Withers v. State

907 So. 2d 342, 2005 WL 1704396
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 21, 2005
Docket2004-KA-00827-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 907 So. 2d 342 (Withers 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
Withers v. State, 907 So. 2d 342, 2005 WL 1704396 (Mich. 2005).

Opinion

907 So.2d 342 (2005)

Christopher R. WITHERS
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2004-KA-00827-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

July 21, 2005.

*343 Donald L. Kilgore, Oxford, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.

Before SMITH, C.J., EASLEY and GRAVES, JJ.

SMITH, Chief Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Christopher R. Withers was convicted in Circuit Court of Neshoba County of the crime of statutory rape, under Section 97-3-65(1)(b) of the Mississippi Code Annotated, and was sentenced to a term of 30 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Following the denial of his motion for judgment notwithstanding *344 the verdict and/or motion for a new trial, Withers appeals to this Court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. During the trial the court held a competency hearing, as prescribed by Rule 601 of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, to determine if the victim,[1] who was fourteen years of age, was competent to testify during trial. The court determined that the victim had the requisite capacity to testify. The victim testified that as the former stepdaughter of Withers, she had been subjected to sexual abuse, by Withers, since around the age of six or seven. She testified that when she was six or seven years old, while her mother and brother were gone, Withers would make her miss the bus and fondle her. She stated that this happened "[s]ometimes every day, sometimes every other day, sometimes every three days." The victim testified that in addition to being fondled by Withers, she was forced to partake in oral sexual acts. The victim testified by the time she reached the age of nine, that the abuse had "moved to" sexual intercourse. The frequency of the occurrence of the oral sexual acts and sexual intercourse ranged from every day to every three days.

¶ 3. The victim stated that she did not tell her mother about any of the incidents because "I didn't want to see my momma hurt ... because I knew she loved him, and I was scared of him." According to her mother, the victim "was afraid I'd take him back, because I had took him back so many times ... She said she was scared if she said anything before then, until she really knew it was over between us, that he would hurt her." The victim stated that she was scared of Withers because he "always told me never to say it `cause he'd come back." Withers was charged with and indicted for having sexual intercourse with the victim in August 2002. She testified that although her sixteen-year-old brother was present in the home when the rape occurred, he was asleep. The victim further testified that Withers moved out in May 2003, and the activity continued up until October 2002, when Withers left the residence because he and the victim's mother had separated. The victim stated that around May 1, 2003, was the first time she told anyone about what had occurred. She testified that the person that she told was her best friend, J.B., because J.B. kept asking her why she was crying. The victim stated she was crying because since Withers had moved out of her house, she was afraid he would hurt her eight-year-old stepsister, L.W. Although L.W. was not the child of the victim's mother, she and Withers had legal custody of L.W. during their marriage, and when they got a divorce in February 2003, L.W. went with Withers.

¶ 4. Once the victim told her best friend, J.B., about the abuse, J.B. encouraged the victim to tell Deputy Sheriff Clark Reynolds, whom the victim knew and trusted. Reynolds was a Deputy Sheriff with the Neshoba County Sheriff's Office and a resource officer assigned to the school that the victim attended. The victim did not talk to Deputy Reynolds the same day that she told J.B., but instead, did so about two or three weeks later. Deputy Reynolds testified that the victim and J.B. expressed their concerns about a "friend" they knew that was being sexually molested by the stepfather of the "friend." Both girls also expressed a great concern for the *345 "friend's" younger sibling. The girls returned the next day and told Deputy Reynolds that the "friend" was really the victim. Deputy Reynolds, immediately contacted Carrie Robertson, the school counselor, Rita Gaines, a social worker, and Sasha Brown Reed, a social worker with the Department of Human Services [DHS]. Deputy Reynolds also contacted Ray Sciple, an investigator for the Neshoba County Sheriff's Department. Reed testified that the victim told her that in addition to the sexual abuse, she was forced to smoke marijuana, and drink vodka and Crown Royal and that this occurred while the victim's mom was either asleep or gone to work. The victim testified that DHS had contacted her mother and her brother, and it was then that she finally told her mother about the abuse.

¶ 5. Reed scheduled a doctor's appointment for the victim with Dr. Melanie Byram at the Sebastopol Clinic for May 19, 2003. However, Dr. Byram was unable to conduct a physical exam on the victim that day, so the examination was conducted on June 2, 2003. Dr. Byram, who was accepted as a pediatric physician expert, testified that the victim's hymen was no longer intact, and that she was able to conduct the examination by using a speculum. She testified that because the hymen was no longer intact and because she was able to easily utilize a speculum during the examination, both of these factors were "very suggestive that the child was sexually active." She did note, however, that sexual activity was not the only cause for a hymen to rupture, but ultimately concluded that "the fact that the speculum was introduced was, again, very suggestive, and you can't be a hundred percent sure, but it's suggestive that this child was sexually active."

¶ 6. Once the State rested, Withers moved for a directed verdict, and the judge overruled that motion. The trial ended with the jury finding Withers guilty of the crime of statutory rape, pursuant to Section 97-3-65(1)(b) of the Mississippi Code Annotated, and Withers was sentenced to a term of 30 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Following the trial court's denial of Withers' post trial motion, this appeal ensued.

DISCUSSION

I. DID THE CIRCUIT COURT ERR BY LIMITING WITHERS' CROSS-EXAMINATION OF THE ALLEGED VICTIM?

¶ 7. The standard of review on appeal from evidentiary rulings is prescribed by Rule 103(a) of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence, which states that "[e]rror may not be predicated upon a ruling which admits or excludes evidence unless a substantial right of a party is affected." This Court has articulated the applicable standard of review in evidentiary rulings: "Our standard of review for the admission of or refusal to admit evidence is well settled. `Admission or suppression of evidence is within the discretion of the trial judge and will not be reversed absent an abuse of that discretion.'" Church of God Pentecostal, Inc. v. Freewill Pentecostal Church of God, Inc., 716 So.2d 200, 210 (Miss.1998). Abuse of discretion is found when the reviewing court has a "definite and firm conviction" that the court below committed a clear error of judgment and conclusion it reached upon a weighing of the relevant factors. Caracci v. Int'l Paper Co., 699 So.2d 546, 556 (Miss.1997).

¶ 8. On appeal, Withers asserts that he was prejudiced "by the trial court's abuse of discretion regarding his cross-examination of [the victim]." Withers cites Sanders v. State, 352 So.2d 822, 824 (Miss.1977), in which this Court held that the credibility *346

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Anthony Gerald Fox v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2024
Keith Crawford v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Joshua Demien Magee v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017
Tremayne Whittle v. State of Mississippi
182 So. 3d 1285 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)
Rebecca Lynn Jones v. State of Mississippi
154 So. 3d 872 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2014)
Chaupette v. State
136 So. 3d 1041 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2014)
Ferguson v. State
137 So. 3d 240 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2014)
Anthony v. State
108 So. 3d 394 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2013)
Archer v. State
118 So. 3d 612 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Whitaker v. State
114 So. 3d 725 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Troy Chaupette v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2012
Crook v. State
105 So. 3d 353 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Madden v. State
97 So. 3d 1217 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Lenard v. State
77 So. 3d 530 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Collins v. State
70 So. 3d 1144 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)
Anderson v. State
62 So. 3d 927 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2011)
Simmons v. State
64 So. 3d 1019 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
907 So. 2d 342, 2005 WL 1704396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/withers-v-state-miss-2005.