Voyles v. State

822 So. 2d 353, 2002 WL 1554564
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 16, 2002
Docket2001-KA-00535-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 822 So. 2d 353 (Voyles 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
Voyles v. State, 822 So. 2d 353, 2002 WL 1554564 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

822 So.2d 353 (2002)

Jimmy VOYLES a/k/a Jimmy Dale Voyles, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-00535-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

July 16, 2002.

*355 William C. Stennett, Tupelo, attorney for appellant.

Office Of The Attorney General, by Scott Stuart, attorney for appellee.

Before SOUTHWICK, P.J., BRIDGES, and BRANTLEY, JJ.

SOUTHWICK, P.J., for the court.

¶ 1. Jimmy Voyles was convicted of one count of fondling a child who was under sixteen years of age. He appeals alleging that the circuit court erred in not granting his motion for directed verdict, in allowing the State to amend the indictment the day of trial to add an habitual offender charge, and in allowing hearsay testimony. He also argues that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We disagree and affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. Testimony at trial revealed that in late July 1999, Maria Flores first became suspicious that her four-year-old daughter might have been fondled. After her daughter had been playing outside, Mrs. Flores attempted to remove some leaves from her daughter's shorts. The child told her mother not to touch her there. Mrs. Flores became concerned and asked her daughter if she had been touched inappropriately by anyone. The child answered that she had not.

¶ 3. Several days later, Mrs. Flores took her daughter to the home of her sister, Erika Flores. After telling Erika Flores about the incident with her daughter, both Maria and Erika questioned the child. Maria and Erika asked the child several times if she had been touched by any of the men in their family, whom they proceeded to name, with whom the child might have had contact. The child finally answered that her step-grandfather, Jimmy Voyles, had touched her "pee pee" with his finger and that he had hurt her. The child demonstrated with her hands what Voyles had done. The child told her mother and aunt that the touching occurred while she was spending the night with her father and two sisters at Voyles' trailer. The child told her mother that during the incident that Voyles promised her candy and potato chips if she remained silent. The child also stated that Voyles told her not to speak of the incident and, if she was ever asked had she been fondled, to claim it was her father.

¶ 4. The child was interviewed by Brenda DePriest, a social worker, and Teresa Broadway, an investigator at the Lee County Sheriffs Department. The child was examined at the emergency room of the North Mississippi Medical Center the day she told her mother about the fondling. The child was referred to another physician, Dr. Linda Chidester, who had experience with child molestation cases. Dr. Chidester concluded after her examination that the child had been sexually *356 abused. However, Dr. Chidester could not determine when the abuse took place.

¶ 5. Voyles was indicted for the fondling of his four-year-old step-granddaughter. The indictment alleged that the fondling occurred sometime between February and May of 1999. On October 30, 2000, the day before trial and over the objection of Voyles, the indictment was amended to charge Voyles as an habitual offender. At the conclusion of the one-day trial, Voyles was convicted of one count of fondling a child under sixteen years of age. Voyles was sentenced as an habitual offender to a term of life in prison with no possibility of early release. During the pendency of his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or for a new trial, Voyles obtained new counsel. The motion was denied. Voyles' appeal was deflected here. Miss. Code Ann. § 9-4-3 (Supp.2001).

DISCUSSION

1. Strength of Evidence

a. Sufficiency

¶ 6. Voyles argues that the circuit court erred in denying his motion for directed verdict made at the close of the State's case and his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Both of these motions "are predicated upon the idea that the evidence simply does not justify a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt." Washington v. State, 800 So.2d 1140, 1144 (Miss.2001). When reviewing the denial of such motions, an appellate court views the evidence in a light most favorable to the jury's verdict. Id. Only if the court concludes "that no reasonable person could have found the accused guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" will "the verdict ... be set aside." Id.

¶ 7. The crime for which Voyles was convicted is this:

[a]ny person above the age of eighteen (18) years, who, for the purpose of gratifying his or her lust, or indulging his or her depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch or rub with hands or any part of his or her body or any member thereof, any child under the age of sixteen (16) years, with or without the child's consent ... shall be guilty of a felony.

Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-23(1) (Rev.2000). The State had to prove that Voyles was over the age of eighteen, that the child was under the age of sixteen, that Voyles touched her with either his hands or another part of his body for the purpose of gratifying his lust or "depraved licentious sexual desire," and that the act occurred between February and May 1999.

¶ 8. The ages of the accused and victim were proved. The five-year-old child testified that Voyles "touched my pee pee," and that no one else had done so. It was explained by other witnesses at trial that the child used the term "pee pee" to refer to her vaginal area. Testimony from the victim of a sex crime, even if not corroborated, is sufficient to prove guilt absent discrediting or contradiction by other credible evidence. Williams v. State, 757 So.2d 953, 957 (Miss.1999).

¶ 9. Dr. Linda Chidester examined the child and stated that the opening in the child's hymen was two to three times larger than normal for a child her age and was consistent with sexual abuse. Dr. Chidester stated that she could not determine when the abuse took place. The testimony offered by the various witnesses, based on statements made by the child, was conflicting as to how many times Voyles may have fondled the child and whether the child was forced to touch Voyles.

¶ 10. We cannot say that the evidence presented was such that no reasonable juror could have found Voyles guilty. *357 Therefore, the evidence presented was sufficient.

b. Weight

¶ 11. Voyles also claims that the jury's verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. "This Court will not order a new trial `unless convinced that the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that, to allow it to stand, would be to sanction an unconscionable injustice.'" Robinson v. State, 662 So.2d 1100, 1105 (Miss.1995). Also, this Court must accept as true all evidence and reasonable inferences drawn from that evidence favorable to the State. Robinson, 662 So.2d at 1105.

¶ 12. After reviewing the record, we are not convinced that allowing the jury's verdict to stand would be to sanction an unconscionable injustice.

2. The Indictment

a. Date of Offense

¶ 13. Voyles argues that lack of specific dates in the indictment deprived him of the ability to prepare an adequate defense of either alibi or impossibility.

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Bluebook (online)
822 So. 2d 353, 2002 WL 1554564, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/voyles-v-state-missctapp-2002.