Isaac v. State, 92-KA-0436

• Decision Date: 13 October 1994
• Docket Number: No. 92-KA-0436,92-KA-0436
• Parties: Aundray Radell ISAAC v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 903

645 So.2d 903

Aundray Radell ISAAC v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 92-KA-0436.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Oct. 13, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 8, 1994.

John P. Price, McComb, for appellant.

Michael C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PRATHER, P.J., and SULLIVAN and JAMES L. ROBERTS, Jr., JJ.

PRATHER, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

I. INTRODUCTION.

On March 18, 1992, after a trial by jury, the Appellant, Aundray Radell Isaac (Isaac), was found guilty of first degree arson in violation of Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 97-17-1 (1972). Following the denial of his Motion for New Trial, Isaac filed his Notice of Appeal to this Court assigning as error the following:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING TO GRANT A DIRECTED VERDICT AT THE END OF THE STATE'S CASE IN CHIEF.

II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT DEFENDANT'S REQUEST FOR A PEREMPTORY INSTRUCTION (D-1) AT THE CONCLUSION OF ALL THE EVIDENCE.

III. THE VERDICT OF THE JURY WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE IN THAT THE STATE FAILED TO PROVE MALICE AND WILLINGNESS AS A NECESSARY ELEMENT OF THE OFFENSE OF FIRST DEGREE ARSON.

II. STATEMENT OF THE FACTS.

In the early morning hours of March 11, 1991, a fire occurred in Building B-11, Apartment 4, Burgland Heights, in McComb, Mississippi. At the time of this fire, the apartment was occupied by Shannon Jackson and her children. The fire department was called to the scene of this fire, but when they arrived the fire had already been extinguished.

Two days later, on March 13, 1991, Aundray Isaac, was arrested for starting this fire. In the October 1991 term, Isaac was indicted by the Pike County Grand Jury of first degree arson. The indictment read in part:

Aundray Radell Isaac ... did wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously and maliciously set fire to that certain apartment type dwelling house owned by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development ...

The first of the state's four witnesses was Shannon Jackson who lived in the apartment at the time of the fire, and who testified that she had seen Isaac on Sunday afternoon, March 10, 1991, outside of her apartment. Isaac came back to Jackson's apartment at approximately 1:30 a.m. on the morning of March 11, 1991. Isaac knocked on her front door at this time. He wanted her to open the door, but she refused to do so. She and Isaac talked for about ten or fifteen minutes through the door before she told him to leave. It is important to note that Jackson had a towel draped over her front door on both sides of the door. She testified that the towel came down to just above the peep hole on the door. At this point, Jackson went back to bed. The next thing that she said she remembered was seeing a "red glare" on the wall by the staircase. This was around 3:00 a.m. She then went downstairs to the front door. She said that when she went downstairs, the towel over the door was on fire. Isaac was at the front door telling her to open the door, but she would not do so. She told Isaac that the door could just burn down because she was not going to let him in her apartment. She then went upstairs to get her children. She and her children left the apartment because of the smoke. They left the apartment through the back door. She saw Isaac at the back of her apartment when she left. She said that as she left her apartment, Isaac asked her not to call the police. Jackson then went to her neighbor's apartment and called the police. She remained at her neighbor's apartment until the police arrived. Jackson said that when she left her apartment, it was still burning. She did not go back to her apartment until the fire department had cleared it of smoke. When she returned to her apartment, Isaac was not there and she said that she did not know where he had gone.

Jackson testified that when she returned to her apartment, part of her screen door had been burned from the top. She said that it looked like something had melted on her floor. In addition, she said that she did not see the towel that had been draped across the door and guessed that it had been burned. Jackson immediately started living in her apartment again the night of the fire. Jackson further testified that Isaac was the person who put out the fire. He did so with a fire extinguisher that Jackson kept in her kitchen.

Finally, Jackson stated that she did not know how the fire started. However, upon questioning on cross-examination, she said that she did not think that Isaac intentionally started this fire.

