Oatis v. State

726 So. 2d 1230, 1998 WL 906425
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 30, 1998
Docket97-KA-01188 COA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 726 So. 2d 1230 (Oatis 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
Oatis v. State, 726 So. 2d 1230, 1998 WL 906425 (Mich. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

726 So.2d 1230 (1998)

Marlon Lavelle OATIS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 97-KA-01188 COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 30, 1998.

*1232 Thomas D. Berry, Jr., Bay St. Louis, for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General By Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, Jackson, Attorney for Appellee.

Before BRIDGES, C.J., and PAYNE, and SOUTHWICK, JJ.

SOUTHWICK, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Marlon Lavelle Oatis was convicted by a Hancock County Circuit Court jury of assaulting a police officer. On appeal he raises these issues: (1) denial of a self-defense instruction; (2) weight of the evidence; (3) admission of a tape recording made prior to the assault; and (4) the fairness of the trial. We reject these arguments and affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. The following are the facts that are most consistent with the verdict. On July 16, 1996, Officer Jutson Roberts was patrolling the streets of Bay St. Louis when a speeding car passed him. The car was traveling at 47 mph in a 25 mph zone. Roberts activated his flashing lights and the vehicle pulled into a driveway. Roberts approached the car, and the driver identified himself as Patrick Oatis. The officer smelled alcohol and noticed that Oatis was slurring his speech. Roberts had little experience in conducting field sobriety tests so he called for assistance. Another officer arrived and began to conduct the test. Oatis threatened that officer and moved toward him with his fist raised. After a brief struggle, the officers succeeded in placing handcuffs on Oatis and getting him into the police car. Oatis began complaining that the officers had "re-broken" his wrist.

¶ 3. During the drive to the jail, Oatis remained belligerent and uttered a stream of profanities. He threatened to sue Roberts, who then activated a tape recorder in the vehicle. Upon arrival at the jail, Oatis was denied admittance because of his complaints regarding his injured wrist. Roberts then drove Oatis to the Hancock County Medical Center.

¶ 4. At the emergency room, Oatis identified himself as Marlon Lavelle Oatis rather *1233 than Patrick Oatis. He remained combative and hospital personnel requested that he be restrained. He was then strapped to a gurney and twice managed to free himself. Following Oatis's second escape, Officer Roberts, another officer, and a hospital employee again attempted to restrain him. Oatis struggled and Officer Roberts was kneed or kicked several times in the ribs. He was thereafter treated for bruised ribs.

¶ 5. Oatis was convicted after a jury trial of assaulting a police officer. He received an eighteen month sentence and a $1000 fine.

DISCUSSION

I. Self-defense instruction

¶ 6. Oatis first contends that the trial court erred in denying his self-defense instruction. He claims that during the struggle, Officer Roberts elbowed him and otherwise started hurting him, which entitled Oatis to attempt to free himself.

¶ 7. The court rejected the instruction because Oatis had denied ever kneeing or otherwise hitting the officer. Oatis testified unequivocally that he did not knee Officer Roberts, as he "couldn't even get his foot loose." Oatis's counsel acknowledged the testimony, but asked that the evidence from other witnesses be considered that Oatis was thrashing about. In other words, Oatis's own denial of ever striking the officer should not prevent a self-defense instruction. The trial judge remained unconvinced.

¶ 8. Without Oatis saying that he hit the officer in necessary self-defense, there is no basis to instruct the jury as to that possibility. Quite simply, self-defense was not Oatis's explanation for what happened.

[W]hether the self-defense issue—or any other issue of fact—should be submitted to the jury ultimately turns on whether there is in the record credible evidence supporting it. Where a party offers evidence sufficient that a rational jury might find for him on the particular issue, that party of right is entitled to have the court instruct the jury on that issue and through this means submit the issue to the jury for its decision.

Anderson v. State, 571 So.2d 961, 964 (Miss. 1990).

¶ 9. We find that there is insufficient evidence in the record to support the grant of a self-defense instruction.

II. Overwhelming weight of the evidence

¶ 10. Oatis next asserts that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Because Roberts never photographed his bruise and failed to show it to anyone, Oatis claims that the jury could not conclude that a bruise ever existed. Moreover, Oatis argues that the evidence failed to show any intent on his part to injure Officer Roberts.

¶ 11. In deciding whether the weight of the evidence can sustain the verdict, we accept as true the evidence supporting the verdict, including all reasonable inferences arising form that evidence. "Only in those cases where the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice will this Court" order a new trial. Collier v. State, 711 So.2d 458, 461(Miss.1998).

¶ 12. Officer Roberts, his supervisor, and a hospital employee testified as to Oatis's behavior at the hospital. He was combative and required restraints. All three stated that while attempting to restrain Oatis, he was struggling and flailing about. Roberts stated that he had been kicked in the ribs, that he felt "a lot of pain" and sought medical attention. He testified that he was diagnosed with bruised ribs and was sore for three to four days. Roberts's supervisor testified that Roberts informed him that he had been injured. Another officer, who arrived later, stated that he saw Roberts being treated by a physician.

¶ 13. The simple assault statute protects against "bodily injury" which includes *1234 "physical pain" suffered by the officer. Reining v. State, 606 So.2d 1098, 1103 (Miss. 1992). This evidence would permit a reasonable jury to find Oatis guilty of assaulting Roberts.

¶ 14. Oatis claims that Roberts suffered no injury and simply set him up. That is, he saw Oatis struggling and elected to "throw himself across" the "churning knees" in an effort to cause his own injury. This theory was sufficiently brought out by Oatis's counsel on cross-examination of Roberts. Conflicts in the evidence are for the jury to resolve. Carr v. State, 655 So.2d 824, 838 (Miss.1995). They rejected Oatis's suggestions of a "frame up" and instead chose to believe Officer Roberts. In a more general sense, Oatis's argument that Roberts "elected to take the blows" by attempting to restrain him does not support innocence. Oatis had been ordered to stop thrashing about so that he could be treated. Officers were attempting to restrain him in the exercise of their responsibilities to assist the medical personnel. For an officer to place himself in a position in which he knows he may be hurt is not a criminal law "assumption of the risk" that prevents simple assault from occurring against the law enforcement officer.

¶ 15. Oatis also contends that his intent to injure Officer Roberts was never proven. "Intent to do an act or commit a crime is also a question of fact to be gleaned by the jury from the facts shown in each case." Shive v. State, 507 So.2d 898, 900 (Miss.1987). Intent may be determined from the acts of the accused and his conduct, and inferences of guilt may be fairly deducible from all the circumstances. Willis v. State, 518 So.2d 667, 669 (Miss.1988).

¶ 16.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Akeem Rasheed v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017
Kadarius White v. State of Mississippi
223 So. 3d 859 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017)
State of Iowa v. Damien Tramayne Dukes
Court of Appeals of Iowa, 2014
Johnson v. State
89 So. 3d 630 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Easter v. State
878 So. 2d 10 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2004)
Osborne v. State
843 So. 2d 99 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2003)
Baron L. Easter v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002
Franks v. State
749 So. 2d 1241 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 1999)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
726 So. 2d 1230, 1998 WL 906425, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/oatis-v-state-missctapp-1998.