Miller v. State

18 So. 3d 898, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 675, 2009 WL 3176209
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided October 6, 2009·No. 2008-KA-00810-COA·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

KING, C.J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Frederick Miller, Jr., was convicted accessory after the fact to murder and sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC), with one year and six months to serve and three years and six months of post-release supervision. Aggrieved, Miller appeals, raising the following issues:

I. Whether the youth court had exclusive jurisdiction over his case;
II. Whether the statements that he made to the police were admissible;
III. Whether the circuit court erred by denying his motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict;
IV. Whether the verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence;
V. Whether the circuit court erred by failing to instruct the jury as to the elements of murder;
VI. Whether the indictment was fatally defective;
VII. Whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel; and
VIII. Whether there was cumulative error that warrants reversal.

Finding no error, we affirm Miller’s conviction and sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On February 7, 2007, Miller was indicted as an accessory after the fact to murder. The indictment alleged that on November 1, 2006, Miller, who was seventeen years old at the time, knew that Jerry Montez Winters had committed murder and helped Winters locate the murder weapon.

1. The Police Investigation

¶ 3. Investigator Martin Roby of the At-tala County Sheriffs Department testified that on November 1, 2006, the sheriffs department was called to a location on Highway 19 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. When the police officers arrived, they found a sport utility vehicle (SUV) on the side of the road; the vehicle had crashed into a tree. The body of Chad Jackson, who had a gunshot wound to his right temple, lay in the driver’s seat of the SUV. Kay Robertson, the Attala County coroner, testified that Jackson died as a result of the gunshot wound.

¶ 4. Investigator Roby testified that Jackson’s pockets were turned inside out, and his wallet was missing. The police officers found a .38 revolver on the ground outside of the SUV. The police officers also found a jacket and a shirt located about a mile and a half away from the scene of the crime; it was later determined that the clothing belonged to Winters. Investigator Roby interviewed Jackson’s family and friends and reviewed Jackson’s cell phone records. While reviewing the cell phone records, Investigator Roby saw that a phone call was made to Jackson’s cell phone from Miller’s cell phone at 12:30 a.m. on the day in question. Investigator Roby picked up Miller for questioning and read him his Miranda, rights. Miller signed a waiver of his Miranda rights and submitted to an interview.

2. Miller’s Interview and Trial Testimony

¶ 5. An audiotape of the interview was played for the jury. During the interview, *902 Investigator Roby questioned Miller about what transpired on the day in question. Miller said that Winters, his cousin, came to his home and asked if he could use Miller’s bicycle and cell phone. Miller agreed. Miller said that he overheard Winters make a phone call to an unidentified man in which he discussed drug activity. Winters then left Miller’s home, but he later returned.

¶ 6. During Miller’s interview at the sheriffs department, Investigator Roby asked what Winters was wearing before he left and what Winters was wearing when he returned to Miller’s home. Miller said that Winters was wearing a dark-colored, plastic jacket and a white shirt when he left. However, Winters was not wearing the jacket and white shirt when he returned.

¶ 7. When Winters returned to Miller’s home, he asked Miller and Josh Cox, a friend, to meet him at his girlfriend’s home. Miller stated that Winters “had [a] glow in his eyes” and that he looked scared and nervous, as if he had seen a ghost. Miller said, “I already knew he had done it.” However, Miller never explained what “it” was. He also stated that Winters did not tell him that he had done anything. Miller said that Winters had lost his cell phone, claiming that he had dropped it. Upset because Winters had lost his cell phone, Miller went back inside of his home. By the time Miller went back outside, Winters, Cox, and Akeem Miller (Ak-eem), Miller’s younger brother, were gone.

¶ 8. Miller said that he went to the home of Winters’s girlfriend to look for Akeem. After Miller arrived, Winters asked him if he wanted to go for a ride, and Miller agreed. Miller said that he did not know where they were going, and no one told him that anything had happened.

¶ 9. Miller said that Jeremy Stewart drove him and Winters to a location on Highway 19. Miller said that, at the location, he saw an SUV in the woods with its lights on. Upon getting out of the car and moving closer to the SUV, Miller saw a dead body inside of the vehicle. Miller said that he returned to Stewart’s car after seeing the dead body. Miller testified that he saw Winters looking for something around the SUV. Miller said that, at the time, he did not know what Winters was looking for. He later learned that Winters was looking for a gun. Miller claimed that he did not help Winters look for the gun. The boys were at the location for two or three minutes. Winters did not find what he was looking for, and they left the area. Miller said that he did not ask Winters what had happened because he was scared.

¶ 10. Miller, Winters, and Stewart returned to the home of Winters’s girlfriend. Miller said that Winters and Stewart were burning something in the trash, but he could not identify the objects. Miller said that he simply got Akeem and returned to his own home.

¶ 11. During the interview with Investigator Roby, Miller said that he talked to Winters the day after the incident. Miller claimed that he did not ask Winters what transpired the previous night. Miller said that Winters simply told him to “keep it on the down low,” which meant that Winters did not want Miller to tell anyone what he had seen.

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Miller v. State, 18 So. 3d 898, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 675, 2009 WL 3176209 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

18 So. 3d 898 (Miller v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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