Hughes v. State, 97-DP-00028-SCT.

• Decision Date: 31 March 1999
• Docket Number: No. 97-DP-00028-SCT.,97-DP-00028-SCT.
• Citation: 735 So.2d 238
• Parties: William Ray HUGHES v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

735 So.2d 238

William Ray HUGHES v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 97-DP-00028-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 31, 1999.

Rehearing Denied June 17, 1999.

David L. Walker, Batesville, John D. Watson, West Memphis, AR, Attorneys for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Leslie S. Lee, Attorney for Appellee.

EN BANC.

WALLER, Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. Appellant William Ray Hughes was indicted by a Tate County grand jury by bill filed on May 1, 1996. The bill charged Hughes with murder in the course of kidnapping Ashley Galloway in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-19(2)(e)(1994) on or about January 9, 1996. The bill also charged in Count II the crime of forcible rape in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-65(2)(1994). Both counts included habitual offender charges based on Hughes' previous convictions for rape and fondling. On Hughes' motion, venue was changed due to publicity, with the jury drawn from Itawamba County and the trial conducted in the Second Judicial District of Panola County, Mississippi, at the Panola County Courthouse in Batesville, Mississippi. On November 19, 1996, the jury returned a verdict finding William Ray Hughes guilty of murdering Ashley Galloway after kidnapping and raping her. The jury affixed the punishment on Count I as death and on Count II as life imprisonment. Hughes now pursues direct appeal, contending that he was denied a fair trial and raising the following numerous assignments of error.

I. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's motion to dismiss for lack of proper venue at the conclusion of the evidence and after the Appellee had initially rested its case in chief by ruling that Miss.Code Ann. §§ 99-11-3 and/or 99-11-19, as amended, are constitutional.

II. Whether the Circuit Court erred in denying the Appellant's motion to require the Appellee to give gender-neutral reasons for striking potential jurors and in striking prospective jurors number 238 and 263 for cause.

III. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's motions for a mistrial made during the trial including, but not limited to, the motion made (A) during the testimony of Stella Rowe concerning the drawings or sketches she was shown by a law enforcement officer, (B) during the closing argument of the assistant district attorney concerning the rare nature of the Appellant's genetic profile, (C) during Kathy Bolen's testimony that she cut the Appellant's hair after he got out of jail, and (D) following Julie Hughes Sanders' confrontation with her husband during a break in her testimony as a witness for Appellee.

IV. Whether the Circuit Court erred in refusing to permit the Appellant to interrogate Julie Hughes Sanders concerning her husband's criminal convictions.

V. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's motion for a mistrial based upon a violation of URCCC 9.04 and his motion to suppress the identification of a photograph of a pickup by Cindy Dunn.

VI. Whether the Circuit Court erred in denying the Appellant's motion to suppress physical evidence seized from the person of the Appellant by or at the request of Sammy Webb and Fernando Perez filed on August 13, 1996, and in denying the Appellant's motion in limine to suppress tests performed upon physical evidence seized from the person of the Appellant by or at the request of Sammy Webb and Fernando Perez filed on August 5, 1996.

VII. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's objections to the admission of photographs of the body of Galloway taken at the house on Simpson Road in Quitman County, MS, and his motion to preclude admission of gruesome and highly prejudicial color photographs and autopsy photographs of the deceased.

VIII. Whether the Circuit Court erred in allowing the Appellee to introduce into evidence census data for Mississippi.

IX. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's continuing objection on the testimony of Detective Patrick Davis concerning knives based upon a violation of Mississippi Rule of Evidence 702.

X. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's objection to the Assistant District Attorney interrogating Julie Hughes Sanders about blood during her redirect examination.

XI. Whether the Circuit Court erred in overruling the Appellant's objection to the Appellee eliciting testimony from Julie Hughes Sanders concerning the Appellant knocking a hole in the wall of their home.

XII. Whether the Trial Court erred in denying the Appellant's motion to exclude DNA evidence.

XIII. Whether the Trial Court erred in denying the Appellant's motion for introduction into evidence of instances of past sexual conduct by Galloway, and in granting the Appellee's motion in limine to exclude evidence of past sexual behavior of the victim, Galloway.

XIV. Whether the Trial Court erred in granting the Appellee's motion in limine to exclude evidence of prior drug use by the victim, Galloway.

