Trigg v. State

759 So. 2d 448, 2000 WL 199822
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedFebruary 22, 2000
Docket1999-KA-00126-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 759 So. 2d 448 (Trigg 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
Trigg v. State, 759 So. 2d 448, 2000 WL 199822 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

759 So.2d 448 (2000)

Kyle TRIGG a/k/a William Kyle Triggs, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 1999-KA-00126-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

February 22, 2000.
Rehearing Denied May 2, 2000.

*449 David M. Ratcliff, Laurel, Charles W. Wright Jr., Attorneys for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Pat S. Flynn, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE KING, P.J., BRIDGES, AND MOORE, JJ.

BRIDGES, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. This case is a criminal appeal taken from the Circuit Court of Wayne County wherein William Kyle Trigg was found guilty of sexual battery against his wife at the time in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95 (Rev.1994)[1]. Kyle was ordered to serve ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with nine and three-fourths years of that sentence suspended and to pay fines and court costs totaling $5,448. Displeased with that result, Kyle exercised his right to redress his grievance before this Court alleging the following errors at trial

I. THE MARITAL EXCEPTION TO SEXUAL BATTERY APPLIES TO THE DEFENDANT AND SHOULD EXCULPATE HIM FROM LIABILITY.

II. THE LANGUAGE OF THE INDICTMENT WAS INSUFFICIENT AND IT WAS IMPERMISSIBLY *450 AMENDED BY A JURY INSTRUCTION.

III. THE TRIAL COURT WAS UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO GIVE A SUA SPONTE INSTRUCTION ON THE LESSER OFFENSE OF SIMPLE ASSAULT.

IV. THE THEORY OF THE DEFENSE WAS INADEQUATELY PRESENTED TO THE JURY BY THE INSTRUCTIONS GIVEN AT TRIAL.

V. THE VIDEO TAPE WAS NOT PROPERLY AUTHENTICATED BEFORE IT WAS ENTERED INTO EVIDENCE.

Finding no error at trial, the decision of the lower court is affirmed.

FACTS

¶ 2. William Kyle Trigg and Velma Trigg were married in December of 1995, and one child was born of the union. Soon after the marriage, both Kyle and Velma recognized that the marriage began to deteriorate. Velma admitted having a relationship of some sort with a physician in their hometown of Waynesboro. Although Kyle forgave Velma's marital indiscretion and continued to live with her afterward, they remained unable to find marital reconciliation despite their best efforts to do so.

¶ 3. In what he described as an attempt to restore marital harmony, on July 30, 1997, Kyle made a videotape recording of his wife while she was asleep. On the video, he orally and digitally penetrated her vagina while she was unconscious, without her knowledge or consent. Upon learning of the video, Velma became very angry and two days later filed for divorce. On March 18, 1998, Velma filed charges of sexual battery with the Wayne County Sheriffs Office. Kyle was indicted on June 30, 1998, for sexual battery.

¶ 4. On the evening in question, Velma alleged that Kyle laced food she digested with drugs in an effort to render her unconscious in order to take advantage of the situation. Several tests were run on Velma to determine what, if anything, had been used to render her unconscious. Medicine consistent with a prescription recently filled by Kyle was found in her system. When questioned, Kyle was unable to account for the missing one-half bottle of anti-depressants that matched the substance found in Velma's blood stream. The jury found this evidence convincing. Kyle was found guilty of sexual battery of his wife and sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary, with 9 ¾ years suspended and a $5,000 fine.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. THE MARITAL EXCEPTION TO SEXUAL BATTERY APPLIES TO THE DEFENDANT IN THIS SITUATION AND SHOULD EXCULPATE HIM FROM LIABILITY.

¶ 5. Under the facts of the case sub judice, it is impossible to exculpate Kyle from responsibility in light of the statutory language. Kyle was indicted under Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-95 and found guilty of sexual battery. Specifically, the requirements for conviction under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95(1)(a) and (b) were met in that Velma was passed out, apparently from an overdose of prescription medicine attributed to Kyle. It is impossible for a person who is unconscious to consent to a sexual act, so the language of subsection (1)(a) is clearly violated. Looking to subsection (1)(b) of the statute, Velma's condition could certainly be defined as mentally incapacitated or physically helpless, if not both. She testified that she went to bed wearing a t-shirt, panties and boxer shorts, yet when she awoke, she was completely nude. During the night, Kyle undressed her without her knowledge or consent. It was impossible for her to resist due to her incapacitation resulting from the ingestion of the hidden prescription drugs.

¶ 6. Kyle argues that the "marital exception" language of Miss.Code Ann. *451 § 97-3-99[2] should remove him from criminal responsibility because he never used force. The Mississippi Supreme Court has spoken as to the amount of resistance the victim needed to offer when not under threat of serious bodily injury. In reviewing jury instructions, our supreme court held that an instruction stating the victim must use "all reasonable physical resistance available to her under the circumstances then and there existing to prevent the sexual intercourse" is reasonable if the victim was not in fear for her life. Hull v. State, 687 So.2d 708, 723 (Miss.1996). Velma's unconsciousness reduces her available physical resistance to virtually nothing. In any event, rendering her unconscious with drugs, physically undressing her and sexually penetrating her all require some amount of force. Therefore, this argument is without merit.

II. THE LANGUAGE OF THE INDICTMENT WAS INSUFFICIENT AND IT WAS IMPERMISSIBLY AMENDED BY A JURY INSTRUCTION

¶ 7. Again, force is not an element of sexual battery, rather it is an element necessary to establish the affirmative defense to a charge of sexual battery. The indictment tracked the statute and included all of the essential elements of sexual battery. Any relevant defense must be raised by the defendant; therefore, language concerning potential defenses does not belong in the indictment. So long as the indictment includes the seven enumerated items provided in Rule 7.06 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice and a concise statement of the essential facts constituting the offense charged, it is sufficient to provide the defendant with notice of the charge against him. Roberson v. State, 595 So.2d 1310, 1318 (Miss.1992). This indictment fits those requirements and is complete on its face.

III. THE TRIAL COURT WAS UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO GIVE A SUA SPONTE LESSER OFFENSE INSTRUCTION ON SIMPLE ASSAULT.

¶ 8. Kyle never requested an instruction on simple assault as a lesser-included offense, but he argues that the trial court had an obligation to sua sponte instruct the jury in any lesser-included offenses. "[C]ase law does not impose upon a trial court a duty to instruct the jury sua sponte, nor is it required to suggest instructions in addition to those which the parties tender." Giles v. State, 650 So.2d 846, 854 (Miss.1995) (citing Conner v. State, 632 So.2d 1239 (Miss.1993)). The appellee's brief raises some question as to whether or not simple assault should automatically be considered a lesser-included offense of sexual battery.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
759 So. 2d 448, 2000 WL 199822, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trigg-v-state-missctapp-2000.