Raiford v. State

907 So. 2d 998, 2005 WL 894896
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 19, 2005
Docket2003-KA-01660-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 907 So. 2d 998 (Raiford 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
Raiford v. State, 907 So. 2d 998, 2005 WL 894896 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

907 So.2d 998 (2005)

Siedrick RAIFORD, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-01660-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 19, 2005.
Rehearing Denied July 26, 2005.

*1000 Phillip W. Broadhead, Oxford, David L. Tisdell, Tunica, attorneys for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General, by Jean Smith Vaughan, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., MYERS and CHANDLER, JJ.

CHANDLER, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. A Tunica County jury convicted Siedrick Raiford of the murder of Regina "Shay" Henley. Raiford appeals, and argues that (1) the trial court erroneously limited his cross-examination of a witness in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to confrontation, and (2) the trial court erroneously denied his motion for a new trial because the weight of the evidence did not support the jury's verdict. We find no reversible error and, therefore, affirm Raiford's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. The following facts were adduced at the trial. In July 2001, Regina Henley moved out of the residence she shared with Raiford and their two children and into an apartment in Robinsonville, Mississippi. Henley had been romantically involved with another man, Daniel Millbrooks, for several months before the move. On the night of July 8, 2001, Henley was shot and killed outside her apartment building.

¶ 3. On the night of July 8, several of Henley's friends were with her in the apartment: Kyara Johnson, Millbrooks, Linda Davis, Keith Brooks, and the children of Henley and Johnson. That night, Henley and Johnson left the apartment to go to the store together. They walked down the exterior stairs to the ground level of the apartment building. When they emerged from the breezeway and reached the sidewalk, Henley grabbed Johnson's shoulder and exclaimed, "Oh, s---, Oh, s---!" The two turned around, and Kyara saw Raiford standing nearby with a black revolver pointed at them. Johnson thought Raiford had emerged from behind the stairs. Raiford told Johnson to move, and Johnson and Henley began running away. Raiford fired one shot and Henley fell to the ground, dragging Johnson down with her. Johnson got up, ran back into the breezeway, and began screaming for help. She looked back and saw Henley lying on the ground. Raiford was standing over Henley and pointing the gun down at her. Raiford pulled the trigger three or four times, but the gun only clicked. Henley turned her head away; Raiford pulled the trigger again, and the gun fired. Raiford left the scene. The autopsy revealed that Henley died from a gunshot wound to the left side of the head. Henley also had a grazed bullet wound to the back. The trajectory of that *1001 wound indicated she had been bent over and running away when she was struck.

¶ 4. Raiford testified that Henley had called him that night and asked him to come over so they could discuss a reconciliation. He said he went to the apartment with a gun because he was frightened of Millbrooks, who had previously threatened him during altercations concerning Henley. Raiford stated that, as he approached Henley's apartment building, he saw Johnson and Henley outside, but also saw Millbrooks standing underneath the stairs. Millbrooks was holding a gun. Thinking that Millbrooks was about to shoot him, Raiford fired one shot in Millbrooks's direction. Raiford saw Henley fall, became scared, and ran away. He drove to Memphis, returned the gun to its owner, and turned himself in to the sheriff's department.

¶ 5. Raiford's trial testimony contradicted a statement that he gave to Detective Clark upon turning himself in. In the statement, which was admitted at the trial, Raiford said that, after seeing Millbrooks under the stairs, he and Millbrooks argued. Millbrooks left and returned shortly with a gun and the two began tussling. Raiford retrieved a gun from his car. On his return, the two resumed tussling. Millbrooks reached for his gun and pointed it at Raiford. Raiford fired once or twice at Millbrooks, panicked, and ran away. At the trial, Raiford testified that, in fact, the physical altercation with Millbrooks did not occur. He testified that he had two confrontations with Millbrooks in the days before the shooting. In a confrontation two weeks before the shooting, Millbrooks produced a gun, and in a confrontation on July 6, Millbrooks stated, "You know I keep a pistol with me. You know what I'll do."

¶ 6. Johnson, Millbrooks, Davis and Brooks testified that they had no knowledge of a phone call from Henley to Raiford that night. Johnson testified that Millbrooks had remained in Henley's apartment when she and Henley left to go to the store and did not come outside until after Henley was killed. Millbrooks stated that he had remained in the apartment until he heard shots fired and Johnson screaming, at which point he came outside. Linda Davis and Keith Brooks also testified that Millbrooks had been in the apartment with them when they heard shots fired. Terry Reed testified that he had seen a black revolver in Raiford's car on the morning of July 8.

¶ 7. The trial court instructed the jury on the theories of murder and self-defense. The jury found Raiford guilty of murder, and the court sentenced him to life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN COMPLETELY FORECLOSING AN ENTIRE AREA OF INQUIRY ESSENTIAL TO THE DEFENSE, THEREBY DENYING THE APPELLANT'S RIGHT OF CONFRONTATION BY SUSTAINING THE PROSECUTION'S OBJECTION TO CROSS-EXAMINATION OF DANIEL MILLBROOKS AS IMPROPER IMPEACHMENT.

¶ 8. Raiford avers that, on several occasions, the trial court unconstitutionally violated his right to confrontation of witnesses by restricting his cross-examination of Millbrooks. The right to cross-examination is secured by the confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, made enforceable against the States by the Fourteenth Amendment. Black v. State, 506 So.2d 264, 266 (Miss.1987). The right *1002 is independently established by Article 3 § 26 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, and has been considered to be co-extensive with the limits of relevancy. Id.; see M.R.E. 611(b). While the scope of cross-examination is generally broad, "the trial court in its discretion has the inherent power to limit cross-examination to relevant matters." Mixon v. State, 794 So.2d 1007, 1013(¶ 20) (Miss.2001); see M.R.E. 611. We review the trial court's relevancy ruling limiting cross-examination for abuse of discretion. Zoerner v. State, 725 So.2d 811, 813(¶ 7) (Miss.1998). For error to be predicated on the admission or exclusion of evidence, the ruling must have affected a substantial right of a party. M.R.E. 103(a); Mixon, 794 So.2d at 1013(¶ 20). A violation of the defendant's right to confrontation is subject to harmless error analysis. Earl v. State, 672 So.2d 1240, 1243 (Miss.1996) (citing Delaware v. Van Arsdall, 475 U.S. 673, 684, 106 S.Ct. 1431, 89 L.Ed.2d 674 (1986)).

¶ 9. Throughout his brief, Raiford complains of various limitations on his cross-examination of Millbrooks. The trial transcript reveals that, in fact, Raiford was never restricted from asking several of the questions which he now complains were barred. Raiford avers that he was unable to question Millbrooks about his whereabouts after the shooting; the transcript shows that he thoroughly examined Millbrooks on this issue without objection by the State or limitation by the court.

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Bluebook (online)
907 So. 2d 998, 2005 WL 894896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/raiford-v-state-missctapp-2005.