XV. Whether the Trial Court erred in overruling the Appellant's objection to a relative showing Stella Rowe a photo from the newspaper.

XVI. Whether the Trial Court erred on overruling the Appellant's continuing objection to Dr. Stephen Hayne's testimony concerning the sexual assault on Galloway.

XVII. Whether the Trial Court erred in denying the Appellant's proposed Jury Instruction D-1 and in granting the Appellee's Jury Instructions S-1, S-2, S-3, S-4, S-5, and C-2-S.

XVIII. Whether the Trial Court erred in overruling the Appellant's objections to the Assistant District Attorney asking leading questions during the trial in violation of Mississippi Rule of Evidence 611(c).

XIX. Whether the verdict of the Jury on Counts One and Two of the Indictment is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

XX. Whether the Trial Court erred in overruling the Appellant's motion for a new trial.

XXI. Whether the cumulative effect of the Trial Court's errors denied Appellant a fundamentally fair trial as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

XXII. Whether the imposition of the death sentence is disproportionate in this case to other death sentences upheld by the court and is cruel and inhuman punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Article III, Section 28 of the Mississippi Constitution (1890).

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On January 9, 1996, Ashley Galloway ("Galloway") was a 16-year-old junior at Senatobia High School who resided with her mother, Dianne Galloway, in Senatobia, Tate County, Mississippi. On that date, Galloway was awakened at 6:00 a.m. by her mother to get ready for school. After having some trouble getting her car started, Galloway departed for Senatobia High School. Galloway never made it to school that morning, nor was she at home when her mother returned from work that evening at 11:45 p.m. At that time Dianne Galloway began contacting friends and relatives trying to find her daughter, and ultimately called the Senatobia Police Department ("police"). Dianne Galloway provided police with a physical description of her daughter, as well as a description of the clothing she was wearing, her vehicle, and her last known whereabouts.

¶ 3. The next day, January 10, 1996, the police began searching for Galloway. They canvassed the area, talked at length with Dianne Galloway and called on both the F.B.I. and the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol for assistance. A rough chronology of the events leading up to Galloway's disappearance emerged.

¶ 4. Bo Simpson, Galloway's boss at the Sonic Drive Inn in Senatobia, testified that he saw Galloway's car at the corner of Camille and Highway 4 in Senatobia on the morning of January 9 at approximately 6:30 a.m.

¶ 5. Mrs. Linda Wade resided at 110 Marvin Street, a short distance from the intersection of Camille and Highway 4. Mrs. Wade was getting her children ready to walk to the bus stop for school the morning of January 9 when she heard a knock on the door at around 7:05 a.m. Galloway was at her front door and asked if Mrs. Wade's son, Patrick, was home. Galloway explained that her car had broken down and that she wanted Patrick to give her a boost so she could get to school. Mrs. Wade told Galloway that Patrick had already left home and Galloway walked back towards her car.

¶ 6. Chad Martin resided at 112 Marvin Street and was also getting his son ready for school that morning around 7:30 a.m. While watching out his window for the school bus, Mr. Martin saw Galloway walking southbound on Marvin street toward Saint Paul. As Galloway neared the corner, a small black pickup turned northbound on Marvin and passed by her. The truck then stopped and Galloway turned around, spoke with the driver and got in. The truck headed north up Marvin Street toward Strayhorn Street.

¶ 7. Mrs. Cindy Dunn also saw Galloway the morning of January 9. First, as Mrs. Dunn left to take her children to school, she saw Galloway cutting across her neighbors' yard onto Marvin Street. Mrs. Dunn testified that this was at approximately 7:30 a.m. Then, as she returned from taking her kids to school, Mrs. Dunn saw Galloway again, bent over and talking to someone in a small black pickup truck. Mrs. Dunn testified that the person in the truck was a white male with a dark or tan complexion.

¶ 8. On January 22, 1996, thirteen (13) days after her disappearance, Galloway's body was found by children gathering firewood from an abandoned house in Quitman County. Lee Moore, an adult who accompanied the children, called the authorities from a nearby house. Moore subsequently showed the authorities the body under the floor of the abandoned house. The F.B.I. extracted the body and turned it over to the Quitman County coroner.

¶ 9. An autopsy of Galloway's body was performed on January 23, 1996, by Dr. Stephen Hayne, a recognized forensic pathologist. Dr. Hayne determined that Galloway...