Bliss v. State
| Decision Date | 22 February 2021 |
| Docket Number | NO. 2019-KA-01617-COA,2019-KA-01617-COA |
| Citation | 326 So.3d 1000 |
| Parties | Fredrick Eugene BLISS a/k/a Fredrick E. Bliss a/k/a Fredrick Bliss a/k/a Frederick Eugene Bliss, Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: W. DANIEL HINCHCLIFF, GEORGE T. HOLMES
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: ALLISON ELIZABETH HORNE
EN BANC.
GREENLEE, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. A Harrison County grand jury indicted Fredrick Bliss for one count each of kidnapping, robbery, and sexual battery. A jury found Bliss not guilty of kidnapping or robbery but convicted him of sexual battery. The Harrison County Circuit Court sentenced Bliss to serve twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) without eligibility for parole or early release. On appeal, Bliss argues the circuit court erred by (1) giving jury instruction S-6, which instructed the jury on the uncorroborated testimony of a sex-crime victim, and (2) admitting into evidence a photograph that showed the victim's cervical injuries. Finding no error, we affirm Bliss's conviction and sentence.
FACTS
¶2. On the evening of October 15, 2015, J.R.1 attended a bachelorette party at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino (the Beau Rivage) in Biloxi, Mississippi. J.R. left the Beau Rivage around 2 a.m. on October 16, 2015. The Beau Rivage's video footage showed that J.R. and Bliss entered the same elevator and then exited the elevator on the same floor of the parking garage. J.R. testified at trial that as she got into the elevator, Bliss asked what floor she needed. J.R. responded that the button for her floor had already been pushed. Other than this quick exchange, J.R. testified that she did not converse with Bliss.
¶3. According to J.R., she neither noticed another vehicle following her home nor had a conversation with any other drivers as she drove home. Upon reaching her apartment complex, J.R. testified that she had to circle around the parking lot before finally finding a spot in an unlit section of the parking lot. After she parked her vehicle, J.R. texted her friends from the bachelorette party to let them know that she had arrived home. J.R. testified that she had exited her vehicle and walked several feet away when someone grabbed her from behind in a choke hold. J.R. testified that the man who grabbed her also shoved an object behind her ear. At the time of the attack, J.R. thought the assailant had a knife. J.R. stated that she tried to scream but was unable to make any noise. The assailant told J.R. multiple times to shut up. J.R. urinated on herself as she struggled with the assailant. As the assailant dragged her to the ground between two vehicles, J.R. stated that she tried to grab onto a vehicle to catch herself. J.R. testified that the assailant was very strong and seemed considerably larger than her. The assailant shoved J.R.'s face sideways into the ground and covered her eyes with his hand. J.R. testified that the assailant positioned himself on top of her and pushed her legs away from each other. The assailant rubbed his hand on the outside of J.R.'s underwear, which he noted was already wet.
¶4. At some point during the attack, the assailant pulled J.R.'s underwear down to her ankles. J.R. testified that she begged for the assailant to stop and told him that she had children. J.R. stated that the assailant stuck his finger inside her vagina and commented that she was already wet and that he could understand why she had several children. The assailant also touched J.R.'s breasts and asked whether she had implants. J.R. testified that the assailant asked her where the pen was. At the time of the question, J.R. thought the assailant wanted the personal identification number, or PIN, to her debit card.
¶5. J.R. testified that the assailant suddenly stopped what he was doing, stood up, and threatened to kill her if she turned around to look at him. Although her underwear was still around her ankles and she was missing her car key and phone, J.R. ran toward the apartment complex's elevators. When she reached her apartment, J.R. testified that she woke up her husband and told him about the attack.
¶6. J.R.'s husband testified that he was asleep on the couch when J.R. ran into their apartment. J.R.'s husband further testified that his wife was frantic as she told him about the attack and that her underwear was still around her ankles. J.R.'s husband retrieved a flashlight and his pistol, and he called 911 as he walked toward the parking lot. J.R.'s husband quickly searched the parking lot for the assailant and J.R.'s missing car key and phone. After failing to find either the assailant or the missing items, J.R.'s husband returned to the apartment and remained there while J.R. told the 911 operator about the attack.
