While waiting for the bus, McDowell went back inside the house to retrieve a bigger coat. Once McDowell returned to the bus-stop, he stated that he did not feel like going to school, and he and Hill decided to skip school.

¶ 4. Hill further testified that while they sat across the road from the bus-stop and talked, McDowell suggested that they rob Whitten's Country Grocery Store, which was located approximately a mile from McDowell's house. McDowell then took a rope from a horse-shed across the street, planning for Hill to tie Whitten and to close the front door when they got to the store. McDowell hid the shotgun under his coat, down his pants leg and Hill had the rope in his pocket, and they walked to the store. When they arrived, McDowell entered first and Hill followed. McDowell pointed the shotgun at Whitten and ordered him to go outside with him. As Hill closed the front door, he heard a shot from *697 the side door through which McDowell and Whitten had just exited. McDowell instructed Hill to drag Whitten's body back inside the store, while he looked for the keys to the safe for the money. McDowell found the keys and retrieved a moneybag from the safe.

¶ 5. Hill concluded his testimony saying that he and McDowell ran across the road into the woods, where they divided the money, and McDowell buried the moneybag. McDowell then threw the shotgun into a pond, where it was later found by law enforcement officers. McDowell and Hill returned to McDowell's house, and McDowell's mother took them to school around 1:00 p.m.

¶ 6. When McDowell took the stand on his own behalf, his testimony totally contradicted Hill's testimony. McDowell insisted that he had left his .410 shotgun at Hill's house several weeks prior to the incident. Although McDowell agreed that they skipped school, he said he was asleep in a wooded area "on a pine knot" across the road from his house, during the time of the shooting and robbery.

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS D-1 (A PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION), D-6 (SELF DEFENSE) AND GIVING JURY INSTRUCTION C-10 (ELEMENTS OF ARMED ROBBERY).

¶ 7. "In determining whether error lies in the granting or refusal of various instructions, the instructions actually given must be read as a whole. When so read, if the instructions fairly announce the law of the case and create no injustice, no reversible error will be found." Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 782 (Miss.1997)(quoting Collins v. State, 691 So.2d 918 (Miss.1997)). Furthermore, "the general rule is that jury instructions must be supported by evidence and must provide that the jury must find each element of the crime under the proper standard of proof." Turner v. State, 721 So.2d 642, 648 (Miss.1998).

A. Was McDowell Entitled To A Peremptory Instruction?

¶ 8. McDowell first suggests that the trial court erred in refusing his peremptory instruction (D-1) which instructed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery in Count I and capital murder in Count II. This Court applies the same standard of review for a denial of a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, a directed verdict and a peremptory instruction. Each challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence and is tested in a light most favorable to the State. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss. 1993). In passing on McDowell's request for a peremptory instruction, the credible evidence consistent with his guilt must be accepted as true, together with any favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from that evidence. We are authorized to reverse only where the evidence so considered is such that reasonable and fairminded jurors could only find the accused not guilty. Id.

¶ 9. A review of the record before this Court does not reveal that it was so wanting for evidence that McDowell was entitled to a peremptory instruction. Hill's testimony that connected McDowell to the crime and the fact that the .410 shotgun used to kill Whitten belonged to McDowell, provided sufficient evidence to warrant the trial court's refusal of the peremptory instruction.

*698 B. Was McDowell Entitled To A Self-Defense Instruction?

¶ 10. McDowell secondly argues that his self-defense instruction (D 6) should have been given. Even though McDowell's theory of his case was that he was not there and he did not commit the crime, he nevertheless requested a self-defense instruction in response to Hill's testimony. However, Hill's testimony provided no credible evidence to support the requested self-defense jury instruction.

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Bluebook (online)
813 So. 2d 694, 2002 WL 307838, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcdowell-v-state-miss-2002.