Lynch v. State, No. 1998-DP-01149-SCT.
| Citation | 877 So.2d 1254 |
| Decision Date | 27 May 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 1998-DP-01149-SCT. |
| Parties | Leroy LYNCH v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
Cheryl Ann Webster, Azki Shah, Clarksdale, attorneys for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by Judy T. Martin, Marvin L. White, Jr., attorneys for appellee.
EN BANC.
¶ 1. Leroy Lynch appeals his capital murder conviction and sentence of death determined by a Bolivar County Circuit Court jury. The jury returned a guilty verdict against Lynch, finding that he acted in concert with Kevin D. Scott, who killed Richard Lee in the course of a robbery; therefore, Lynch committed capital murder pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-19(2)(e). After a sentencing hearing, the jury determined that Lynch should be given the penalty of death. The trial court entered judgment and sentenced Lynch to death by lethal injection. Lynch subsequently made a motion for judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict or in the alternative a new trial. The trial court denied Lynch's motion. Lynch filed his notice of appeal with this Court.
¶ 2. On November 14, 1995, Kevin D. Scott wrecked his white Oldsmobile Sierra with a luggage rack on the trunk. The next day, Scott asked his friend Leroy Lynch to go with him to Cleveland, Mississippi to get a replacement car similar to the one wrecked. Scott picked up Lynch at his girlfriend's house in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Scott was driving his brother's car, a brown Chrysler.
¶ 3. According to Lynch's testimony, he and Scott drove to Davenport, where Scott independently retrieved a gun from Scott's residence. The two then drove to Cleveland, Mississippi.
¶ 4. Upon their arrival in Cleveland, Lynch and Scott, looking for the similar car, "cruised" the parking lots of at least four stores, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, Fred's, and Jitney Jungle. Scott ultimately saw a white Oldsmobile with a luggage rack on the trunk in of Jitney Jungle the parking lot and parked next to it. Once Scott parked the car, Lynch went inside Jitney Jungle to use the restroom. Lynch also testified that he saw the driver of the car going into the store. When the driver of that car, Richard Lee, exited the store and drove out of the parking lot, Scott and Lynch followed him to a sandwich shop. Lynch and Scott waited outside while Lee went inside the store. Lee returned to his car and went on to another store. Lynch and Scott followed Lee once again, waiting outside while Lee went into the store. Finally, Lynch and Scott followed Lee to his home in Boyle, Mississippi.
¶ 5. At the Lee residence, Scott parked the car on the street and approached Lee, who was seated in his car in the carport. Lynch stayed behind in the car parked on the street. Lurline Lee, Richard Lee's wife, saw her husband talking a tall, thin African American man outside in their garage. When Mrs. Lee opened the glass garage door to see what was going on, Lee advised her, "Honey, he has a gun." Scott then fired two shots at Mrs. Lee. She ducked back inside the house and dialed 911. While inside, Mrs. Lee heard several additional gunshots.
¶ 6. When Lynch heard the gunfire, he moved to the driver's side of the car and drove away. In his rearview mirror, Lynch saw Scott backing out of Lee's driveway in Lee's car. Lynch testified he did not know Scott was going to shoot Lee. Driving Lee's vehicle, Scott later passed Lynch somewhere between Boyle and Davenport.
¶ 7. Richard Lee's body was discovered in the Lee's garage. Emergency medical technicians from Bolivar County Hospital attempted to revive Lee at the scene. He died a few hours later from a bullet wound to the head.
¶ 8. According to witness Doris Ivy, a resident of Bobo, Mississippi, on the day of the shooting, she saw a brown car driving "real slow." She said "the Lynch boy" stopped the brown car, got out, and stood on the side of the road looking across the field toward the old gin. Doris testified that it was Leroy Lynch she saw on the side of the road and identified him in the courtroom. She testified that a car in photographic exhibits the prosecution showed her appeared to be the same car she saw Lynch driving that day.