¶7. The police arrived and searched the area. During their investigation, the police discovered fingerprints on the windows and side door of a Jeep parked in the parking lot. Officer Bryan Wallace with the Biloxi Police Department testified that he photographed the handprints on the Jeep. Officer Wallace further testified that he observed a black government-issued Skilcraft ink pen on the ground by the Jeep's rear tire. Officer Wallace stated, however, that he forgot to collect the ink pen after he was asked to take some photographs of J.R.'s vehicle. Officer Wallace testified that the police never recovered J.R.'s missing car key or phone.
¶8. After the police left the apartment complex, J.R.'s husband went back outside to continue his search for J.R.'s missing key and phone. During his search, he found an ink pen by the rear tire of a vehicle. J.R.'s husband testified that he sent a picture of the ink pen to Investigator Ray Akins with the Biloxi Police Department.
Investigator Akins asked J.R. and her husband to deliver the ink pen to the police station. After the police identified Bliss as a suspect in the attack on J.R., Investigator Michael Melasecca obtained and executed a warrant to search Bliss's vehicle. Investigator Melasecca testified that he discovered three "U.S. Skilcraft government[-]style" ink pens in the center console of Bliss's vehicle. Investigator Melasecca testified that he had been in the United States Air Force for four years and that he had used the Skilcraft pens when he was in the military. Investigator Melasecca further stated that he "associate[d] them [(the pens)] with being a military[-]style pen" and that they "were common and [found] almost any place in the military where you would have to write ...."
¶9. The same day as the attack, J.R. and her husband went to Singing River Hospital (Singing River) so J.R. could undergo a sexual-assault examination. Nancy Story, an emergency-room nurse at Singing River, testified that she had been trained as a sexual-assault nurse examiner and that she performed J.R.'s examination. The circuit court accepted Story as an expert in sexual-assault examinations. J.R. described the attack to Story and provided Story with the clothing she had worn at the time of the attack. Story testified that the underwear J.R. had worn at the time of the attack was still wet and smelled of urine. The clothing and evidence that Story collected during the examination were sent to the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory for analysis.
¶10. Story testified that J.R.'s physical examination revealed bruising to J.R.'s right eye, a pinpoint bruise behind her right ear, and some bruising to her left leg. Story also stated that a pelvic examination revealed some redness and bruising to J.R.'s vagina and cervix. Story testified that J.R.'s cervical injuries were consistent with J.R.'s account of the attack and her statement that the assailant had digitally penetrated her vagina. Story testified that she had documented J.R.'s injuries by photographing them. Without any objection from the defense, the State offered into evidence several photographs of J.R.'s injuries, including the photograph of her cervical injuries. Story testified that the photograph of J.R.'s cervix documented injuries consistent with a "finger forcefully being inserted into her vagina" that could "cause the bruising to the cervix" depicted by the photograph. Story further testified that her findings from J.R.'s physical examination were consistent with the history that J.R. had provided regarding the attack.
¶11. Investigator Akins testified that during his investigation of the attack, he reviewed video footage from both the Beau Rivage and J.R.'s apartment complex. The Beau Rivage's video footage showed J.R. and Bliss enter the same elevator and then exit onto the same floor of the parking garage. The video footage from J.R.'s apartment complex showed J.R. arrive and park her vehicle. Bliss's vehicle, with the headlights turned off, entered the parking lot behind J.R.'s vehicle. Investigator Akins testified that the area of the parking lot where J.R. parked was "pitch dark" and that a person would have been unable to see anything without a light. The apartment complex's video footage failed to capture the attack on J.R. but showed J.R. running toward the elevators with her underwear around her ankles. The video footage also showed Bliss backing out of his parking spot at the apartment complex with his headlights still turned off as he began to exit the parking lot. From the video footage, the police identified Bliss as a suspect in the assault on J.R. Investigator Akins testified that he interviewed Bliss, who waived his Miranda2 rights and provided a statement.
¶12. At trial, Bliss testified on his own behalf. He stated that he had watched the New Orleans Saints game at his residence the evening of October 15, 2015, before going to the Beau Rivage. As Bliss left the Beau Rivage on the morning of October 16, 2015, he and J.R. exited the elevator onto the same floor of the parking garage. Bliss stated that he said...
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