Miller v. State

919 So. 2d 1137, 2005 WL 2496007
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided October 11, 2005·No. 2003-KA-00089-COA·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

919 So.2d 1137 (2005)

Harold Loyde MILLER, III, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-00089-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

October 11, 2005.

*1139 Julie Ann Epps, Samuel H. Wilkins, Jackson, attorneys for appellant.

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

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

ISHEE, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Harold Loyde Miller, III appeals his conviction for manslaughter. Finding no error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. In the early morning hours of September 3, 1999, Amanda Duncan was visiting her friends, Jonathan Fuller and Lacey Slater, at their apartment in Clinton, Mississippi. During her visit, Duncan got into an argument on the telephone with her boyfriend, James Drake. During the conversation, Drake told Duncan that he was planning on coming over to the apartment. Since they had been arguing, Duncan decided to leave so that she would not be there when he arrived. Duncan left the apartment and drove around for a while in her car. While Duncan was driving around, Drake arrived at the apartment. Duncan returned to the apartment complex a short while later.

¶ 3. As Duncan arrived back at the apartment complex, Harold Miller happened to pull up in his vehicle; Miller was also on his way to visit Fuller and Slater at their apartment. As Duncan and Miller were walking together toward the building, Drake came outside. Seeing Duncan and Miller together, Drake believed that Duncan was cheating on him with Miller. Drake proceeded to assault Miller, hitting him twice in the face. Drake's second blow knocked Miller to the ground. Drake then got down and looked at Miller, asked him if he was all right, then followed Duncan into the apartment.

¶ 4. Once inside, Duncan and Drake talked for about two minutes. During that time, Duncan convinced Drake that she and Miller were not cheating on him. Concerned that he had hurt Miller, Drake went back outside to check on him. About a minute after Drake left the apartment, Duncan answered Miller's knock at the door. Once Duncan opened the door, Miller announced that he had "shot his ass." Duncan went outside to find Drake lying on the ground on his stomach. Drake died a short time later from a single gunshot wound to the heart.

¶ 5. Police officers responded to the scene. Miller admitted shooting Drake and was arrested. He was then treated for the facial abrasions and the laceration caused by Drake's assault. The treating physician classified Miller's injuries as minor. The doctor testified that in his expert opinion Miller had not received a serious beating and he did not suffer any serious bodily injury.

¶ 6. In October 2002, Miller was convicted by a jury of manslaughter. His subsequent motion for a new trial or, in the alternative a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, was denied. Aggrieved by his conviction, Miller appeals to this Court *1140 asserting the following: (1) whether the conviction should be reversed and rendered because the evidence was insufficient under Weathersby v. State; (2) whether the jury instructions impermissibly shifted the burden of proving self-defense to the defendant and confused the jury about the burden of proof; (3) whether a new trial should be granted because the trial court erred in admitting improper expert testimony; (4) whether Miller's conviction should be reversed because the State knowingly relied on false evidence; (5) whether the conviction should be reversed because the evidence was insufficient as a matter of law to support the conviction; and (6) whether a new trial should be granted because of the State's failure to disclose exculpatory evidence.

ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

I. Whether the conviction should be reversed and rendered because the evidence was insufficient under Weathersby v. State.

¶ 7. Miller argues that since he was the only eyewitness to the homicide, and his version established that he was acting in self-defense, he was entitled to the benefit of the Weathersby rule. As such, he argues that the trial court should have granted his request for a directed verdict or a peremptory instruction. See Weathersby v. State, 165 Miss. 207, 147 So. 481 (1933). In Weathersby, the Mississippi Supreme Court held "that where the defendant or the defendant's witnesses are the only eyewitnesses to the homicide, their version, if reasonable, must be accepted as true, unless substantially contradicted in material particulars by a credible witness or witnesses for the [S]tate, or by the physical facts or by the facts of common knowledge." Weathersby, 165 Miss. at 209, 147 So. at 482. Miller attempts to support his argument that the Weathersby rule applies by challenging the credibility of the State's witnesses who contradicted Miller's version of the events which resulted in Drake's death. We find this attempt to be unsuccessful.

¶ 8. Miller maintained at trial that he was savagely beaten by Drake a few minutes before he shot Drake. Miller also testified repeatedly that after the assault, his only thought and intention was to get away from the scene. However, the State offered testimony from another resident of the apartment complex, Beverly Williams, who awoke to the noise of the initial argument and assault that night. She testified that she looked out her window and observed from approximately fifty to seventy-five feet away Miller walking alone from the parking lot area toward the apartment Duncan and Drake were in during the period after the assault and before the gunfire. The State also offered testimony from the emergency room physician, Dr. Jeffrey Hubacek, who examined and treated Miller in the hospital the night of Drake's killing. Dr. Hubacek testified that in his expert opinion Miller's injuries were minor, and that Miller had not received a serious beating, and that he did not suffer any serious bodily injury.

¶ 9. Based on a thorough review of the record evidence, we conclude that the testimony from both the neighbor and the doctor contradicted in material particulars Miller's version that he was savagely beaten by Drake and that he was attempting to leave the scene. Furthermore, Miller's version of the events of that night was also substantially contradicted in material particulars by the expert medical witness's testimony offered by the State, which indicated that Drake fell mortally wounded in a location which was inconsistent with Miller's version.

¶ 10. With this record testimony in mind, we refuse Miller's invitation to *1141 weigh the credibility of the State's witnesses and to find that the trial court erred in refusing to apply the Weathersby rule. "The jury is the sole judge of the credibility of witnesses." Torrey v. State, 891 So.2d 188, 192(¶ 20) (Miss.2004). In as much as Weathersby only applies when the evidence is uncontradicted, we specifically find this argument to be without merit. Roberson v. State, 838 So.2d 298, 305(¶ 29) (Miss.Ct.App.2002).

II. Whether the jury instructions impermissibly shifted the burden of proving self-defense to the defendant and confused the jury about the burden of proof.

¶ 11. Miller asserts that Mississippi law does not require a defendant to prove that he acted in self-defense. Miller argues that if the evidence creates a reasonable doubt as

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Miller v. State, 919 So. 2d 1137, 2005 WL 2496007 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

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