Stegall v. State

765 So. 2d 606, 2000 WL 1186291
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 22, 2000
Docket98-KA-00684-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 765 So. 2d 606 (Stegall 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
Stegall v. State, 765 So. 2d 606, 2000 WL 1186291 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

765 So.2d 606 (2000)

James Kelly STEGALL, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 98-KA-00684-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 22, 2000.

*607 Guy N. Rogers, Jr., Pearl, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Charles W. Maris, Jr., Attorneys for Appellee.

BEFORE KING, P.J., PAYNE, AND THOMAS, JJ.

PAYNE, J., for the Court:

PROCEDURAL POSTURE AND ISSUES PRESENTED

¶ 1. This case is on appeal and was orally argued before this Court based on the judgment of the Hinds County Circuit Court of conviction of one count of aggravated assault with a weapon and sentence of fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, five years suspended, ten years to serve, followed by three years probation. His motion for new trial having been denied, Stegall perfected this appeal, raising the following issues for our consideration

WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO ALLOW STEGALL'S COUNSEL TO CROSS-EXAMINE INVESTIGATOR MOULDER ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF POLICE REPORTS PREPARED BY MOULDER.
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING JURY INSTRUCTION S-1 WHICH DID NOT INCLUDE THE PROPER STATUTORY LANGUAGE UNDER MISS. CODE ANN. § 97-3-7(2)(A).
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO GRANT JURY INSTRUCTION D-14 WHICH INCLUDED THE PROPER STATUTORY LANGUAGE UNDER MISS. CODE ANN. § 97-3-7(2)(A).
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING JURY INSTRUCTION S-3 WHICH HAS BEEN HELD TO BE AN INCORRECT STATEMENT OF LAW IN MISSISSIPPI.
WHETHER THE VERDICT OF THE JURY WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

After due consideration of the arguments in the parties' briefs and in oral arguments of this matter, we are unmoved by Stegall's assignments of error. Accordingly, we affirm the conviction and sentence in this matter.

FACTS

¶ 2. Late on February 25, 1996, and into the early morning hours of February 26, 1996, Stegall was involved in an argument with his girlfriend and mother of his child, Tanya Tubberville, and Tanya's sister, Sara Clark, at Sara's home. Sara called the Hinds County Sheriffs Office. As law enforcement arrived, an officer spotted Stegall's retreat to a wooded area behind Sara's home. Deputy Sheriffs Stacie Thomas and Tim Sanford went to the wooded area and heard movement. Deputy Thomas located Stegall in the thicket, *608 identified himself, and ordered Stegall to come out of the wooded area. Stegall complied. On the way out of the woods, Stegall indicated that he had done nothing wrong and did not want to go to jail. He cursed the officers. Stegall charged Deputy Thomas and a struggle ensued. Stegall got his hands on Thomas's weapon and fired it, hitting Thomas in the leg.

¶ 3. Stegall was indicted pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-7(2) (Rev.1994). After a jury trial, Stegall was found guilty of the offense charged.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO ALLOW STEGALL'S COUNSEL TO CROSS-EXAMINE INVESTIGATOR MOULDER ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF POLICE REPORTS PREPARED BY MOULDER.

¶ 4. Stegall's first assigned error alleges that the trial court erred by not allowing cross-examination of Investigator Moulder about the contents of his police reports. We find this argument to be without merit. Moulder was a defense witness, and while police reports are admissible under the Mississippi Rules of Evidence's business records exception, the total contents of the report are not necessarily admissible. See Copeland v. City of Jackson, 548 So.2d 970 (Miss.1989); Bingham v. State, 723 So.2d 1189 (Miss.Ct.App. 1998). The purpose of questioning Moulder about these reports was to impeach the credibility of Deputies Thomas and Sanford. Both Thomas and Sanford took the stand, and Stegall had every opportunity for impeachment in that mode. Apparently, as a matter of trial strategy, Stegall chose not to use the reports to impeach the deputies. Given the great deference accorded trial judges in the admission and suppression of evidence, we find no basis for reversal in this regard.

WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING JURY INSTRUCTION S-1 WHICH DID NOT INCLUDE THE PROPER STATUTORY LANGUAGE UNDER MISS. CODE ANN. § 97-3-7(2)(A).
WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO GRANT JURY INSTRUCTION D-14 WHICH INCLUDED THE PROPER STATUTORY LANGUAGE UNDER MISS. CODE ANN. § 97-3-7(2)(A).

¶ 5. Stegall next complains of Jury Instruction S-1, which provided as follows:

The Court instructs the jury that if you believe from evidence in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the Defendant, James Kelly Stegall, on or about February 26, 1996, while acting recklessly and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, did cause serious bodily injury to Stacy Thomas, a human being, with a certain deadly weapon, to-wit: a handgun, by then and there shooting the said Stacy Thomas or causing the said Stacy Thomas to be shot, while, the said Stacy Thomas, a duly appointed and presently acting law enforcement officer, to-wit: a sworn officer of the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, was then and there engaged in the performance of and within the scope of said law enforcement officer's duties, then and in that event, James Kelly Stegall is guilty of aggravated assault and it is your sworn duty to so find.

Stegall argues that the instruction was incomplete. According to Stegall, the instruction in above is couched in the disjunctive (or) when it should be in the conjunctive (and). The statute under which Stegall was indicted reads as follows:

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 *609 likely to produce death or serious bodily harm; and, upon conviction, he shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one (1) year or in the penitentiary for not more than twenty (20) years. Provided, however, a person convicted of aggravated assault (a) upon a statewide elected official, law enforcement officer, fireman, emergency medical personnel, public health personnel, superintendent, principal, teacher or other instructional personnel and school attendance officers or school bus driver while such statewide elected official, law enforcement officer, fireman, emergency medical personnel, public health personnel, superintendent, principal, teacher or other instructional personnel and school attendance officers or school bus driver is acting within the scope of his duty, office or employment, or (b) upon a legislator while the Legislature is in regular or extraordinary session shall be punished by a fine of not more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00) or by imprisonment for not more than thirty (30) years, or both. (emphasis supplied).

Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-7(2) (Supp.1997). The statutory language appears to be written in the disjunctive, not the conjunctive.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
765 So. 2d 606, 2000 WL 1186291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stegall-v-state-missctapp-2000.