Williams v. State

757 So. 2d 953, 1999 WL 695910
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 9, 1999
Docket98-KA-00445-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 757 So. 2d 953 (Williams v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Williams v. State, 757 So. 2d 953, 1999 WL 695910 (Mich. 1999).

Opinion

757 So.2d 953 (1999)

John WILLIAMS a/k/a John L. William
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 98-KA-00445-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 9, 1999.
Rehearing Denied November 18, 1999.

*954 K. Elizabeth Davis, Greenwood, Attorney for Appellant.

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

*955 BEFORE SULLIVAN, P.J., BANKS AND WALLER, JJ.

BANKS, Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. This case challenges the conviction and sentence imposed for sexual battery. We conclude that the conviction is supported by the evidence. We further conclude that the sentence imposed is neither excessive nor disproportionate to the crime of sexual battery. Accordingly, we affirm the conviction and sentence imposed by the trial court.

I.

¶ 2. John Williams was indicted in a multi-count indictment on six counts of sexual battery and two counts of fondling in the Carroll County Circuit Court. Prior to trial, the two counts of fondling were severed by the trial court.

¶ 3. Testifying for the State during trial on the matter were four children, all of whom testified that John Williams sexually abused them. In Counts I and II of the indictment, Williams was charged with "unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously" engaging in sexual penetration with the first child by inserting his finger into her vagina. The first child, age 10 at the time of trial, testified that on two visits to Williams's home to watch movies and play with his pets, Williams put his hands between her legs and inserted his finger inside her vagina.

¶ 4. Count III charged Williams with the sexual penetration of the second child by inserting his penis into the child's mouth. The second child, age 7, testified that on several occasions, he went to Williams's home with his brother, the third child, to watch movies. On one occasion, the second child testified that Williams promised him $5 to "suck his weiner", referring to Williams's penis. The second child later told his parents what Williams had done, despite Williams's warnings not to tell.

¶ 5. In Count IV, Williams was charged with sexual penetration of the third child. The third child, age 9 at trial, testified that during the summer of 1997, he also visited with Williams several times. His testimony was that during one visit, he and Williams went into the bathroom where Williams made the third child play with his "weiner" and suck it. The third child also stated that Williams promised him $5 if he allowed Williams to do these things to him.

¶ 6. Counts V and VI charged Williams with sexual penetration of the fourth child by inserting his finger into her vagina. The fourth child, who was 11 at the time of trial, testified that during a visit to Williams's home to watch movies with her younger brothers, sister and cousins, Williams put his fingers inside her "cat", referring to her vagina. She also testified that she never told anyone because Williams threatened to hurt her if she did. She stated that Williams inserted his finger into her vagina on another occasion while she was visiting with him also. Her cousin, a 12-year-old child, testified she walked in on Williams while he had his hands in the fourth child's pants.

¶ 7. Dr. Billy Boldon, a pediatrician, testified that he took a medical history of the fourth child after she was brought in by her mother, who believed the fourth child had been molested by Williams. The child informed Dr. Boldon that Williams had inserted his finger into her vagina on more than one occasion, referred to by Dr. Boldon as "digital molestation." Dr. Boldon completed a physical examination of the child but found no physical evidence of sexual abuse. Dr. Boldon, testified, however, that such was common in cases like the fourth child's where examination was conducted long after the digital penetration may have occurred and that usually within 72 hours, any evidence, such as redness, bruising or irritation, is not found. There was no record of medical examinations of any of the other children.

¶ 8. Williams presented the testimony of Rita Bennett, mother of the second, third and fourth children and the first child's aunt. Her testimony was that she was not *956 aware of any allegations of sexual abuse until after an argument ensued between her son, Rex, and Williams. Williams rested without testifying or calling any other witnesses on his behalf.

¶ 9. Based on the evidence before it, the jury convicted Williams of all six counts of sexual battery. Williams was subsequently sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment in the Mississippi Department of Corrections as follows:

Count I: thirty years;
Count II: thirty years, concurrent to Count I;
Count III: thirty years, concurrent to Counts I and II;
Count IV: thirty years, consecutive to Count I, II, III;
Count V: thirty years, concurrent with Count IV;
Count VI: thirty years, concurrent with Count IV.

¶ 10. Aggrieved, Williams appeals to this Court.

II.

¶ 11. We collectively address Williams's first four assignments. In his first assignment of error, Williams argues that the trial court erred in not granting his motion for a directed verdict. Williams next argues that the court erred in not granting Instruction D-1, a peremptory jury instruction. He further alleges that the trial court erred by denying his motion for new trial.

¶ 12. Williams's challenge that the State failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of sexual battery goes to the sufficiency of the evidence. He also argues that his motion for new trial should have been granted because the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 13. The standard of review in challenges to the sufficiency of the evidence is one in which all the evidence is considered in a light most favorable to the verdict. Collier v. State, 711 So.2d 458, 461 (Miss.1998). The credible evidence consistent with the guilt must be accepted as true, and the prosecution must be given the benefit of all favorable inferences which may be reasonably drawn from the evidence. Collier v. State, 711 So.2d at 461 (quoting Wetz v. State, 503 So.2d 803, 808 (Miss.1987); Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 787 (Miss.1997)). Matters regarding the weight and credibility are to be resolved by the jury, and this Court may reverse only where the evidence so considered is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty. Collier at 461. The standard of review for the denial of a peremptory instruction is identical to that for denial of a directed verdict. Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d at 787.

¶ 14. In determining whether a jury verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, this Court must accept as true the evidence which supports the verdict, reversing only when convinced the circuit court has abused its discretion in failing to grant a new trial. Id. at 461 (citing Herring v. State, 691 So.2d 948, 957 (Miss.1997)). Only in cases where the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence will the Court disturb it on appeal and grant a new trial. Id.

¶ 15. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95

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Bluebook (online)
757 So. 2d 953, 1999 WL 695910, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-state-miss-1999.