Nolan v. State, No. 2008-KA-00564-COA (Miss. App. 5/25/2010)

• Decision Date: 25 May 2010
• Docket Number: No. 2008-KA-00564-COA.,2008-KA-00564-COA.
• Parties: CLINTON WYATT NOLAN APPELLANT, v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE.
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

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CLINTON WYATT NOLAN APPELLANT, v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE.

No. 2008-KA-00564-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 25, 2010.

COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: DESOTO COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT, TRIAL JUDGE: HON. ROBERT P. CHAMBERLIN, DATE OF JUDGMENT: 03/05/2008.

DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: JAMES D. FRANKS JR.

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, BY: JOHN R. HENRY JR.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY: JOHN W. CHAMPION.

BEFORE MYERS, P.J., IRVING AND BARNES, JJ.

IRVING, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. Following a bench trial, Clinton Wyatt Nolan was convicted of heat-of-passion manslaughter in the DeSoto County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to seven years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and to thirteen years of post-release supervision, with five reporting and eight non-reporting. Aggrieved, Nolan appeals and asserts (1) that the circuit court erred in refusing to grant his motion for a directed verdict,¹ (2) that the verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, and (3) that the M'Naghten standard should be abandoned in Mississippi.²

¶ 2. We find that the evidence is insufficient to support Nolan's conviction for heat-of-passion manslaughter. However, we conclude that sufficient evidence exists to support a conviction for manslaughter pursuant to Mississippi's catchall manslaughter provision, Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-47 (Rev. 2006).³ Therefore, we affirm Nolan's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 3. During the early morning hours of May 26, 2006, Nolan called 911 after shooting his father, Donald Nolan, in the chest in Hernando, Mississippi. Donald died shortly thereafter.⁴ In November 2006, Nolan was indicted by a grand jury for heat-of-passion manslaughter. Nolan waived his right to a jury trial. Thereafter, a bench trial was held on December 11, 2007, wherein Nolan asserted an insanity defense.

¶ 4. At the beginning of the trial, the State entered into evidence written stipulations of fact and rested its case, reserving the right to call rebuttal witnesses. Nolan made a motion for a directed verdict, which the circuit judge denied.

¶ 5. Following the denial of his motion for a directed verdict, Nolan called seven witnesses, the first of whom was Dr. Robert Hoehn. Dr. Hoehn, who had been Nolan's psychiatrist since 1996, was qualified as an expert in the field of psychiatry. Dr. Hoehn testified that Nolan had been diagnosed with, and treated for, "Asperger's disorder" prior to coming under his care and that he had treated Nolan for symptoms related to "anxiety, attention deficit, and depression."⁵ Dr. Hoehn stated that he had placed Nolan on several medications while Nolan was under his care. Dr. Hoehn testified that he had made modifications to Nolan's medication during the month before the shooting and that it appeared that Nolan had adjusted well. However, Nolan became more depressed and anxious, prompting Dr. Hoehn to switch his medication from Paxil to Zoloft. Dr. Hoehn recalled that Nolan seemed to be doing better when he saw him approximately three weeks prior to the shooting. However, Dr. Hoehn stated that Nolan's family members had contacted him the week of the shooting and had informed him that Nolan seemed more upset, was more irritated, and had not been sleeping well. Dr. Hoehn testified that he then prescribed Klonopin.⁶ Nolan killed his father within twenty-four hours of taking the Klonopin.

¶ 6. Dr. Hoehn testified that he visited Nolan in the DeSoto County Jail on May 31, 2006, at which time Nolan was "very psychotic."⁷ Dr. Hoehn explained that he meant that Nolan was "unable to distinguish what was real and what wasn't." According to Dr. Hoehn, Nolan was confused and agitated. After the shooting, Dr. Hoehn diagnosed Nolan with depressive type shizoaffective disorder. He explained that schizoaffective disorder lies between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. He also noted that hallucinations are a common symptom of schizoaffective disorder and that Nolan did not experience any hallucinations before the shooting. However, he pointed out that Nolan experienced command hallucinations after the shooting. He defined a command hallucination as a voice that tells a person to do something. When asked whether he had an opinion as to whether Nolan understood the nature and quality of his actions at the time that he shot his father, Dr. Hoehn stated:

I think [Nolan] has always understood the facts of the case as it relates to that he shot his father. As far as, you know, what led to his making that decision, I think he was having very altered thinking. I don't think he was — I think he was delusional and psychotic, and I think, you know, that he wasn't in his right mind in terms of making decisions.

