Speagle v. State

956 So. 2d 237, 2006 WL 2406149
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 22, 2006
Docket2005-KA-00493-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 956 So. 2d 237 (Speagle 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
Speagle v. State, 956 So. 2d 237, 2006 WL 2406149 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

956 So.2d 237 (2006)

Jimmy Wallace SPEAGLE, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KA-00493-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 22, 2006.
Rehearing Denied March 20, 2007.

*238 Earl Lindsay Carter, Jr., attorney for appellant.

*239 Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., GRIFFIS and BARNES, JJ.

BARNES, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Jimmy Wallace Speagle was convicted by a jury of his peers in the Circuit Court of Perry County of the crimes of manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Aggrieved, Speagle perfected his appeal to this Court. Finding no error, we affirm.

SUMMARY OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. At approximately 6:00 p.m. on June 4, 2004, Chief Wayne Penton of the Beaumont, Mississippi Police Department received a telephone call from Jimmy Speagle, in which Speagle stated, "You're going to have to come and pick me up and send somebody to get Taylor [Walker] because I just killed him in my front yard." Penton notified Officer William Pipkins of the call, and Penton and Pipkins both headed to the Tree Top Manor apartment complex, at which Speagle was a resident. Pipkins arrived on the scene first, with Penton arriving shortly thereafter.

¶ 3. Penton testified that when he arrived, Speagle was on his front porch, and Taylor Walker was lying dead on the sidewalk in front of Speagle's apartment. Pipkins testified that when he arrived at the apartment complex, Speagle told him, "I just shot [Walker]." When Pipkins asked where the gun was, Speagle informed him that it was on the seat of his wheelchair, and that he was sitting on it. Pipkins secured the gun, which he described as a German-made .22 revolver; three rounds had been fired, and two were unfired. Speagle informed Pipkins that, prior to the shooting, he and Walker had been arguing and cursing each other; that Walker "slapped tobacco out of [Speagle's] lap" and walked away; that they continued to curse each other; and that Speagle then finally shot Walker. Speagle also volunteered to Pipkins, "I've been in the service; I knew exactly how to stop [Walker]."

¶ 4. Deputy Jimmy Dale Smith of the Perry County Sheriff's Department testified that, shortly after the shooting occurred, he was dispatched to the scene. He stated that when he arrived, he observed Walker lying dead on the sidewalk in front of Speagle's apartment; Smith later determined the body to be seventeen feet from the front door of the apartment. Additionally, Smith testified that he found neither blood spatters nor scuff marks between Walker's body and the front porch of the apartment. Smith further testified that after the shooting, he took Speagle to the station for questioning. He testified that Speagle waived his right to counsel and made an oral statement, which was recorded onto a microcassette.

¶ 5. In Speagle's statement — introduced by the State during its case-in-chief-Speagle claimed that on the afternoon of June 4, he was sitting on his front porch when Walker threatened him and approached him, brandishing a yellow-handled screwdriver. Speagle stated that Walker then came onto the front porch, knocked a can of tobacco from his hand, and then began to choke him. Speagle stated that it was at this point that he shot Walker. At trial, Speagle testified in his own defense, stating that on the morning of the shooting, Walker had slapped him; that later that afternoon, Walker approached him, "jabbing" with a screwdriver; that Speagle then pulled the gun and pointed it at Walker, warning Walker that he would shoot if he came any closer; that he then fired a warning shot; that Walker began *240 choking him; that Speagle fired one shot; that Walker began to choke him more forcefully; and that he then fired the fatal shot, causing Walker to fall backward onto the sidewalk. Speagle claimed that he shot Walker, who outweighed him by more than 125 pounds, because he was afraid for his life.

¶ 6. Mary Ann Tingle stated that three days prior to the shooting she visited the Tree Top Manor apartment complex to visit her brother and to pay a visit to Walker. She testified that while she was standing on Walker's front porch, Speagle came out of his apartment and told her, "Tell [Walker] to come on out. I've got something for him," and that Speagle then "picked up a little pistol up out of his wheelchair and then put it back down." Further, Stephen Mills, a resident of the apartment complex, testified that he saw Speagle and Walker arguing before the shooting took place, and that he heard a shot followed by Walker stating, "You shot me." Mills testified that Speagle then said to Walker, "No, I ain't [shot] you, but I'm going to shoot you if you keep messing with me." Mills stated that he heard another shot and looked around to see Walker take "one or two steps" before hitting the ground. Mills testified that Speagle had been sitting on his porch at the time of the shooting.

¶ 7. Dr. Stephen Hayne, admitted by the court as an expert in the field of forensic pathology, testified that he had performed the autopsy on Walker's body. Dr. Hayne found that Walker had sustained "an entrance gunshot wound located on the left side of the neck, and . . . an exit gunshot wound on the right side of the neck." Hayne further testified that the lack of gunpowder residue in or around the gunshot wound, in addition to the lack of flame injury to the wound area, led him to the conclusion that the shot that killed Walker had to have been fired from a distance of over two and one-half feet. Hayne also stated his opinion that it would have been impossible for Walker to have traveled seventeen feet without expelling blood; Hayne concluded that the absence of blood between the porch and the place where Walker's body came to rest meant that Walker had fallen where he was standing when shot.

¶ 8. Speagle was ultimately convicted of the crimes of manslaughter and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On appeal, Speagle raises a number of issues, which we address below.[1]

ISSUES AND ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING SPEAGLE'S MOTION FOR A SPECIAL VENIRE.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO SEQUESTER THE JURY.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING SPEAGLE'S MOTION FOR INDIVIDUAL VOIR DIRE OF PROSPECTIVE JURORS.

¶ 9. Speagle claims that the trial court abused its discretion in three respects regarding jury selection and sequestration. We address each separately.

A. Whether the trial court erred in denying Speagle's motion for a special venire.

¶ 10. Section 13-5-77 of the Mississippi Code provides that, when a person *241 has been charged with a capital crime or with the crime of manslaughter, the accused or the district attorney, upon demand, has the right to a special venire. Miss.Code Ann. § 13-5-77 (Rev.2002); see also Davis v. State, 767 So.2d 986, 1000(¶ 47) (Miss.2000). If such a venire has been granted, "it is the duty of the trial judge, in open court, to draw from the jury box as many names as he desires in his discretion, not less than 40, for each special venire that is demanded." Davis, 767 So.2d at 986(¶ 47).

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Related

Johnson v. State
132 So. 3d 616 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Smith v. State
977 So. 2d 1227 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)

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Bluebook (online)
956 So. 2d 237, 2006 WL 2406149, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/speagle-v-state-missctapp-2006.