Woodham v. State

779 So. 2d 158, 2001 WL 41418
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 18, 2001
Docket1998-KA-01479-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by38 cases

This text of 779 So. 2d 158 (Woodham 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
Woodham v. State, 779 So. 2d 158, 2001 WL 41418 (Mich. 2001).

Opinion

779 So.2d 158 (2001)

Luke T. WOODHAM a/k/a Luke Tims Woodham
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 1998-KA-01479-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

January 18, 2001.
Rehearing Denied March 22, 2001.

*159 Leslie D. Roussell, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, Attorney for Appellee.

EN BANC.

McRAE, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. In a judgment rendered on July 31, 1998, in the Circuit Court of Rankin County, Mississippi, Circuit Court Judge Samac Richardson ordered Luke T. Woodham to serve two life sentences for murder and one hundred and forty (140) years for convictions for aggravated assault on seven persons. Woodham filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or a new trial on June 22, 1998, and this motion was denied by the lower court. From this order and conviction, Woodham brings this *160 case before this Court, raising four issues concerning whether the trial court's erred in failing to allow Woodham complete examination of his witness Grant Boyette after Boyette invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination, whether sixteen year old Woodham's waiver of his Miranda rights was valid, whether the trial court erred in failing to give jury instructions on manslaughter and insanity, and whether the evidence of insanity was so overwhelming that the guilty verdict must be set aside.

¶ 2. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

¶ 3. Luke Tims Woodham ("Woodham") was a student at Pearl High School who considered himself an outcast with very few friends. While attending Pearl, he met and began dating Christina Menefee ("Menefee"). When his relationship with Menefee ended, Woodham was upset and hurt, and he felt emotionally destroyed.

¶ 4. Shortly after his breakup with Menefee, Woodham became friends with Marshall Grant Boyette ("Boyette") and a group of other young men. This group discussed different subjects and began role-playing games, like Star Wars.

¶ 5. Boyette was a believer of Satanism, and he tried to induce Woodham to become a follower as well. Woodham stated Boyette told him that his "father," meaning Satan, had chosen Woodham to do great things for him. Woodham also said he had seen demons.

¶ 6. Woodham stated that Boyette would reiterate and emphasize the pain of his breakup with Menefee, saying that Woodham was worthless and spineless for not taking revenge on her. Finally, on the morning of October 1, 1997, Woodham killed his mother before going to school. He stated that he had been instructed what to do by Boyette, and that after killing his mother, he went to Pearl High School and shot and killed Menefee and Lydia Dew ("Dew"). Woodham also injured seven other students before leaving the school that day. Before escaping, Woodham was apprehended by assistant principal Joel Myrick ("Myrick"), who held him at gunpoint until the police arrived on the scene. Later that day, Woodham gave two confessions, one written and one videotaped, at the police department. Prior to the signed statement, he also signed and initialed a rights waiver form.

¶ 7. Woodham does not dispute that he killed his mother, Menefee, and Dew and injured seven other people. Woodham brings this appeal asserting four errors in the trial court.

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR WHEN IT FAILED TO ALLOW THE DEFENDANT TO COMPLETE DIRECT EXAMINATION OF WITNESS GRANT BOYETTE.

¶ 8. Woodham asserts the trial court erred by not allowing him to question his witness, Grant Boyette, after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. In response to an initial question posed to Boyette by Woodham's attorney, Boyette read a statement informing the court that he would not answer any questions from the defense or the State. Boyette was then dismissed by the court as a witness. We affirm the ruling of the trial court.

¶ 9. Woodham relies on Stewart v. State, 355 So.2d 94, 96 (Miss.1978) and Coleman v. State, 388 So.2d 157, 159 (Miss. 1980), stating that it is reversible error for the trial court not to allow a witness who has pled his Fifth Amendment to testify. Unlike the defendant in Stewart and Coleman, Boyette actually took the stand, and in the presence of the jury, invoked his privilege. Once a witness has claimed his constitutional right against self-incrimination, he is protected from further questioning by the trial court. See Williamson v. *161 State, 512 So.2d 868, 872 (Miss.1987), impliedly overruled on other grounds by Hansen v. State, 592 So.2d 114, 134 (Miss. 1991); Boring v. State, 253 So.2d 251, 256 (Miss.1971). See also Butler v. State, 702 So.2d 125, 128 (Miss.1997) (holding it was not reversible error for a court to prevent a co-indictee from testifying after he invoked his Fifth Amendment right, even when the co-indictee's testimony was vital to the defendant's case).

¶ 10. It was not reversible error for the trial court to refuse to permit Woodham to continue to question Boyette after he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right. Boyette did not discriminate as to which questions he would or would not answer. Questioning Boyette further would have provided little help to the jury in determining fact issues. Furthermore, from an initial question to Boyette, "Mr. Boyette, you run around with younger kids to control them, don't you?", it can be inferred that Boyette might have incriminated himself had he been forced to testify. Therefore, to permit these questions would be contrary to the very purpose of the Fifth Amendment privilege. This issue is without merit.

II. WHETHER THE DEFENDANT WAS DENIED DUE PROCESS OF LAW WHEN THE TRIAL COURT DETERMINED THAT HIS WAIVER OF MIRANDA RIGHTS WAS VALID.

¶ 11. Woodham asserts that his confessions should not have been admitted into evidence because the two confessions were not voluntarily given. Woodham states on appeal that he was too young to comprehend his rights or a waiver of his rights. At trial, Woodham objected to the admission of his confessions during the testimony of Officer Aaron Hirschfield, on the ground that Woodham did not have an attorney present at the time these confessions were given. We find the trial court did not err by admitting Woodham's two confessions.

¶ 12. Asserting grounds for an objection on appeal that differs from the ground given for the objection at the trial level does not properly preserve the objection for appellate review. Paracelsus Health Care Corp. v. Willard, 754 So.2d 437, 441 (Miss.1999) (citing Ballenger v. State, 667 So.2d 1242, 1264 (Miss.1995)); see also Jones v. State, 606 So.2d 1051, 1058 (Miss.1992). Therefore, Woodham's appeal of this objection is procedurally barred.

¶ 13. Even if Woodham's argument were not procedurally barred, his objection to the admission of these confessions would be without merit because age alone is not the deciding factor in determining the admissibility of a confession of a minor. The Supreme Court has stated that a "totality of the circumstances" approach should be used in determining the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his Miranda rights. This approach should be used in determining the admissibility of confessions, whether they come from minors or adults. Fare v. Michael C., 442 U.S. 707, 725, 99 S.Ct. 2560, 2572, 61 L.Ed.2d 197 (1979).

¶ 14.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
779 So. 2d 158, 2001 WL 41418, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodham-v-state-miss-2001.