McKnight v. State

94 So. 3d 1144, 2011 WL 5157728, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 668
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 1, 2011
DocketNo. 2010-KA-00682-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 94 So. 3d 1144 (McKnight 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
McKnight v. State, 94 So. 3d 1144, 2011 WL 5157728, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 668 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Kelvin McKnight was convicted of murder. On appeal, McKnight argues that: (1) the prosecutor did not have a good-faith basis for certain questions he asked a defense witness on cross-examination; (2) the prosecutor used as substantive evidence a videotape that was admissible solely for impeachment purposes; (3) the prosecutor gave improper advice to the jury about the jury instructions during closing arguments; (4) there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction or, alternatively, that the verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence; and (5) his attorney was ineffective and thereby deprived him of his constitutional right to counsel. We find no reversible error; therefore, we affirm the circuit court’s judgment and McKnight’s conviction.

FACTS

¶ 2. On August 28, 2008, McKnight traveled from his home in Jackson to Louise, Mississippi, where his brother Larry McKnight (“Larry”) lived. McKnight arrived at Larry’s house at approximately 3:00 p.m. The two brothers went to the car wash, which was a popular hangout in Louise, where they met Larry’s friend Roderick Langston.

¶ 3. At approximately 7:00 p.m., Larry went to work at a local fish farm. Larry returned to the car wash at approximately 8:45 p.m., while Larry was on his lunch break.

¶ 4. According to Larry and McKnight, they then drove in Larry’s work truck with Langston to Larry’s house. Larry and McKnight sat in the truck while Langston went inside. Larry testified that Lang-ston returned to the truck with a handgun. Larry also testified that McKnight was in the back seat and could not see the gun.

[1147]*1147¶ 5. According to Larry and McKnight, they dropped Langston off at the car wash. They then went to the Fountain Club, a bar located a few blocks away. They pulled up to the club in Larry’s truck. Three witnesses for the State testified that Langston was with Larry and McKnight. Larry and McKnight testified that they were alone.

¶ 6. At the club, Larry got into an altercation with Herbert Broomfield and Jessica Amons. Broomfield and Amons were dating. The altercation was over an earlier affair between Larry and Amons. Amons hit Larry over the head with a beer bottle, and then several people starting punching and kicking Larry while Broom-field held him in place. At the same time, McKnight and Langston got into a fight.

¶ 7. Anneice Hoskins was an eyewitness who testified that McKnight tried to help Larry, but Langston restrained him. Amons testified that she saw McKnight and Langston fight, but she did not know what it was about. McKnight testified that when he tried to help Larry, Lang-ston grabbed him and started punching him. The owner of the club then yelled at everyone to stop fighting and kicked everyone out of the club.

¶ 8. Amons testified that she got in her car, and as she was driving away, she heard a gunshot. Broomfield testified that he had already left the club on foot and was en route to his house, which is near the club, when he heard a gunshot.

¶ 9. Hoskins testified that McKnight yelled at the crowd in the parking lot: “When you see that weak-ass ni* *er Roderick Langston, tell him I’m going to deal with him in the street!” Then, Langston emerged from the crowd and said, “I’m right here.” Hoskins then heard a gunshot and saw Langston fall forward.

¶ 10. Roy Montgomery testified that McKnight yelled: “Roderick Langston, you bitch-ass ni* *er, next timé I see you I’m going to deal with you!” Langston replied: “Here I am.” According to Montgomery, McKnight then pulled out a gun and shot Langston.

¶ 11. Larry testified that he was hunched over by his truck in a significant amount of pain when he heard someone say: “[Langston], don’t do that!” Then, he heard a gunshot, and seconds later he saw McKnight run toward the truck.

¶ 12. McKnight testified that he had found a gun on the floor of the club during the fight. In the parking lot, he heard someone say: “[Langston], don’t do that!” He turned around and saw Langston “coming from behind his back with it in his hand.” He then tried to fire a warning shot into the air but accidentally struck Langston.

¶ 13. A bullet penetrated Langston’s skull, lodged in his brain, and caused his death. After Langston’s death, Larry and McKnight fled the scene in Larry’s truck. Larry dropped McKnight off at the car wash. McKnight got in his car and left town. Larry went to the fish farm where he worked. Larry was arrested there later that night. McKnight turned himself in a few days later.

¶ 14. McKnight was charged with murder under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(1) (Rev.2006). The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to life. His appeal was deflected to this Court for review.1

[1148]*1148ANALYSIS

1. Whether it was plain error for the prosecutor to ask questions to Larry without a good-faith basis for the questions.

¶ 15. After his arrest, Larry gave a videotaped statement to the police. The defense called Larry as a witness at trial. On cross-examination, the prosecutor tried to impeach Larry’s testimony with prior inconsistent statements contained on the videotape. The prosecutor did not play the tape at that time, but he did play the tape later during his rebuttal and again during his closing argument.

¶ 16. McKnight claims that several of the questions the prosecutor asked Larry were not supported by the videotape. McKnight argues that it was error to allow these questions because the prosecutor had no good-faith basis for the questions. Because McKnight’s trial attorney did not make a contemporaneous objection at trial, McKnight must rely on the plain-error doctrine on appeal.

¶ 17. The Mississippi Rules of Evidence do not require that a cross-examiner first produce proof of a witness’s prior inconsistent written or oral statement. M.R.E. 613. Nevertheless, although no proof is required, the cross-examiner must have a good-faith basis for his questions. Flowers v. State, 773 So.2d 309, 326 (¶ 58) (Miss.2000). The cross-examiner must have some legitimate reason to believe that the witness did in fact make the prior inconsistent statement.

¶ 18. The following exchange occurred between the prosecutor and Larry:

Q. Isn’t it true that you' told the law enforcement officer when he was videotaping you that [McKnight], your brother, went to the club before you did? I mean, excuse me. Went to the truck before you did?
A. No. He — no, sir.
[[Image here]]
Q. And isn’t it true you told the officer that your brother got the pistol from the truck and he turned around and made the statements about he was going to do to [Lang-ston] on the street — about what he was gonna do to him on the street? Isn’t it true you told that in the videotape?
A. I don’t recall.
[[Image here]]
Q. Isn’t it true that you told the officers that [Langston] overheard [McKnight] talking about him and that [Langston] stepped off the steps of the club and started walking to [McKnight]?
A. No, sir, I didn’t.
Q.

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Bluebook (online)
94 So. 3d 1144, 2011 WL 5157728, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 668, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcknight-v-state-missctapp-2011.