Seeling v. State

844 So. 2d 439, 2003 WL 1343297
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 20, 2003
Docket2001-KA-01172-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 844 So. 2d 439 (Seeling 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
Seeling v. State, 844 So. 2d 439, 2003 WL 1343297 (Mich. 2003).

Opinion

844 So.2d 439 (2003)

John Henry SEELING, IV
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2001-KA-01172-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 20, 2003.
Rehearing Denied May 15, 2003.

*442 Thomas D. Berry, Jr., Bay St. Louis, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, attorney for appellee.

Before SMITH, P.J., WALLER and COBB, JJ.

SMITH, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. This is an appeal from the Hancock County Circuit Court where John Henry Seeling, IV ("Seeling") was tried by a jury and convicted of the murder of Draven Lynn Archer ("Draven") while in the commission of felonious abuse and/or battery of a child. The circuit court sentenced Seeling to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and denied his motion for a new trial and judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Aggrieved, Seeling appeals to this Court.

¶ 2. We find no merit to the issues raised by Seeling, and we affirm the trial court.

FACTS

¶ 3. Sharee Archer ("Sharee") dated Seeling for approximately three to four months before the death of her five-month-old daughter, Draven. On May 29, 1999, the day of this incident, Sharee, Draven, Desiree (Sharee's other child), Seeling and his mother went to the Beau Rivage Casino for an outing. Later in the day, Sharee left the trailer to take Desiree to her father's home. This left Draven alone with Seeling in the trailer. Seeling alleges that Draven began to choke so he hit her on the back like he had done on a previous occasion to dislodge a pea. He then called 911.

¶ 4. Draven had a history of heart problems, sleep apnea and reflux. Due to Draven's medical conditions, a doctor at Tulane University Medical Center had discussed with Sharee the proper way to feed Draven. However, Sharee said that the doctor never taught the correct method.

¶ 5. Dr. David Fontaine was the pediatrician in the emergency room at Hancock Medical Center when Draven was brought in. He found evidence of child abuse due *443 to the presence of injuries to the upper back and neck and various hemorrhages. He further stated that all of this suggested that the child had been beaten to death. Dr. Paul McGarry, the pathologist, who performed the autopsy, concluded that Draven died of blunt injuries of the head and trunk.

¶ 6. The day after Draven's death, two Harrison County deputies took Seeling into custody and read him his Miranda rights before they put him in the police car. Seeling claims that they rabbit punched him and forced him to confess to the killing.

¶ 7. Seeling raises the following issues on appeal:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING SEELING'S CONFESSION INTO EVIDENCE.

II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE PATHOLOGIST TO TESTIFY.

III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO GRANT A MISTRIAL WHEN THE COURT REPORTER REACTED TO THE "911" TAPE.

IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING EVIDENCE THAT THE CHILD'S NOSE WAS FRACTURED.

V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING A MISTRIAL ON THE GROUNDS THAT JURORS WERE DELIBERATING PRIOR TO THE CLOSE OF THE CASE.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 8. The standard of review for denial of a directed verdict and a judgment notwithstanding the verdict are identical. Sperry-New Holland v. Prestage, 617 So.2d 248, 252 (Miss.1993). Under that standard, this Court considers all of the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and gives the State the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. If the facts so considered point so overwhelmingly in favor of the appellant that reasonable men could not have arrived at a guilty verdict, this Court is required to reverse and render. On the other hand, if there is substantial evidence in support of the verdict of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair-minded jurors in the exercise of impartial judgment might have reached different conclusions, this Court is required to affirm. American Fire Protection, Inc. v. Lewis, 653 So.2d 1387, 1391 (Miss.1995).

¶ 9. In determining whether a jury verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, this Court must accept as true the evidence which supports the verdict. A new trial is the proper remedy in those instances where the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice. Baker v. State, 802 So.2d 77, 81 (Miss.2001).

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING SEELING'S CONFESSION INTO EVIDENCE.

¶ 10. The day after Draven's death Seeling was taken in for questioning. He was mirandized when he was handcuffed and put in the back of the patrol car. Seeling said that he understood his Miranda rights, but that his statement was not voluntary because the police beat him.

*444 He claims that his statement was written out by Officer Hurt and he read it. Seeling further stated that he just said things in his taped statement that Officer Hurt told him to say. He never invoked his right to an attorney even though he had heard his Miranda rights several times.

¶ 11. An arrest occurs when a person "is in custody and not free to leave." Thomas v. State, 645 So.2d 1345, 1347 (Miss.1994). Logically, one would conclude that surely Seeling knew that he was under arrest when he was placed in handcuffs. Seeling tries to draw an analogy between the case sub judice and Campbell v. State, 798 So.2d 524, 526-27 (Miss.2001). However, that analogy is misplaced because Seeling was mirandized when he was handcuffed and placed in the police car. In Campbell the police waited to give the Miranda warnings until after the defendant was in custody and they had obtained further evidence. Id. Seeling said that he understood his rights. Further, he signed a voluntary statement form.

¶ 12. The United States Supreme Court has pronounced the law regarding the admissibility of a defendant's waiver of his privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Miranda requires proof that the waiver was voluntarily, knowingly, and intelligently made. The trial judge makes that determination. Findings by a trial court that a confession was voluntary and that the confession is admissible will not be reversed by this Court as long as the trial court applies the correct principles of law and the finding is factually supported by the evidence. Davis v. State, 551 So.2d 165, 169 (Miss. 1989); Dedeaux v. State, 519 So.2d 886, 889-90 (Miss.1988).

¶ 13. When the voluntariness of a confession is put into question, the defendant has a due process right to a reliable determination that the confession was in fact voluntarily given. Stokes v. State, 548 So.2d 118, 121 (Miss.1989). The State bears the burden of proving all facts prerequisite to admissibility beyond a reasonable doubt. Davis, 551 So.2d at 169; Jones v. State, 461 So.2d 686, 697 (Miss. 1984); Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743, 753 (Miss.1984). This burden is met and a prima facie case made out by the testimony of an officer, or other person having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without any threats, coercion, or offer of reward.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lonnie Jordan v. State of Mississippi
220 So. 3d 980 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Marion O' Bryan Strickland v. State of Mississippi
220 So. 3d 1027 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Ford v. State
147 So. 3d 325 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2014)
Johnson v. State
51 So. 3d 967 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2010)
Hudson v. State
30 So. 3d 1199 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2010)
Thomas v. State
14 So. 3d 812 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
Prater v. State
18 So. 3d 884 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
Hoye v. State
1 So. 3d 946 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
Kazery v. State
995 So. 2d 827 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Dampeer v. State
989 So. 2d 462 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Young v. State
987 So. 2d 1074 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Crawford v. State
972 So. 2d 44 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Vincent Carnell Hudson v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2007
Chambers v. State
973 So. 2d 266 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Bobo v. State
953 So. 2d 282 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Jackson v. State
962 So. 2d 649 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Smith v. State
956 So. 2d 997 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Sturkey v. State
946 So. 2d 790 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2006)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
844 So. 2d 439, 2003 WL 1343297, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seeling-v-state-miss-2003.