Ruffin v. State, No. 53652
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
| Writing for the Court | BOWLING; PATTERSON |
| Citation | 444 So.2d 839 |
| Parties | Elzie RUFFIN v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Decision Date | 25 January 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 53652 |
Page 839
v.
STATE of Mississippi.
Morris C. Phillips, Jr., Wright & Phillips, Carthage, for appellant.
Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Robert D. Findley, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Before WALKER, P.J., and ROY NOBLE LEE and BOWLING, JJ.
BOWLING, Justice, for the Court:
Appellant was indicted, tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of Newton County for the crime of murder and sentenced to serve a term of life under the direction of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
We need to address only one assignment of error which assignment requires a reversal of the cause. This is that the lower court erred in refusing appellant's requested instruction that if they found certain facts to exist they could find the appellant guilty of manslaughter. This refused instruction read as follows:
The Court instructs the jury that if you find beyond all reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty from the credible evidence that the defendant did kill the
Page 840
deceased but that same was not done with premeditation or malice aforethought but was done in a sudden heat of passion, then you may find the defendant guilty of manslaughter and the form of your verdict may be:"We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of manslaughter."
This was appellant's second trial, the first resulted in a hung jury and a mistrial was declared.
Appellant and the deceased had been married approximately twenty-four years and had eight children, most of whom lived with the appellant and his wife. Appellant had no prior criminal record and had held responsible jobs. At the time of his arrest, he was working as a uniformed security guard for several different employers. He would spend different times, principally at night, on the premises of each and would inspect the premises to insure security at various times.
It was admitted that for a number of months the deceased wife had been living periodically with another man in his apartment in a different section of town. On many of these occasions, she would take one or more of the children with her. On the night preceding the morning of her death, the deceased wife spent the night with her paramour and had taken one of the young sons with her the entire time. The facts are uncontroverted that when the appellant came home early in the morning after performing his night's work, he found the above situation to exist and went to the paramour's apartment, secured his wife and son and took them home.
There were two witnesses to the alleged shooting of the deceased by appellant. One female witness lived a short distance away and...
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Walker v. Epps, CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:97CV29KS
...only a verdict of murder." Anderson v. State, No. 2010-KA-01052-SCT, 2012 WL 309320 at *4 (Miss. Feb. 2, 2012) (citing Ruffin v. State, 444 So. 2d 839, 840 (Miss. 1984)). Likewise, such an instruction should not be granted indiscriminately or on the basis of speculation. Id. Quoting from an......
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Franklin v. State, No. 2012–KA–01496–SCT.
...the record provides an “evidentiary basis” for the instruction. Lee v. State, 469 So.2d 1225, 1230 (Miss.1985) (citing Ruffin v. State, 444 So.2d 839, 840 (Miss.1984); Colburn v. State, 431 So.2d 1111, 1114 (Miss.1983)). Additionally, lesser-included-offense instructions should not be grant......
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Mackbee v. State, No. 03-DP-0089
...We have detailed in several of our cases the evidentiary basis for giving of lesser included instructions. See, e.g., Ruffin v. State, 444 So.2d 839, 840 (Miss.1984); Harper v. State, 478 So.2d 1017, 1021 (Miss.1985); Fairchild v. State, 459 So.2d 793, 801 (Miss.1984); Rowland v. State, 531......
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Walker v. State, No. 2003-DP-01527-SCT.
...Davis, 684 So.2d at 656-57 (quoting Monroe v. State, 515 So.2d 860, 863 (Miss.1987)) (emphasis added). ¶ 141. In Ruffin v. State, 444 So.2d 839, 840 (Miss.1984), this Court expressly declared that, only where the evidence could only justify a conviction of the principal charge should a less......
-
Walker v. Epps, CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:97CV29KS
...only a verdict of murder." Anderson v. State, No. 2010-KA-01052-SCT, 2012 WL 309320 at *4 (Miss. Feb. 2, 2012) (citing Ruffin v. State, 444 So. 2d 839, 840 (Miss. 1984)). Likewise, such an instruction should not be granted indiscriminately or on the basis of speculation. Id. Quoting from an......
-
Franklin v. State, No. 2012–KA–01496–SCT.
...the record provides an “evidentiary basis” for the instruction. Lee v. State, 469 So.2d 1225, 1230 (Miss.1985) (citing Ruffin v. State, 444 So.2d 839, 840 (Miss.1984); Colburn v. State, 431 So.2d 1111, 1114 (Miss.1983)). Additionally, lesser-included-offense instructions should not be grant......
-
Mackbee v. State, No. 03-DP-0089
...We have detailed in several of our cases the evidentiary basis for giving of lesser included instructions. See, e.g., Ruffin v. State, 444 So.2d 839, 840 (Miss.1984); Harper v. State, 478 So.2d 1017, 1021 (Miss.1985); Fairchild v. State, 459 So.2d 793, 801 (Miss.1984); Rowland v. State, 531......
-
Walker v. State, No. 2003-DP-01527-SCT.
...Davis, 684 So.2d at 656-57 (quoting Monroe v. State, 515 So.2d 860, 863 (Miss.1987)) (emphasis added). ¶ 141. In Ruffin v. State, 444 So.2d 839, 840 (Miss.1984), this Court expressly declared that, only where the evidence could only justify a conviction of the principal charge should a less......