In addition to Jackson's testimony regarding the details of this fire, it is also important to note the relationship between Isaac and Jackson. At the time of trial, Jackson had known Isaac for four years. They had lived together in her apartment. She said that while she and Isaac had experienced their ups and downs in their relationship, they were getting along well on the day of the fire. However, he was not living with her at that time because she "had put him out" a week or two earlier. The record established that Isaac is the father of two of Jackson's children. Jackson said Isaac started living with her again about two days after the fire and lived with her until he went to jail.

The State's second witness was Joyce Magee. Magee is employed with the McComb Housing Authority as tenant selection supervisor and project manager. She said that she has known Jackson since she became a tenant in May of 1990, and has known Isaac all of his life. She testified that on a previous occasion Isaac kicked in a door to Jackson's apartment. She also said that at one point Jackson indicated that she was afraid of Isaac. Finally, Magee testified that the damage to Jackson's apartment as a result of this fire amounted to $550.00.

The State's next witness was Clint Weekly of the McComb Fire Department. Weekly had been a full-time fireman since July, 1987, and had been a part-time fireman since November, 1985. He was on duty on the early morning hours of March 11, 1991, and received a call from the McComb Police Department concerning this fire at 3:17 a.m. His unit was the first on the scene of the fire, arriving at approximately 3:19 a.m. He said that when he arrived at Jackson's apartment, he saw that the front door had been burned and heat damaged. The house was full of smoke and there was a powder residue from a dry chemical fire extinguisher. When the fire department arrived at Jackson's apartment, the fire had been extinguished by a fire extinguisher. Also, he said that while he was there, he did not see Isaac but that Isaac's name was mentioned. He testified that the origin of the fire was outside the front door around the peep hole, below the towel. When he arrived, he saw only a small piece of the towel lying on the floor. He stated that he could not smell any signs of an accelerant ¹ because with a dry chemical in the air a person would not be able to smell it once the chemical entered the nose. However, he did say that the burn pattern and the fire burning as fast as it did were evidence that an accelerant was used. Finally, he stated that as far as he knows, no one ever tested for the presence of an accelerant.

The State's final witness was Jimmy Carruth, a detective with the McComb Police Department. Carruth had been in law enforcement 24 years at the time of the trial. He investigated this fire by going to Jackson's apartment, interviewing her, and taking a number of photographs. Carruth testified that from the evidence he received from Jackson, the photographs, and the evidence he found at the scene, he concluded that Isaac was the perpetrator of the fire. He then went directly to the office and signed a criminal affidavit charging Isaac with the arson of Jackson's apartment. Isaac was arrested on March 13, 1991. Carruth interviewed Isaac concerning the fire at Jackson's apartment. Carruth, upon defense counsel's request, read into evidence a portion of a written report concerning what Isaac told him about the fire. The portion of this report that Carruth read into evidence is as follows:

Aundrea (sic) said that he was at some club and was on his way home about 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. He stopped at Shannon's [Jackson's] apartment and knocked, and she did not let him in. He stated that there was a towel, a terry cloth type, over the door window, and he pulled the towel up and knocked on the glass window, and doing this he had a cigarette in his hand and believes this is what caught the towel on fire. Aundrea (sic) further stated that he did not know the towel was afire until Shannon [Jackson] came out the back door and he saw the fire on the front door. This is when he got the fire extinguisher from the apartment and put the fire out. He also stated that it was an accident, that the towel caught on fire, and that he did not intentionally start this fire. I questioned him if it was the only time he tried to get into Shannon's [Jackson's] door. Aundrea (sic) stated that it was the only time and it was about 1:00 or 1:30 a.m. Also stated that he lived with this girl and he had two children by her, and I asked him why she was making all those charges against him for trespassing and burglary, and he stated, he said that she was getting back at him for coming in late at night.

Finally, Carruth acknowledged that he was not present at the time of the fire and that what he knows about the fire is derived from his interviews and going to the scene.

Following the testimony of Jimmy Carruth, the State rested its case. Isaac then moved for a directed verdict contending that the State had not proven that he intentionally or willfully set this fire. The trial judge denied this motion stating:

Well, the testimony is thus far by Miss Shannon Jackson, a reluctant witness, that the only person outside was, at that hour of the morning, between 1:00 and 3:00, was the defendant, and that the fire started on the outside, and apparently...