Robinson v. State

758 So. 2d 480, 2000 WL 366421
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided April 11, 2000·No. 1998-KA-01098-COA·Published·Cited by 17 cases

Opinion

758 So.2d 480 (2000)

Eric ROBINSON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 1998-KA-01098-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 11, 2000.

*482 Richard Flood, Ridgeland, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Dewitt T. Allred, III, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE McMILLIN, C.J., IRVING, AND THOMAS, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Eric Robinson and Antoine "Scound" Robinson were jointly indicted in the Madison County Circuit Court for the murder of Leon Oscar, Jr. Eric Robinson was tried separately. The jury returned a guilty verdict, and it is from that guilty verdict and judgment of the trial court that Robinson prosecutes this appeal, assigning as error the following issues, taken verbatim from his brief

I. ERRED WHEN IT OVERRULED THE DEFENDANT'S OBJECTION TO THE USE OF A "DIAGRAM" PRODUCED AT THE START OF THE TRIAL.
II. ERRED WHEN IT OVERRULED THE DEFENDANT'S OBJECTION TO THE TESTIMONY OF TONY McGRUDER AS A REBUTTAL WITNESS.
III. ERRED WHEN IT DENIED THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION FOR A MISTRIAL WHEN THE STATE IN ITS USUAL BACKHAND MANNER SUGGESTED TO THE JURY DURING LaTASHA HOWARD'S TESTIMONY THAT DEFENDANT'S ATTORNEY HAD TAINTED HER TESTIMONY.
IV. ERRED WHEN IT DENIED THE DEFENDANT'S REQUEST THAT THE STATEMENT OF ANTOINE ROBINSON, A CO-DEFENDANT, BE ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE.
V. ERRED WHEN IT DENIED THE DEFENDANT'S REQUEST THAT HIS ATTORNEY BE ALLOWED TO TESTIFY TO THE STATEMENTS MADE TO HIS ATTORNEY BY ANTOINE ROBINSON, A CO-DEFENDANT.
VI. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED THE DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO WITHDRAW BECAUSE DEFENDANT'S ATTORNEY HAD BECOME A WITNESS IN THE CASE.
VII. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ADMITTED THE GUN INTO EVIDENCE OVER THE DEFENDANT'S OBJECTION.
VIII. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT SUBMITTED JURY INSTRUCTION S1 OVER THE OBJECTION OF DEFENDANT BECAUSE THE INSTRUCTION DID NOT STATE THAT THE KILLING WAS "WITHOUT AUTHORITY OF LAW".
IX. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED DEFENDANT'S REQUESTED JURY INSTRUCTION D—14 (ACCIDENT)
X. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED DEFENDANT'S REQUESTED JURY INSTRUCTION D—15 (DEFENDANT HAD A RIGHT TO ARM HIMSELF).
XI. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED DEFENDANT'S REQUESTED JURY INSTRUCTION D—16 (DEFENDANT HAD A RIGHT TO STAND HIS GROUND).
XII. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT DENIED DEFENDANT'S REQUESTED JURY INSTRUCTION D—17(JUSTIFIABLE HOMICIDE).
XIII. THAT THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT ALLOWED THE STATE TO ARGUE TO THE JURY THE EXIT/ENTRANCE WOUND *483 OVER THE OBJECTION OF THE DEFENDANT.

Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. The facts according to the State's case are as follows:

¶ 3. On September 4, 1997, Will Carter was working at Spur Convenience Store in Canton when two of the store's customers, Antoine ("Scound") Robinson and Leon Oscar, Jr., became involved in a physical altercation at the checkout counter. Prior to the start of the fight, Carter had observed Oscar enter the store and take a six-pack of beer to the checkout counter. He next observed Scound enter the store behind Oscar and take a single can of beer to the checkout counter.

¶ 4. Contrary to the testimony of another witness, LaTasha Howard, Carter testified there was no one else in line at the checkout counter except Scound and Oscar. He did not hear these two individuals say anything to each other, but he did see Scound strike the side of Oscar's head with the can of beer. A scuffle ensued wherein the individuals knocked over a potato chip rack. It was at this point that Eric Robinson got out of the truck he was sitting in outside of the store and entered the store with a gun in his hand. Robinson rushed over to the struggling individuals, aimed and fired the weapon, striking Oscar in the right side of his neck.

¶ 5. After the shot was fired, Scound got up from where he had been taken down by Oscar as Oscar fell, and hurriedly left the store. Carter testified that Robinson struck Oscar twice with the gun and kicked him before Robinson also left the store. Carter testified that he heard Scound say to Robinson, "Come on, man, you done shot the guy."

¶ 6. On cross-examination, Carter was asked about an individual named Tony McGruder, also known as Pig. Carter stated that he did not know Pig. He testified that someone came into the store after Scound and Robinson left, who appeared to search the person of Oscar as he lay shot on the floor of the store. He testified that the individual said he was looking for keys to Oscar's car so that he could move it. Carter testified that he did not see the individual remove anything from Oscar's person.

¶ 7. Randell Coleman was also working at the Spur store on September 4, 1997. At the time of the altercation between Scound and Oscar, Coleman was working on the store's gas console, along with witness Carter, at a counter located near the store's entrance. He observed Oscar and Scound as they entered the store and picked out their purchases from the beer cooler, but did not witness the start of the altercation. Coleman was alerted to the scuffle by the person working the cash register who called his name. He looked up in time to hear the gunshot and see Oscar fall to the floor. He then dropped to the floor behind the counter himself. He peered over the counter and saw Robinson standing over Oscar with a gun in his right hand.

¶ 8. On cross-examination Coleman testified that an individual he knew as Pig entered the store with Oscar, but walked out after Oscar took the beer from the cooler. Pig reentered the store after Scound and Robinson left and was observed patting Oscar down and going through his pockets. Coleman testified that he first asked and then demanded that Pig stop searching Oscar and leave the store. Pig then left the store.

¶ 9. Dr. Steven Hayne performed an autopsy on Oscar. He concluded from his autopsy examination that Oscar died of a gunshot wound to the neck. There were gunshot wounds to the left and right side of the neck and to the left shoulder and arm, all of which could have been caused by a single gunshot. He was unable to reach a conclusion as to which wounds were entrance wounds and which were exit wounds because Oscar had survived for a period of approximately two weeks, and *484 there were healing artifact changes to the wounds. He was able to conclude, however, that the neck wounds were consistent with a right side entry and left side exit wound. He further testified that the neck wound was the lethal wound.

¶ 10. Robinson called LaTasha Howard to testify in his defense. She testified at trial that she had known Scound for three years. She claimed to have been in the checkout line talking with Scound at the time the scuffle began. It was her testimony that she saw Robinson "coming from like this side. And he rapped him (Oscar) on the right-hand corner of the ear, and the gun went off. And I immediately went out the store." She reentered the store after two to three minutes and saw Oscar lying on the floor bleeding while Pig was going through his pockets. She then left the store.

¶ 11. Robinson t

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Robinson v. State, 758 So. 2d 480, 2000 WL 366421 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

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