Wimberly v. State

839 So. 2d 553, 2002 WL 31830551
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 17, 2002
Docket2001-KA-00587-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 839 So. 2d 553 (Wimberly 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
Wimberly v. State, 839 So. 2d 553, 2002 WL 31830551 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

839 So.2d 553 (2002)

Jeff WIMBERLY a/k/a Jeffery W. Wimberly a/k/a Jeffery Wayne Wimberly, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-00587-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 17, 2002.
Rehearing Denied March 4, 2003.

*554 Stephen P. Livingston, New Albany, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jean Smith Vaughan, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, P.J., IRVING, and BRANTLEY, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the court.

¶ 1. Jeff W. Wimberly appeals from a conviction of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, rendered in the Circuit Court of Union County, Mississippi and raises five issues which we quote verbatim:

1. The court was in error when it allowed the Defendant's oral and written confessions to be introduced into evidence, since these confessions were not voluntarily given.

2. It was error on the court's part not to grant a JNOV or direct a verdict based on the lack of evidence presented by the prosecution and their failure to prove an attempted robbery, due to the fact, there was no proof other than the confession.

3. It was error on the court's part to refuse Defendant's jury instruction number D-17 concerning the crime of robbery.

4. It was error on the court's part to allow physical evidence to be introduced since this physical evidence had not been disclosed to the Defendant pursuant to the Defendant's discovery request.

5. It was error on the court's part to allow the oral confession of the Defendant into evidence since it was not disclosed to the Defendant pursuant to the Defendant's discovery request.

¶ 2. We find these issues lack merit; therefore, we affirm.

*555 FACTS

¶ 3. Jeff W. Wimberly was charged and found guilty of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon. On August 12, 1999, between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m., two men entered the residence of the Catlin family in New Albany, Mississippi. The men intended to steal marijuana from Jason Catlin,[1] one of the Catlin children. On the night in question, Mr. and Mrs. Catlin and their four children: Jennifer, age twenty, Jason, nineteen, Jonathan, seventeen, and Jeffrey, sixteen, were at home.

¶ 4. Jason, Jonathan and Jeffrey were in their room in the back of the house when they noticed three shadows walking by the window. As a result, Jason went into the living room and opened the door while his sister Jennifer was sitting in the living room. As Jason opened the door, two white males and one black male stood in the door. The black male hit Jason in the mouth as the other men watched. The intruders wore blue bandannas which extended from underneath their eyes to their chin. Jason's attacker entered the house with a knife and continued to attack Jason as the victim screamed. Meanwhile, Jonathan came into the living room with a .12 gauge shotgun and shot Jason's attacker in the back.

¶ 5. After the attacker was shot, his accomplices left the house. Meanwhile, Officer Tommy Smithey was en route to the Catlin residence. He was told over the police radio that the attacker had been found under a trailer. Officer Smithey went to the scene and discovered Wimberly with a bullet wound in his back. Officer Smithey retrieved a blue bandanna, a knife and a white ball cap from the location. Wimberly was taken to the New Albany Baptist Memorial Hospital. Later that night, Officers Smithey and Mike Pannell arrived at the hospital to question Wimberly. During the officers' visit, Wimberly gave an oral statement.

¶ 6. Five days later, the hospital transferred Wimberly to the North Mississippi Medical Center. On August 17, 1999, Wimberly signed a waiver of rights form and provided Officers Smithey and Benny Kirk with a written confession. The confession described the events which led to the shooting and named the co-attackers.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Admission of Oral and Written Confession

¶ 7. Wimberly contends that his confessions were involuntary because he was on pain medication and in physical pain when he gave his statements to the police. Thus, Wimberly asserts that his equal protection and due process rights were violated by the admission of the involuntary confessions during trial. Wimberly gave two confessions to the police, and both were admitted during trial. The first confession was oral and given on the night in question upon Wimberly's arrival at the hospital. The second confession was a written confession given on August 17, 1999, five days after the incident when Wimberly was released from the hospital. He signed a waiver before giving the written confession. Wimberly avers that the court should have taken into consideration the totality of the circumstances in determining whether his confession was voluntary.

¶ 8. A trial judge's admission of a confession will only be overturned where *556 an incorrect legal standard was applied, manifest error was committed, or the decision was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Kircher v. State, 753 So.2d 1017, 1023(¶ 27) (Miss.2000).

¶ 9. The trial judge held a suppression hearing before trial to determine whether Wimberly's confessions were voluntarily, knowingly, and freely given. During this hearing, the judge heard the testimony of Wimberly and Officers Thomas Smithey, Benny Kirk, and Mike Pannell. All officers testified that the statements were given when they were present, were not coerced, and were given freely and voluntarily without an offer of reward. They affirmed that Wimberly was read his rights before each confession. The officers testified that Wimberly stated that he understood the rights that he was waiving on the day the written confession was given. Officers Smithey and Kirk also testified that Wimberly appeared coherent, and his speech was not slurred. Moreover, Officers Smithey and Pannell testified that all details given by Wimberly the night of the incident matched those of the Catlins. Most importantly, Wimberly testified that the date the confession was given was on the same day he was released from the hospital.

¶ 10. We find that the State met its burden of proving its prima facie case and that Wimberly failed to rebut the State's assertions. Therefore, we affirm the trial judge's admission of Wimberly's oral and written confessions.

2. Failure of Court to Grant JNOV or Directed Verdict

¶ 11. Wimberly asserts that the court should have granted his motion for a directed verdict or a JNOV because the State should prove its case with more than his confession. Also, Wimberly avers that the State's witnesses never testified that anything was ever said about robbing or that a robbery transpired. Wimberly concludes that no proof of an attempted robbery existed.

¶ 12. The standard of review concerning a denial of a motion for a JNOV and a directed verdict are the same. Baker v. State, 802 So.2d 77, 81(¶ 13) (Miss.2001). We must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the appellee, giving that party the benefit of all favorable inferences which may be reasonably drawn from the evidence and reverse and render where the facts point so overwhelmingly in favor of the appellant that reasonable men could not have found the defendant guilty. Id. However, we must affirm where there is substantial evidence of such quality and weight that reasonable and fair-minded jurors in the exercise of impartial judgment might have reached different conclusions. Id.

¶ 13.

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Bluebook (online)
839 So. 2d 553, 2002 WL 31830551, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wimberly-v-state-missctapp-2002.