¶ 9. In addition, Steven Ivy testified that he saw Leroy Lynch on Davenport Brandon Road "driving real slow" heading north from Bobo toward Davenport. Steven said that Lynch was "looking off into the fields" at a white car. He testified that he was able to see the white car. Lynch was alone, driving a brown Chrysler. When shown the same photographs identified by Doris Ivy, Steven identified the car being driven by Lynch and said that the car, to his knowledge, belonged to Kevin Scott's brother. He identified Lynch in court as the person he saw driving the brown Chrysler. Ivy said he'd known Lynch all of Lynch's life and he knew Lynch when he saw him.
¶ 10. On the day of the shooting, the Bolivar County Sheriff's Department discovered the Lee's car abandoned near an old gin at Bobo, Mississippi. After searching the immediate area, authorities found a coat in a hole near the old gin. There was a wallet inside one of the pockets, and police found an envelope and a handgun wrapped inside the jacket. The wallet contained Kevin Scott's driver's license. The gun was registered to D'Angelo Johnson, Lynch's cousin, and former step-father.
¶ 11. D'Angelo Johnson testified that he had purchased the .380 pistol in 1995. He identified the pistol and the firearm application. He further stated that Leroy Lynch discovered the .380 pistol under the seat of Johnson's car several months before the shooting. Upon discovering the gun, Lynch asked Johnson who owned the gun and what was wrong with it. Lynch asked if Johnson wanted Lynch to get it fixed. Johnson at first said no, but ultimately stated Lynch could if he wanted to do so. However, Johnson stated that he took the gun from Lynch and placed it back under the seat of the vehicle. Johnson was unaware that Lynch had removed the gun from beneath the seat again. When the two got back to Johnson's house, Lynch went down the street to see a friend. Lynch called Johnson from his friend's house and said he was going home. About a month later, Lynch called Johnson and said that he had put Johnson's gun in the pawnshop. Johnson had not been aware that the gun was missing until he spoke to Lynch that day. Johnson testified that Lynch was the last person he saw with the gun and identified Lynch in court.
¶ 12. On November 16, 1995, the day after the shooting, Leroy Lynch was taken into custody for questioning by the Bolivar County Sheriff's Department. During questioning, the following transpired:
¶ 13. Lynch used the follow-up sentence, "I really don't know," with several of his statements made both in court and out of court. Other Inconsistencies from Lynch on the witness stand were prevalent in this case. Lynch testified that Scott was "following this dude to Pig Pen and then the liquor store and then to his house." When counsel then asked him if he knew the reason Scott was following the person, Lynch replied, "No, I was lying down at the time." This statement contradicts Lynches later testimony that he did not lie down in the car until Scott left the liquor store, following Lee.
¶ 14. In his statement to Chief Estes, Lynch was asked about the pistol used in the killing and he claimed the gun was Scott's and that he did not know from where Scott had gotten the gun. However, at trial when asked about the gun, Lynch changed his story. Lynch claimed, "I gave him that gun three months ago."
¶ 15. John Franovick, a forensic scientist specializing in firearm and toolmark identification, was tendered and accepted by Lynch as an expert. He testified that he had compared the projectiles and cartridge cases recovered from the crime scene with the .380 pistol submitted by Bolivar County authorities. He visually examined the gun and test fired it. He stated that it was his opinion that the recovered projectiles were fired in the gun.
¶ 16. This Court, in reviewing a capital murder conviction and death sentence, must apply "heightened scrutiny." Flowers v. State, 842 So.2d 531, 539 (Miss.2003) (quoting Balfour v. State, 598 So.2d 731, 739 (Miss.1992)). This method of review requires the Court to resolve all doubts in favor of the accused because "what may be harmless error in a case with less at stake becomes reversible error when the penalty is death." Id. See also Fisher v. State, 481 So.2d 203, 211 (Miss.1985)
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I. Whether the Trial Court Erred in Failing to Give the Jury the Following Instruction: If You Can Reconcile The Evidence Upon Any Reasonable Hypothesis Consistent With The Defendant's Innocence, You Should Do So And Find Him Not Guilty.
¶ 17. Lynch argues that the trial court erred in failing to submit Instruction D-8338-1 to the jury. This instruction states "[i]f you can reconcile the evidence upon any reasonable hypothesis consistent with the Defendant's innocence, you should do so and find him not guilty." Lynch, for the first time on appeal contends that this instruction is "approximately" the "two...
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