Showers v. State

70 So. 3d 241, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 46, 2011 WL 294501
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 1, 2011
Docket2009-KA-00321-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 70 So. 3d 241 (Showers 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
Showers v. State, 70 So. 3d 241, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 46, 2011 WL 294501 (Mich. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinions

KING, C.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. A jury sitting in Lowndes County Circuit Court found Tavares Showers guilty of manslaughter. Showers was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Subsequently, Showers filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) and/or a new trial. The motion was denied, and Showers appeals raising the following issues: (1) whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant a self-défense jury instruction that referenced the size discrepancy between Showers and the victim, (2) whether the trial court erred in finding Dr. Stephen Hayne qualified to testify as an expert witness, and (3) whether the trial court erred in admitting video footage of Showers, which was recorded inside an interrogation room of a police station, after he requested an attorney.

¶ 2. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On December 14, 2007, Showers, who was sixteen years old, arrived home in Columbus, Mississippi, and asked everyone present to leave the room so he could talk to his mother, Monica Showers (Monica). Jeremy Munson, a guest of the family, refused to leave. Showers and Munson began fighting, and the dispute resulted in Showers stabbing Munson. Munson died as a result of his injuries.

¶ 4. Showers was arrested on the same evening and taken to the Columbus Police Department for interrogation. Showers was taken to an interview room, which was equipped with cameras to record the interrogation. Showers was interrogated by Officer David Criddle, who read Showers his Miranda rights. Officer Criddle asked Showers if he wished to sign a waiver of his Miranda rights, and in response, Showers stated: “Hmmmm — when it says I do not want a lawyer at this time. But I do want one because it was self-defense. It was really self-defense.”

¶ 5. Officer Criddle attempted to clarify whether Showers wished to give a statement, and Showers repeatedly expressed the need for a lawyer. Initially, the questioning ceased. Officer Criddle later returned to the interrogation room. At this point, Officer Criddle informed Showers that because he had invoked his right to counsel, the officer could not ask him any questions. Officer Criddle then told Showers that he was willing to listen to Showers’s side of the story and take a written statement. Upon further questioning, Showers admitted that he had anger-management problems for which he had been treated and prescribed medication, but he had failed to take his medication. Showers then began talking to Officer Criddle about the altercation with Munson. Showers admitted that he had initially confronted Munson, and Munson punched him; then Showers reacted by reaching for the closest object, a kitchen knife, in order to retaliate.

¶ 6. The officer then permitted Monica and Showers’s aunt, Bernice Coussets, individually, to enter the interrogation room and speak with Showers. Showers reiterated to Monica and Coussets that the incident occurred because Munson would not leave. Showers again stated that when Munson would not leave, he approached Munson. After Munson punched him, Showers retaliated with the knife. Showers’s conversations within the interrogation room were recorded both visually and [244]*244audibly and entered into evidence at Showers’s trial.

¶ 7. Other than the videotape, the only evidence introduced explaining the events leading to Munson’s death was the testimony of Showers’s sister, Laketa Showers. Laketa testified that she left the room when her brother requested; therefore, she did not see the beginning of the fight. Laketa stated that when she re-entered the room, Munson was holding Showers against the wall by Showers’s neck. According to Laketa, Showers was cutting Munson on his arm with a knife in an attempt to free himself. The fight ended when Munson let go of Showers.

¶ 8. Showers was indicted on the charge of murder. The jury found Showers not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter. Showers filed a motion for a JNOV and/or a new trial; the motion was subsequently denied.

ANALYSIS

¶ 9. Showers has appealed the trial court’s decision to deny the motion fora JNOV and/or a new trial. A motion for a JNOV challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 848 (¶ 16) (Miss.2005). This Court must consider whether the evidence shows “beyond a reasonable doubt that accused committed the act charged, and that he did so under such circumstances that every element of the offense existed; and where the evidence fails to meet this test, it is insufficient to support a conviction.” Id. (citation omitted).

¶ 10. Showers’s motion for a new trial challenges the weight of the evidence. Bush, 895 So.2d at 844 (¶ 18) (citation omitted). An appellate court “will only disturb a verdict when it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice.” Id. Showers requests this Court reverse and remand this case with instructions for a new trial on each issue presented.

I. Self-Defense Jury Instruction

¶ 11. Showers argues that the trial court erred in refusing to grant a self-defense jury instruction that referenced the size discrepancy between him and the victim. “Whether to give a jury instruction is within the sound discretion of the trial court.” Chamberlin v. State, 989 So.2d 320, 341-42 (¶ 80) (Miss.2008) (citation omitted). We review the jury instructions given as a whole to determine whether the refusal of a particular instruction was in error. Taylor v. State, 763 So.2d 913, 915 (¶ 8) (Miss.Ct.App.2000). If the instructions fairly state the law of the case and no injustice is created, no reversible error will be found. Id.

¶ 12. The trial court gave Showers’s instruction on self-defense, which stated:

The Court instructs the jury that to make a killing justifiable on the grounds of self-defense, the danger to the defendant must be either actual, present and urgent, or the defendant must have reasonable grounds to believe that the victim intended to kill the defendant or to do him some great bodily harm, and in addition to this, he must have reasonable grounds to believe that there is imminent danger of such act being accomplished. It is for the jury to determine the reasonableness of the grounds upon which the defendant acts. If you, the jury, unanimously find that the defendant acted in self-defense, then it is your sworn duty to return a verdict in favor of the defendant.

¶ 13. However, Showers requested, but was refused, the following jury instruction:

If you believe from the evidence that the deceased was a much larger and strong[245]*245er person than the Defendant, and was capable of inflicting great and serious bodily harm upon the Defendant with his hands and that the Defendant had reason to believe and did believe as a man of ordinary reason that he was then and there in danger of such harm at the hands of the deceased and used a knife, with which he fatally stabbed the deceased, to protect himself from such harm, then the Defendant was justified, and your verdict shall be “not guilty” even though the deceased may not have been armed.

¶ 14. It is Showers’s position that the refused jury instruction would have informed the jury about the theory of his defense.

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Bluebook (online)
70 So. 3d 241, 2011 Miss. App. LEXIS 46, 2011 WL 294501, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/showers-v-state-missctapp-2011.