Rogers v. State

928 So. 2d 831, 2006 WL 1172189
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMay 4, 2006
Docket2004-KA-01512-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 928 So. 2d 831 (Rogers v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rogers v. State, 928 So. 2d 831, 2006 WL 1172189 (Mich. 2006).

Opinion

928 So.2d 831 (2006)

Derwin ROGERS
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2004-KA-01512-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

May 4, 2006.

*832 Pamela A. Ferrington, Natchez, attorney for appellant.

*833 Office of Attorney General by Scott Stuart, Jackson, attorney for appellee.

Before COBB, P.J., EASLEY and DICKINSON, JJ.

EASLEY, Justice, for the Court:

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Derwin Rogers was indicted in 2002 by a Franklin County grand jury on four counts for the rape of A.H.[1] The rape occurred on four separate occasions between December 21, 1989, and January 3, 1990. A.H. was seventeen years old at the time. The indictment charged a violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-67 (1985). On the day of trial, the State moved to amend the indictment to list Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65 (1985), instead of Miss Code Ann. § 97-3-67. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-67 had been repealed effective July 1, 1998. The State argued to the trial court that the surplus language requiring the victim to be of previous chaste character should be eliminated. The chaste character language was contained in the repealed statute Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-67 (1985), and not in Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65 (1985). The trial court allowed the amendment.

¶ 2. Rogers was found guilty by a jury on all four counts of rape. The trial court sentenced Rogers to serve a term of thirty years on each count, to run concurrently. The trial court denied Rogers's motion for a new trial but granted his motion for indigent status and appointed counsel to perfect Rogers's appeal to this Court.

FACTS

¶ 3. In 1989, A.H. was a seventeen-year-old female placed in the foster care of Reverend David Franklin and his wife, Edna Franklin. A.H. lived in the group home, Project Gain, located in Jackson, Mississippi. During the Christmas holidays, the girls living at Project Gain had to find other accommodations because the Franklins went to Colorado during the Christmas holidays. A.H. was placed with the Franklins's friends, Reverend Derwin Rogers and his wife, in Meadeville, Mississippi, while the Franklins were away. Rogers lived in a house connected to his church. A.H. was staying at the Rogers's home between December 21, 1989, and January 3, 1990, when she was raped by Rogers.

¶ 4. A.H. testified that Rogers forced her to have sex with him on four occasions during her stay in his home. A.H. testified that on each of the four occasions Rogers came into her bedroom and put a handgun to her head. He made her take off her clothes and have sex with him. Rogers told A.H. he would kill her and bury her in the backyard in the cemetery if she screamed or told anyone. A.H. testified that the sex was not consensual. A.H. testified that Rogers was always at the home and that Rogers controlled her access to avoid her telling anyone about the rape.

¶ 5. Cindy Brasher, A.H.'s caseworker at the Mississippi Department of Human Services, testified that A.H. had tried to call her during the Christmas holidays, but she was not at home. When Brasher called A.H. back at Rogers's home, Rogers answered the phone. Brasher stated that she could tell A.H. was upset. However, A.H. told Brasher she could not talk to her.

¶ 6. Reverend Franklin testified that when he and his wife returned from Colorado they picked A.H. up from Rogers's home. A.H. told him that Rogers had raped her on more than three occasions. *834 However, Reverend Franklin testified quoting scripture that because Reverend Rogers was an "elder" in the church, he did not believe the allegation because there were no witnesses. He never confronted Rogers with the allegation, but he told A.H. she could report the rape to her caseworker.

¶ 7. Brasher testified that she received a report on January 5, 1990, that A.H. alleged she had been raped. Brasher interviewed A.H. on January 9, 1990. A.H. informed her that Rogers had forced her to have sex with him on four occasions between December 21, 1989, and January 3, 1990, describing the incidents including the threats to her life and the handgun. Brasher interviewed Rogers who initially denied that any sexual relation occurred with A.H. and denied that he possessed a gun. Later in the interview, Rogers showed Brasher the gun and stated that he had shown the gun to A.H.

DISCUSSION

I. Ex Post Facto

¶ 8. Rogers argues that the penalty for his crime was erroneously raised by the state and therefore, the trial court violated the expost facto clause of the Constitution by imposing a thirty year sentence pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65. First, Rogers waived this issue for consideration on appeal by not raising a constitutional challenge at trial. Rogers is now procedurally barred from raising this issue on appeal. This Court has consistently held that constitutional questions not raised at the lower court will not be reviewed on appeal. Stockstill v. State, 854 So.2d 1017, 1023 (Miss.2003); Ellis v. Ellis, 651 So.2d 1068, 1073 (Miss.1995); Patterson v. State, 594 So.2d 606, 609 (Miss.1992). These constitutional questions are waived or forfeited if not asserted at the trial level. Contreras v. State, 445 So.2d 543, 544 (Miss.1984). As such, attacks on the constitutionality of a statute cannot be considered for the first time on appeal. Colburn v. State, 431 So.2d 1111, 1113 (Miss.1983); Smith v. State, 430 So.2d 406, 407 (Miss.1983).

¶ 9. Second, the record reflects that the defense did not raise any objection to the amendment of the statute contained in the indictment. Rather, the defense sought clarification that because these were charges of forcible rape the defense of consent would be applicable at trial under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65. The trial court determined that because the indictment charged forcible rape and Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-67 had been "recalled," the amendment to Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65 (1985) was applicable. The trial court clarified that the State would be required to prove forcible rape, and consent would be a defense to the charges. The trial court stated that the allegations were not amended. The original indictment stated that Rogers engaged in sexual penetration with A.H. without her consent and against her will. The defense did not contest the amendment, object or argue that Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-67 (1985) was applicable.

¶ 10. Without waiving any procedural bar, this assignment of error is also without merit and will be briefly addressed. The facts demonstrate that Miss. Code Ann.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
928 So. 2d 831, 2006 WL 1172189, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rogers-v-state-miss-2006.