Watts v. State

818 So. 2d 1207, 2002 WL 1339883
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 30, 2002
Docket2000-KA-00847-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 818 So. 2d 1207 (Watts 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
Watts v. State, 818 So. 2d 1207, 2002 WL 1339883 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

818 So.2d 1207 (2002)

Greg WATTS and Carla L. McLemore a/k/a Carla Lehmann McLemore, Appellants,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2000-KA-00847-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 30, 2002.

*1208 Tim David Blalock, Natchez, L.H. Rosenthal, attorney for appellants.

Office of the Attorney General by Dewitt T. Allred III, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

MODIFIED OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING[1]

SOUTHWICK, P.J., for the court.

¶ 1. Carla McLemore and Greg Watts were convicted of aggravated assault upon Tim Buckley. On appeal, both allege that the indictments should have been quashed. McLemore also claims that the evidence does not support her conviction. We disagree with their arguments and affirm.

*1209 FACTS

¶ 2. Tim Buckley and Carla McLemore were neighbors in Meadville who had been involved in a boundary dispute. Their litigation was settled, but perhaps animosities remained. On the afternoon of May 28, 1999, Buckley was trimming hedges along the property line when McLemore came up to him and eventually pushed him several times. Buckley grabbed her arms and they fell to the ground with Buckley on top of McLemore. Greg Watts, who testified that he had been inside McLemore's house when this confrontation began, then entered the fray by striking Buckley on the back of the head. Buckley stopped resisting, remained conscious, and was severely beaten.

¶ 3. His injuries included three lacerations that required stitches. His retinas were detached from his eyes and several surgeries were required; his vision remains impaired. Buckley's wife only saw the end of the beating of her husband. She immediately called the sheriff.

¶ 4. Watts and McLemore testified that Buckley started the incident. Both defendants alleged that Watts hit Buckley only in order to rescue McLemore, that only a few blows were struck, and that Buckley was the guilty party. Buckley filed aggravated assault charges against Watts and McLemore. Watts and McLemore filed simple assault charges against Buckley. McLemore also filed aggravated assault charges against Buckley. Each party was subpoenaed to appear before a Franklin County grand jury. All three appeared without counsel and testified. All were given the required warnings about their relevant constitutional rights before their testimony.

¶ 5. Only Watts and McLemore were indicted. After a jury trial, both were convicted of aggravated assault. Each was sentenced to five years imprisonment. The entirety of McLemore's sentence was suspended, with five years probation. Watts had to serve six months, and the remainder was to be followed by probation.

DISCUSSION

I. Denial of Motions to Quash Indictments

¶ 6. McLemore and Watts assign as error the circuit court's failure to grant their motions to quash the indictments. The motions stated that their rights under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution and related rights under the Mississippi Constitution were violated by requiring them to appear before a grand jury. Also submitted was an agreed set of facts signed both by the district attorney and the attorney for the defendants. The motions sought an evidentiary hearing. That apparently was never held, and an order was entered denying the motion.

¶ 7. An elaboration of the factual background for the motion would be useful. Following the altercation, Buckley filed affidavits charging both McLemore and Watts with aggravated assault while Watts and McLemore filed affidavits charging Buckley with simple assault. McLemore later filed an affidavit charging Buckley with aggravated assault.

¶ 8. McLemore, Watts, and Buckley were subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury. All three appeared separately before the jurors and testified. Each was read this warning:

Before we ask you any questions, you must understand your rights.
(1) You have a right to remain silent, say nothing at all or refuse to answer any questions.
(2) Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.
*1210 (3) You have a right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions and to have him with you during questioning.
(4) If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you before any questioning, if you wish.
(5) If you decide to answer questions now, without a lawyer present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time. You also have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to a lawyer.
(6) Do you understand these rights?

All three testified, and no attorney accompanied any of them. We have no transcript. The defendants allege that they had been led to believe that they were subpoenaed to explain their charges against Buckley, not Buckley's charges against them.

¶ 9. The defendants argue that their testimony was involuntary since they were required to appear before the grand jury and did not know they were targets. It is true that their appearances before the grand jury were as a result of the coercive power of subpoenas. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-9-17 (Rev.2000). Yet it is admitted that their right to refuse to testify was explained to each of them in advance of questioning. We examine the state and federal constitutions on the right against self-incrimination to determine whether anything improper occurred here.

A. Mississippi Constitution: Compelled Testimony

¶ 10. The state and federal constitutions each provide that a person cannot be forced to incriminate himself in a criminal proceeding. MISS. CONST. Art. 3, § 26 (1890); U.S. CONST. amend. V. In Mississippi it is presumed that "similar sections of the United States Constitution and the Mississippi Constitution ought to be construed similarly." McCrory v. State, 342 So.2d 897, 900 (Miss.1977).

¶ 11. One precedent cited by the defendants required the quashing of an indictment because the testimony given by those defendants before a grand jury was involuntary. State v. Milam, 210 Miss. 13, 26, 48 So.2d 594, 597 (1950). As here, there was a dispute in Milam as to who should be considered the perpetrators and who the victims in an incident. The two defendants, H.E. and S.L. Milam, attempted a citizen's arrest upon Chism and Tiner because the Milams suspected them of burglarizing their store. Id. at 21, 48 So.2d 594. In response to the burglary charge by the Milams, Chism charged the Milams with assault and battery; Tiner charged the Milams with kidnaping. Id. As the Supreme Court noted, both sides were "urging the district attorney to permit them to submit their charges to the grand jury...." Milam, 210 Miss. at 21, 48 So.2d 594.

¶ 12. Both Chism and Tiner signed a waiver of immunity in the presence of their attorney before appearing at the grand jury. Id. at 22, 48 So.2d 594. The Milams were not informed that they would need to execute a waiver until they were seated in the grand jury room. Id. at 22, 48 So.2d at 595. At the same time the Milams were informed of the waiver, they were also shown the waiver executed by Chism and Tiner. Id. at 22, 48 So.2d at 595.

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Bluebook (online)
818 So. 2d 1207, 2002 WL 1339883, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/watts-v-state-missctapp-2002.