Dr. Hoehn concluded by saying that Nolan never expressed to him that he had had command hallucinations on the night of the shooting. Dr. Hoehn stated that he thought that Nolan "was starting to have the beginnings of a psychotic episode the week before his dad died." Dr. Hoehn also stated that after the shooting, Nolan was prescribed Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug.

¶ 7. Nolan posted bond and was released from jail. Dr. Hoehn explained that following Nolan's release, Nolan was sent to Lakeside Behavioral Health System (Lakeside) in Memphis, Tennessee, for three months. According to Dr. Hoehn, Nolan showed improvement while at Lakeside. For example, Nolan's hallucinations diminished, and although he showed some agitation and frustration, his mood became more stable.

¶ 8. Next, Nolan called Dr. Joseph C. Angelillo, an expert in the field of forensic psychiatry. Dr. Angelillo conducted an evaluation of Nolan a few weeks after the shooting to determine Nolan's mental status at the time of the shooting. At the time that he conducted the interview, Nolan had been on Seroquel for two to three weeks and was "fairly lucid." Dr. Angelillo concluded that Nolan did not understand the nature and quality of his actions on the night of the shooting.

¶ 9. Margaret Cashion, a nurse who worked at the DeSoto County Jail during Nolan's incarceration, testified that while being housed in a holding cell on May 26, 2006, Nolan became aggressive and agitated. According to Cashion, she was called to render assistance after Nolan struck an officer on the nose. Cashion testified that when she reached Nolan's cell, he was talking to a wall and that she was told that he had been hitting his head against the wall prior to her arrival. Cashion stated that Nolan was allowed to speak with his mother after complying with Cashion's request to calm down. Cashion testified that she contacted Dr. Hoehn at some point thereafter and that he prescribed psychotropic medication which, in her opinion, positively affected Nolan's behavior.

¶ 10. In addition, several friends of the Nolan family testified on Nolan's behalf. Lynn Ford, who visited Nolan on a daily basis while he was incarcerated, recalled that during one visit Nolan asked her if she heard people talking, even though there was no one else in the room. Ron Donahoo visited Nolan while Nolan was at Lakeside and described Nolan as being agitated and frustrated about the circumstances surrounding why he was there.

¶ 11. J. Hickman testified about a telephone conversation that he had had with Donald shortly before the shooting. According to Hickman, Donald told him that Nolan's condition had deteriorated, as Nolan had become agitated and was having trouble sleeping.

¶ 12. Like Ford, Hickman visited Nolan while Nolan was incarcerated. According to Hickman, Nolan was incoherent, agitated, confused, and fidgety. Nevertheless, he noted that Nolan expressed remorse for his father's death, even though he did not indicate that he knew what happened to his father.

¶ 13. James Wendell Sanders had lunch with Nolan and Donald on the day before the killing and testified that Nolan was withdrawn and "was not acting like his normal self." Sanders noted that he had not seen Nolan in that state before.

¶ 14. The State then offered several rebuttal witnesses, including Commander Mark Blackson with the DeSoto County Sheriff's Department and clinical psychologist Dr. W. Criss Lott. Commander Blackson interviewed Nolan on the morning of the shooting and testified regarding the interview.⁸ Commander Blackson testified that Nolan acknowledged shooting his father and that Nolan expressed remorse for doing so. Commander Blackson noted that the tape depicts an instance where the tape recorder was on and Nolan was talking, but stopped abruptly and asked whether the recorder was on. Commander Blackson answered affirmatively. Then, according to Commander Blackson, Nolan became quiet and ceased talking. Commander Blackson then turned the recorder off. Later, Commander Blackson turned the recorder on again, and Nolan just looked at it and remained silent. Commander Blackson then terminated the interview.

¶ 15. Dr. Lott, at the State's request, interviewed Nolan one week before Nolan's trial. Dr. Lott was charged with providing a psychological assessment and an evaluation of Nolan's mental state at the time of the killing. Dr. Lott reviewed the following: (1) the transcript of Nolan's interview conducted by Commander Blackson, (2) two psychological evaluations conducted in June 2006 by Drs. Angelillo and Robert Serino, (3) Dr. Hoehn's medical records, and (4) Nolan's medical records from Lakeside.⁹ Dr. Lott opined that Nolan was mentally ill at the time of the shooting but that his mental illness did not impact his ability to understand the nature and quality of his actions. According to Dr. Lott, he reached this conclusion because Nolan is very familiar with guns and was able to tell the 911operator that he had shot his father with a .357 handgun. Dr. Lott surmised that Nolan "obviously knew that this was a gun, and that indicates to me that [he knew] nature and quality." Further, Dr. Lott testified that when Nolan spoke...