Thomas v. State

19 So. 3d 130, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 192, 2009 WL 921092
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 7, 2009
Docket2007-KA-01781-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 19 So. 3d 130 (Thomas 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
Thomas v. State, 19 So. 3d 130, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 192, 2009 WL 921092 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

GRIFFIS, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Anthony J. Thomas was convicted of Count I, aggravated assault, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-7(2)(b) (Rev.2006), and Count II, felon in possession of a weapon, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-87-5 (Rev.2006). Thomas was sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment without eligibility for parole in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. On appeal, Thomas claims that the trial court erred by (1) permitting the prosecutor to inquire into the details of Thomas’s previous conviction for aggravated assault, (2) barring his inquiry into the drug and alcohol use of the victim, and (3) denying his motion to sever Counts I and II. Finding error as to issue one, we reverse the judgment of the trial court and remand this case for a new trial.

FACTS

¶ 2. Thomas met Karen Burks shortly after she evacuated to Jackson, Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina. The two began living together in a one-bedroom apartment in Jackson. They argued frequently, and Burks would occasionally lock Thomas out of the apartment. One night, the two went grocery shopping together. After they returned home, Thomas left to check on a possible job for the next day. While he was gone, Burks consumed a few beers.

¶ 3. When Thomas returned to the apartment, he claimed that Burks was high. Thomas testified that he and Burks began to argue again, so he prepared to leave. He retrieved two tote bags that he always kept packed and some groceries. He went back to the bedroom to get his shoes. Thomas then stated that Burks came into the bedroom with a knife and tried to stab him to keep him from leaving. Thomas testified that he was trying to pull on her arm to make her drop the knife when she “snatched,” and the knife hit her in the chest. He then pulled the knife out and broke the blade off of the handle so Burks could not use the knife again. He put the blade in his pocket and threw it away later on that night.

¶ 4. Thomas left the apartment to find a phone to call for help. He later saw an ambulance go by and could see the paramedics working on someone. He then became afraid of what Burks’s family might do if he went back to the apartment, so he did not return to the apartment that night.

¶5. Of course, Burks’s version of the events was significantly different from Thomas’s testimony. She testified that Thomas had been drinking, but she could not recall what they fought about or what was said. She stated that Thomas threatened to kill her. Thomas covered her mouth and held her down while he stabbed her. After Thomas left, Burks made her way to a neighbor’s front porch, and the neighbor called 9-1-1.

¶ 6. Officer Jerrick Taylor arrived and found Burks lying on her back and covered in blood. Burks told Taylor that her boyfriend, Anthony Thomas, had stabbed her twice. Burks was able to give Officer Taylor a description of Thomas consisting of his height, weight, hairstyle, missing teeth, and nickname. An ambulance arrived and transported Burks to the hospital. Burks was immediately taken to surgery.

¶ 7. The medical evidence showed that Burks sustained life-threatening stab wounds and lost at least forty percent of her blood volume. There were two stab wounds to her left chest — one cut her internal mammary artery, a large artery that runs behind the sternum, and the [132]*132other injured the left upper lobe of her lung.

¶ 8. After considering all of the evidence presented at trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as to both counts. Thomas filed a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial that was denied by the trial court. Thomas now appeals his convictions and sentence of life imprisonment without eligibility for parole.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 9. The standard of review we employ regarding the admissibility of evidence is well settled:

a trial judge enjoys a great deal of discretion as to the relevancy and admissibility of evidence. Unless the judge abuses this discretion so as to be prejudicial to the accused, the Court will not reverse this ruling.

Robinson v. State, 940 So.2d 235, 238(¶ 7) (Miss.2006) (quoting Turner v. State, 732 So.2d 937, 946 (Miss.1999)).

ANALYSIS

Whether the trial court erred by permitting the prosecutor to inquire into the details of Thomas’s prior conviction for aggravated assault.

¶ 10. Thomas first claims that the trial court erred by permitting the prosecutor to inquire into the details of Thomas’s 1999 conviction for aggravated assault. He claims that the details released to the jury deprived him of a fair and impartial trial. Specifically, Thomas states that admission of this evidence was in violation of Mississippi Rules of Evidence 404(b) and 609(a)(1) and that the trial court failed to conduct an on-the-record Rule 609 balancing test as required by Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632, 636 (Miss.1987). The State argues that Thomas’s testimony opened the door to further questioning about the prior conviction.

¶ 11. The State concedes that the trial court erred by failing to conduct an on-the-record analysis of the Peterson factors; however, the State claims that the error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of Thomas’s guilt and because it did not unfairly prejudice Thomas’s case.

¶ 12. On direct examination, Thomas testified as to what happened after he went to find help:

I couldn’t go back to the house. I couldn’t go back to the house. Her son probably would have killed me, and don’t even know what really went on. So I couldn’t go back. That’s the very reason I couldn’t go back to the house, because her son would have probably shot me.
Her nieces carry pistols, he carry [sic] pistols. I don’t carry pistols. He probably would have killed me, you understand.

¶ 13. Then, on cross-examination, the prosecutor asked Thomas the following:

Q: Did you say that you don’t carry a pistol? Is that what you said?
A: I don’t carry a pistol no more because Pm a convicted felon.
Q: You said I don’t carry a pistol. Do you remember saying that?
A: I don’t carry a pistol.
Q: Okay. Do you remember back in 1999 when you shot Ms. Alice Proctor, the aggravated assault that you were convicted of?
BY MR. MCWILLIAMS: Your hon- or, I’m going to object to that.
BY THE COURT: Pardon me?
BY MR. MCWILLIAMS: I’m going to object to that. There’s no testimony about him shooting anybody—
[133]*133BY MS. MANSELL: Your Honor, he opened the door. Well, we’ve got the indictment right here.
BY THE COURT: All right. Overruled.
BY MS. MANSELL: (Continuing)
Q: Do you remember shooting Ms. Alice Proctor, a woman that was going to leave you? Do you remember shooting her?
A: Yes, ma’am. I remember shooting her.
Q Okay. So you do carry pistols?
A But—

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Related

Thomas v. State
126 So. 3d 877 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2013)
Anthony Tyrone Thomas v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2011
Thomas v. State
19 So. 3d 130 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
19 So. 3d 130, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 192, 2009 WL 921092, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-v-state-missctapp-2009.