Nelson v. State

995 So. 2d 799, 2008 WL 2097795
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 20, 2008
Docket2007-KA-01048-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 995 So. 2d 799 (Nelson 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
Nelson v. State, 995 So. 2d 799, 2008 WL 2097795 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

995 So.2d 799 (2008)

William NELSON, III a/k/a Billy Nelson, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2007-KA-01048-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 20, 2008.
Rehearing Denied September 30, 2008.
Certiorari Denied December 4, 2008.

*801 George T. Holmes, Jackson, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Ladonna C. Holland, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., IRVING and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This is an appeal from the capital murder conviction of William Nelson, III following his trial in the Circuit Court of Jackson County. Subsequent to the denial of his motion for a new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), Nelson appealed his case to the supreme court, and it was deflected here. On appeal, Nelson claims that: (1) there was insufficient evidence to demonstrate that he was guilty of capital murder; (2) the trial court erred in failing to exclude bad character evidence; (3) the trial court erred in not allowing Nelson's expert witness to testify; and (4) the trial court erred in refusing to grant defense jury instruction D-16.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 3. In August 2006, Nelson was indicted for capital murder pursuant to of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(2)(e) (Rev.2006) while in the commission of a robbery pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-73 (Rev.2006). Following a trial on the matter in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, he was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Nelson neither testified in his defense, nor were any witnesses presented to the jury on his behalf.[1] Nelson filed a motion for a new trial or, alternatively, a JNOV. However, his post-trial motions were denied. From this denial, Nelson now appeals.

FACTS

¶ 4. There was testimony during trial indicating that the victim in this case, Willie Martin Broughton, was a drug dealer. As a result of Hurricane Katrina, Broughton, Keisha Bolton, and others were living with Arthurene Pittman (Pittman) in her home. As a result of Bolton's proximity to Broughton, she, Nelson, and Earnest Covan had been stealing drugs from Broughton for an unspecified amount of time. On December 8, 2005, Nelson received the signal that Bolton had successfully stolen additional drugs from Broughton, and Nelson was to go pick up the drugs from Pittman's home.

¶ 5. Once Nelson arrived, Covan gave him a shotgun in case anything went wrong. The trio were afraid Broughton had learned of the thievery. Nelson hid the weapon in his pants. He claimed in his statement to the police that Bolton then gave him a pill bottle that she had stolen from Broughton containing crack cocaine. Later, Broughton confronted Nelson about an unrelated matter.[2] Nelson drew his weapon and told Broughton *802 that he would kill him. In response, Broughton said, "shoot me." Nelson pulled the shotgun's hammer back and shot Broughton.[3] However, Nelson claimed that the gun discharged accidently.

¶ 6. At this point, the evidence diverged. Nelson, through his statement given to the police, claimed that after shooting Broughton, he pointed the shotgun at Bolton and told her to get the rest of Broughton's drugs. When she returned she gave Nelson a pouch that contained an unidentified narcotic. Nelson claimed that he dropped the pouch and fled the scene. However, Pittman testified that after shooting Broughton, Nelson knelt down, rolled Broughton over, and retrieved a pill bottle.

¶ 7. Soon after the murder, Nelson turned himself in to the authorities. During a search incident to arrest, a small amount of crack cocaine was found on Nelson's person. During an interview, Nelson admitted that the crack cocaine found on him was a portion of the same crack cocaine he had stolen from Broughton. Additionally, Nelson led law enforcement to where he hid the clothes he was wearing the night of the murder, as well as the remaining crack cocaine stolen from Broughton.

¶ 8. Additional facts will be discussed below as needed.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING NELSON'S MOTIONS FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT OR JNOV.

¶ 9. At the close of the State's case-in-chief, Nelson moved for a directed verdict. Additionally, after the jury returned its verdict, Nelson similarly made a post-trial motion for a JNOV. The trial court denied Nelson's motions at both stages of the trial, and Nelson argues that the trial court's denials were made in error.

¶ 10. Motions for directed verdict and JNOV challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, and the standard of review of denials of such motions is the same. Parks v. State, 884 So.2d 738, 743(¶ 15) (Miss.2004). Specifically, this Court's standard of review when the legal sufficiency of the evidence is challenged is as follows:

[This Court] must, with respect to each element of the offense, consider all of the evidence—not just the evidence which supports the case for the prosecution—in the light most favorable to the verdict. The credible evidence which is consistent with the guilt must be accepted as true. The prosecution must be given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. Matters regarding the weight and credibility to be accorded the evidence are to be resolved by the jury. [This Court] may reverse only where, with respect to one or more of the elements of the offense charged, the evidence so considered is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty.

Spicer v. State, 921 So.2d 292, 311(¶ 38) (Miss.2006) (quoting Franklin v. State, 676 So.2d 287, 288 (Miss.1996)).

¶ 11. Nelson was found guilty of capital murder in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-19(2)(e), which states, in pertinent part, that:

(2) The killing of a human being without the authority of law by any means or in *803 any manner shall be capital murder in the following cases:
....
(e) When done with or without any design to effect death, by any person engaged in the commission of the crime of ... robbery ... or in any attempt to commit such felon[y].

Robbery is defined as the "[felonious] tak[ing] [of] the personal property of another, in his presence or from his person and against his will, by violence to his person or by putting such person in fear of some immediate injury to his person...." Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-73. Nelson argues that no robbery occurred at the time Broughton was shot and killed, and therefore, the evidence was insufficient to support the charge of capital murder.

¶ 12. In support of his claim, Nelson cites to Clayton v. State, 759 So.2d 1169 (Miss. 1999). In Clayton, Lauree Lott Gray was walking through the parking lot of a grocery store when Clayton approached her from behind and took her purse. Id. at 1170(¶ 2). Clayton was subsequently tried and convicted of robbery. Id. at (¶ 4). However, the indictment upon which Clayton's conviction rested narrowed the language of section 97-3-73 and only charged that Clayton took the purse by putting Lott in fear of harm. Id. at 1171(¶ 7).

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995 So. 2d 799, 2008 WL 2097795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nelson-v-state-missctapp-2008.