Russell v. State

832 So. 2d 551, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 251, 2002 WL 982597
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 14, 2002
DocketNo. 2000-KA-01762-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 832 So. 2d 551 (Russell 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
Russell v. State, 832 So. 2d 551, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 251, 2002 WL 982597 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

LEE, J.,

for the court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. In May 2000, a Rankin County Circuit Court jury convicted the appellant, Danny Wayne Russell, of kidnaping and aggravated assault. He was subsequently sentenced to serve eighteen years in jail for the kidnaping conviction and eighteen years in jail for the aggravated assault conviction, said sentences to run concurrently. Russell’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict was denied, and he now appeals to this Court. On appeal, he argues that the State failed to prove he was guilty of aggravated assault and kidnaping, that the trial judge committed reversible error in granting the State’s peremptory instruction, that he was not afforded a speedy trial, and that he was denied effective assistance of counsel. We review the merits of these claims and find this matter must be reversed and remanded on the aggravated assault count and affirmed on the remaining issues.

FACTS

¶ 2. Danny Wayne Russell and Jerri-McDaniel dated and were briefly engaged in early 1999. On or about April 29, 1999, shortly after McDaniel ended their relationship, Russell telephoned McDaniel and asked if he could come to her home in Pearl to retrieve some personal items, to which McDaniel consented. Upon Russell’s arrival, McDaniel opened the door to let Russell in, at which point Russell grabbed her and forced her inside the kitchen and shocked her with a stun gun. After threatening to kill McDaniel, Russell forced her back to her bedroom where he shocked her again. Russell and McDaniel talked at length while they were in the bedroom, all the while Russell had the stun gun. After talking with Russell for approximately one hour, McDaniel told Russell she would resume dating him, which she later testified she said only to get him to leave. Once Russell left, McDaniel immediately called the police who located and pursued Russell, eventually chasing him back to McDaniel’s house where he was arrested. McDaniel went to a hospital to report the events, and a videotape taken of McDaniel reveals bruising and scratches on her back, which resulted from the continued shocks she incurred at Russell’s hands.

DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

I. THE STATE FAILED TO MEET ITS BURDEN OF PROVING THE DEFENDANT WAS GUILTY OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT BY FAILING TO PROVE THAT A STUN GUN IS A DEADLY WEAPON AND THAT THE VICTIM DID INDEED SUFFER [554]*554SERIOUS BODILY HARM AS A RESULT OF THE DEFENDANT’S ACTS;

II. THE COURT ERRED IN GRANTING JURY INSTRUCTION S-1.

¶ 3. We recognize that the State is responsible for proving each element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Hall v. State, 644 So.2d 1223, 1229 (Miss.1994). The elements of aggravated assault are:

A person is guilty of aggravated assault if he (a) attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another, or causes such injury purposely, knowingly or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life; or (b) attempts to cause or purposely or knowingly causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon or other means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm....

Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-7 (Supp.2001). Russell argues that the State failed to prove that a stun gun is a deadly weapon or is likely to produce death or serious bodily harm. The State presented and the court accepted Dr. Steven Hayne as an expert in the area of forensic pathology. Dr. Hayne testified as to the effects of electricity on the human body and gave his opinion concerning the potential effect a stun gun could have on the body. The defense offered Tim Smith Lyon as an expert to testify concerning the effects of stun guns as deadly weapons, and he testified concerning the mechanics of a stun gun and the use of such device in self-defense. The court found that although Smith Lyon was a firearms expert, he was not qualified to testify as an expert on stun guns. Thus, he was only permitted to testify as a lay witness.

¶ 4. The testimonies of both Dr. Hayne and Smith Lyon were informative, but neither person was qualified by the court as an expert to testify concerning whether a stun gun was indeed a deadly weapon or even a mechanism likely to produce death or serious bodily harm. However, we find that an expert was not needed to make such determination for the jury. We find that an average juror is familiar with the purposes for which a stun gun is used, namely to temporarily immobilize the victim. We refer back to the statutory definition of aggravated assault which states that a person is guilty of this crime if he attempts to cause or does cause serious bodily injury to another person or by attempting to cause such injury with a deadly weapon or other means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-7(2) (Supp.2001). The videotape which showed the scratches and bruises McDaniel suffered due to Russell’s actions provided the jury sufficient evidence to determine whether or not Russell intended to seriously harm her. Thus, we find that even if the stun gun is not found to be a deadly weapon, whether or not the repeated use of a stun gun can cause serious bodily injury is an issue the jury can resolve without the necessity of expert testimony on the point.

¶ 5. We also recognize that a serious error occurred in the judge’s decision to give the State’s jury instruction S-l which reads:

If you find from the evidence in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt, that on or about the 29th day of April, 1999, in Rankin County, Mississippi, the Defendant Danny Wayne Russell, did:
1. Unlawfully, feloniously, knowingly and intentionally,
2. attempt to cause serious bodily injury to Jerri McDaniel, a human being, by repeatedly shocking her [555]*555with a stunn [sic] gun, a deadly weapon;
Then you shall find the defendant guilty of the crime of aggravated assault....

(emphasis added). We look to our standard of review concerning jury instructions: “In determining whether error lies in the granting or refusal of various instructions, the instructions actually given must be read as a whole. When so read, if the instructions fairly announce the law of the case and create no injustice, no reversible error will be found.” Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 782 (Miss.1997). The instruction listed above is a peremptory instruction since it instructs the jury that a stun gun is indeed a deadly weapon. We find that the judge erred in giving this instruction, and for this reason we reverse and remand.

III. DID THE STATE MEET ITS BURDEN OF PROVING THE DEFENDANT WAS GUILTY OF KID-NAPING?

¶ 6. We look next to Russell’s argument concerning whether the evidence was sufficient to support the kidnaping conviction. Our standard of review concerning the sufficiency of the evidence states:

The credible evidence .'.. consistent with guilt must be accepted as true. The prosecution must be given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence. Matters regarding the weight and credibility of the evidence are to be resolved by the jury.

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Bluebook (online)
832 So. 2d 551, 2002 Miss. App. LEXIS 251, 2002 WL 982597, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/russell-v-state-missctapp-2002.