Schankin v. State

910 So. 2d 1113, 2005 WL 528256
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 8, 2005
Docket2003-KA-01459-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 910 So. 2d 1113 (Schankin 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
Schankin v. State, 910 So. 2d 1113, 2005 WL 528256 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

910 So.2d 1113 (2005)

Roy Charles SCHANKIN, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-01459-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

March 8, 2005.
Rehearing Denied June 7, 2005.
Certiorari Denied September 15, 2005.

*1115 Albert Lionel Necaise, Gulfport, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General, by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., IRVING and GRIFFIS, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. A Harrison County jury convicted Roy Charles Schankin of manslaughter. He was sentenced as a habitual offender to fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved, Schankin now presents the following issues on appeal: (1) whether there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction, (2) whether it was error for the trial court to give certain jury instructions on manslaughter, (3) whether the court committed reversible error in giving certain jury instructions on aiding and abetting, (4) whether the court should have granted Schankin's proffered instruction regarding *1116 the right to carry a weapon, and (5) whether Schankin's sentence is grossly disproportionate to his crime. Finding no reversible error, we affirm Schankin's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. Roy Schankin was indicted by a Harrison County grand jury for the murder of Claude Cochran. Schankin's codefendant, William Leon Cobb, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter and received an eighteen-year sentence. At trial, the State presented the testimony of several witnesses, including that of Cobb and James Russell, an eyewitness to the crime.

¶ 3. Cobb testified that on the night before the incident, he and a friend were attacked by Cochran and another man while at a gas station. Cobb further testified that on the following day, he encountered Cochran and the man at a local establishment located on a beach along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Cobb stated that he informed several people, including Schankin, of the attack that had occurred the previous night. Cobb testified that he decided to confront his attackers and asked Schankin for some "protection." Schankin gave Cobb a steel pipe and asked him if he needed help. Cobb testified that shortly thereafter, he heard a "loud smack," and Cochran had a dazed expression on his face. Cobb stated that after Schankin hit Cochran, he [Cobb] began hitting Cochran in the head and in the ribs with the steel pipe. Cobb then rolled the victim off of the edge of a pier into the ocean and left the scene.

¶ 4. Similarly, Russell testified that he overheard Cobb ask for a weapon, and Schankin offered Cobb a steel pipe. Russell further testified that he observed Schankin walk up to Cochran, turn him around, and hit him in the head with his fist. Russell stated that the victim looked stunned and was almost knocked unconscious.[1] Russell testified that Cobb then began stabbing and beating Cochran with the steel pipe and thereafter, kicked Cochran off the pier into the water. Russell stated that Cochran was lying face down in the water and could barely move. He stated that Schankin watched Cochran float approximately seven to ten minutes before jumping into the water, pulling Cochran out, and attempting to revive him.

¶ 5. An autopsy revealed that Cochran died as a result of drowning. The autopsy also revealed that Cochran's injuries likely caused him to become unconscious, rendering him unable to respond appropriately while immersed in the water. After the jury found Schankin guilty of manslaughter, he filed a motion for a new trial or, in the alternative, for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict. This motion was denied by the trial court. Additional facts will be related during our discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

(1) Sufficiency of the Evidence

¶ 6. Schankin first argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a manslaughter conviction. He specifically claims that insufficient proof exists to support the required element of heat of passion necessary for a manslaughter conviction. Additionally, Schankin contends that the State failed to prove that he acted as an aider and abetter during the commission of the crime.

*1117 ¶ 7. When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged, the evidence is viewed and tested in a light most favorable to the State. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss.1993) (citing Esparaza v. State, 595 So.2d 418, 426 (Miss.1992)). "We are authorized to reverse only where, with respect to one or more of the elements of the offense charged, the evidence so considered is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty." McClain, 625 So.2d at 778.

¶ 8. In the case sub judice, the jury received an instruction on both murder and manslaughter. Although the evidence equally supported a murder conviction, the jury, however, convicted Schankin of manslaughter. "Whether a defendant has committed murder or manslaughter is ordinarily a question to be resolved by the jury." Strahan v. State, 729 So.2d 800, 806(¶ 24) (Miss.1998) (citing Windham v. State, 520 So.2d 123, 127 (Miss.1987)). The determination of whether Schankin committed the crime while acting in the heat of passion was properly submitted to the jury for resolution, and the jury made the determination against Schankin. Considering the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we cannot say that the jury could not, on the evidence presented, find Schankin guilty of manslaughter. Schankin's argument to the contrary is without merit.

¶ 9. Similarly, Schankin's claim that the State failed to prove that he acted as an aider and abetter is also without merit. The law is clear that "`[a]ny person who is present at the commission of a criminal offense and aids, counsels, or encourages another in the commission of that offense is an `aider and abetter' and is equally guilty with the principal offender.'" Hoops v. State, 681 So.2d 521, 533 (Miss. 1996) (quoting Sayles v. State, 552 So.2d 1383, 1389 (Miss.1989) (overruled on other grounds)). The State presented evidence that Schankin was present during the commission of the crime and actively assisted Cobb in the commission of the crime. As a result, Schankin's argument on this issue fails.

(2) Manslaughter Instruction

¶ 10. Schankin next contends that there was insufficient evidence of either murder or manslaughter to warrant a manslaughter instruction. Schankin also contends that the manslaughter instruction, which was given, was ambiguous and confusing to the jury.

¶ 11. Instruction S-2, which instructed the jury to consider manslaughter if it failed to find the defendant guilty of murder, reads:

If you fail to find the defendant, Roy Charles Schankin, guilty of the felony crime of murder then you should continue your deliberations to consider the elements of the felony crime of manslaughter.
If you find from the credible evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that the deceased, Claude E. Cochran, was a living person, and that the defendant, Roy Charles Schankin, did aid and abet William Leon Cobb to kill Claude E. Cochran, without malice, in the heat of passion, but in a cruel or unusual manner, or by the use of a dangerous weapon not in necessary self-defense and without authority of law, then you shall find the defendant, ROY CHARLES SCHANKIN, guilty of manslaughter.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
910 So. 2d 1113, 2005 WL 528256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schankin-v-state-missctapp-2005.