Rollins v. State

970 So. 2d 716, 2007 WL 4338385
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 13, 2007
Docket2007-KA-00282-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 970 So. 2d 716 (Rollins 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
Rollins v. State, 970 So. 2d 716, 2007 WL 4338385 (Mich. 2007).

Opinion

970 So.2d 716 (2007)

William Thomas ROLLINS
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2007-KA-00282-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 13, 2007.

Louis Ivan Burghard, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General By Stephanie Breland Wood, attorney for appellee.

Before SMITH, C.J., CARLSON and RANDOLPH, JJ.

CARLSON, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. William Thomas Rollins was convicted of one count of sexual battery, one count of touching a child for lustful purposes, and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in the Circuit Court of Lincoln County, Judge Michael M. Taylor, presiding. Rollins appeals to this court, arguing that he is entitled to a new trial because he was denied his constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him. Finding no error, we affirm.

*717 FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT

¶ 2. On April 13, 2006, the Lincoln County Grand Jury handed down a multi-count indictment charging thirty-nine-year-old William Thomas Rollins with the following: (1) one count of sexual battery by inserting his finger into the vagina of an eleven-year-old, in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95 (Rev.2006); (2) one count of touching a child for lustful purposes by rubbing the child's breasts and genital area in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-23 (Rev.2006); and (3) two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor by routinely playing strip poker with the eleven-year-old and a twelve-year-old, in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-39(1) (Rev.2006).

¶ 3. On October 27, 2006, the State submitted a Motion for Use of Closed Circuit Television[1] pursuant to Miss. R. Evid. 617, as the means of presenting the testimony of the minor children to the jury, which motion was granted by the trial court.[2] A jury trial was conducted on November 8-10, 2006, during which the trial judge permitted the minor children to testify via closed-circuit television. Technical difficulties with the video/audio equipment occurred during the first child's testimony.

¶ 4. After the problem was remedied, the prosecution repeated the questions to the witness in an effort to assure that the jury heard the questions and answers. The second child then testified, and more technical difficulties occurred. Again, after curing the problem, the prosecution followed the same procedure with that child as with the other child. At the conclusion of the testimony of the two minors, the trial judge made the following findings on the record, outside the presence of the jury:

THE COURT: Before we get the jury in, I want to go on the record and clarify the record a little bit. We had just taken testimony in chambers from two child witnesses. The testimony was taken in the presence of a representative from the District Attorney's office and Defense counsel, the Judge, and court reporter. The defendant was in an adjacent room and was able to communicate with his attorney by telephone.
And in order to satisfy the confrontation issues — Mr. Burghard was — Defense counsel, Mr. Burghard, was allowed to leave the room and confer with his client at various times upon his request during the testimony and before cross-examination.
And there was not — and the cameras were set in such a way so it was not apparent to the jury that the defendant was not in the room. A camera was trained on the witnesses, and the other participants in the room were not visible.
And during the testimony it was difficult to confer off the record for fear that what we talked about would be broadcast in the courtroom. And so counsel *718 and the Judge exited the room to take up a couple of objections.

Counsel for Rollins then moved for a mistrial, arguing that Rollins was denied his federal constitutional right to confront the witnesses against him, which motion the trial court denied with the following discussion on the record.

THE COURT: The Court is going to deny the motion for mistrial. The Court specifically would note that during the motion hearing, counsel did not — counsel for the Defense abandoned his position that the testimony had to be taken in open court.
The Court at all times — every time the — every time, Mr. Burghard, you requested a break, the Court gave it to you.[3] In fact, you had more time to confer with your client than you would have had in the ordinary courtroom testimony setting.
And the communication problems, for the record, dealt with transmitting the information to the jury. And the Court was in touch with the court administrator in the courtroom at all times. So when the problem arose, I was informed of it and could take corrective measures. I don't believe there was any such communication problem with the sound system that the defendant was listening to. I could hear the echo from that, sitting in chambers, while we were taking the testimony. Those speakers functioned. The problem was transmitting it across the hall to the courtroom.
So I don't find there was any Constitutional problem. Further, that particular objection is not timely. The Court, had it been made earlier, could have had a chance to have the testimony taken in open court. And that opportunity is gone now. The witnesses have testified. And so even if I think it was meritorious, I would find that it was not timely made, coming as it does after the testimony, instead of prior to the taking of that testimony. And I understand that you could not necessarily have anticipated —
MR. BURGHARD: It is based on the technical problem, not the actual events. We don't have a problem with — we are not objecting, based on the way that everything was set up.
THE COURT: All right. I will deny the motion for mistrial.
MS. JONES[4]: And just to note for the record, when I was examining [one child] and was notified of a problem, I tried to repeat the questions to make sure the jury heard all of them.
MR. BURGHARD: And I will stipulate to that fact.

¶ 5. After the State rested following its case-in-chief, Rollins moved for a directed verdict, and in the alternative, moved to dismiss the sexual-battery charge. During the course of the arguments on these motions, the State moved to amend the indictment against Rollins as to Count I. The State had alleged sexual battery in which Rollins inserted his finger into the eleven-year-old's vagina. The amendment instead alleged that Rollins inserted his penis into her mouth. The trial court took these motions under advisement and directed Rollins to go forward with his case-in-chief. After resting his case-in-chief, Rollins, through counsel, moved for a mistrial on the basis of Miss. R. Evid. 617(d), because Rollins could not observe the demeanor of the minor witnesses due to Rollins's video screen's failure. The trial *719 court made the following finding on the record, outside the presence of the jury:

THE COURT: The Court will deny the motion for directed verdict that was just renewed at the close of the defense case. And the Court will also deny the motion for mistrial.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
970 So. 2d 716, 2007 WL 4338385, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rollins-v-state-miss-2007.