Shirley v. State, 2005-KA-00184-COA.
| Decision Date | 14 November 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 2005-KA-00184-COA.,2005-KA-00184-COA. |
| Citation | 942 So.2d 322 |
| Parties | Alfred G. SHIRLEY a/k/a Alfred Glen Shirley, Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee. |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
John R. White, attorney for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by John R. Henry, attorney for appellee.
Before LEE, P.J., CHANDLER and ROBERTS, JJ.
CHANDLER, J., for the Court.
¶ 1. Alfred G. Shirley was convicted on November 12, 2004, on one count of manslaughter by culpable negligence pursuant to Section 97-3-47 of the Mississippi Code Annotated (Rev.2006). The charges stemmed from an early morning brawl after Shirley and the decedent, Ronnie L. Roberts, had been to a local bar. Conflicting reports exist as to who the initial aggressor was, but it is undisputed that during the altercation, Shirley hit Roberts in the face and head several times with his fists, causing severe head trauma. Roberts died as a result of the wounds he suffered in the fight.
¶ 2. Shirley appeals, arguing:
I. WHETHER THE VERDICT WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE AND WHETHER THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE VERDICT
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT ALLOWING AN EYEWITNESS TO EXPRESS HIS OPINION AS TO WHETHER SHIRLEY WAS ACTING IN SELF-DEFENSE
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT ALLOWING SHIRLEY TO ADMIT THE POLICE RADIO LOGBOOK INTO EVIDENCE
IV. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING JURY INSTRUCTIONS 8, 9, 11 AND 14
V. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT ALLOWING JURY INSTRUCTIONS D-1, D-7, D-9, OR D-10
¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTS OF THE CASE
¶ 4. Approximately six weeks prior to the night of Roberts' death, Roberts was working as a bouncer at a local club called "The Wagon Wheel" in Alcorn County, Mississippi. Roberts occasionally worked as a bouncer for the bar and Shirley was a regular customer. After Shirley exchanged words with a man on the dance floor, Roberts asked Shirley to leave the bar. Shirley refused to leave and the bartender, Billy Joe Crum, physically threw Shirley out of the establishment. After that night, Shirley began telling other people that he was going to "whip" Roberts the next time he saw him.
¶ 5. On the night of February 26, 2004, Roberts and Shirley again visited the bar, which by this time had changed its name to "Shooters." On this occasion, Roberts was at the bar with his girlfriend and not working as a bouncer. At some point during the night, Shirley complained to a waitress that Roberts had followed Shirley into the restroom. According to testimony, Shirley told the waitress that if Roberts persisted in bothering him, Shirley would "bust him upside his head."
¶ 6. After the bar closed at midnight, several of the patrons, including Roberts and Shirley, gathered at a nearby omelet house. Conflicting testimony accounts for what happened at the omelet house, but it is uncontroverted that at some point, a fight broke out in the parking lot between Roberts and Shirley.
¶ 7. Shirley claims that Roberts was the first aggressor by approaching Shirley's vehicle and yelling at him. Shirley argues that he hit Roberts in self-defense, striking Roberts in the head four times. Roberts suffered a large cut above his left eye which was swollen shut, a swollen and bloodied face, and numerous lacerations to his nose and forehead. Shirley walked away from the brawl with a broken hand.
¶ 8. Shirley left the scene of the fight and drove to the Alcorn County Sheriff's Office where he reported the incident. Meanwhile, Roberts was picked up by an ambulance and taken to Magnolia Regional Health Center in Corinth, Mississippi. He was declared dead at 1:45 a.m. on February 27, 2004.
¶ 9. While in police custody, Shirley registered .015 on an Intoxilyzer at 2:42 a.m. on the morning of February 27, 2004. Photographic evidence from that night was presented at trial which showed Shirley's right hand to be bloodied and swollen, and other photographs were admitted showing the crime scene. Evidence was also presented that Roberts had a high percentage of alcohol in his system, ranging from 0.12 to 0.15, depending on which blood test was used. Testimony was given that Shirley had a reputation for picking fights. An eyewitness to the crime, Michael Nelson, testified that he saw Roberts approach Shirley's vehicle while yelling at Shirley, but did not see Roberts raise his hand against Shirley or attempt to protect himself in any way from Shirley's blows. Nelson stated that he heard the first punch and when he looked up, Roberts was on the ground with Shirley standing over him, administering several blows.
¶ 10. The coroner testified that Roberts died of subdural hemorrhaging and major bruising to the brain. The base of Roberts's skull was fractured, along with the bone around his left eye. The coroner stated that death was the result of cranial cerebral trauma, secondary to blunt force trauma. Shirley stated that he only hit Roberts three or four times, but the medical examiner gave conflicting testimony, stating that the evidence showed that Roberts suffered numerous blows, approximately eight to twelve in succession.
LAW AND ANALYSIS
¶ 11. Shirley argues that the verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. In determining whether a jury verdict is against the weight of the evidence, the court "must accept as true the evidence presented as supportive of the verdict, and we will disturb a jury verdict only when convinced that the circuit court has abused its discretion in failing to grant a new trial or if the final result will result in an unconscionable injustice." Ford v. State, 753 So.2d 489, 490(¶ 8) (Miss.Ct.App.1999).
¶ 12. On a motion for new trial, Amiker v. Drugs For Less, Inc., 796 So.2d 942, 947(¶ 18) (Miss.2000). However, the evidence should be weighed in the light most favorable to the verdict. Herring v. State, 691 So.2d 948, 957 (Miss.1997).
¶ 13. As a limited "thirteenth juror" in this case, we cannot hold that an unconscionable injustice resulted from this jury's rendering of a guilty verdict. Shirley testified that he struck Roberts in self-defense. The overwhelming weight of the evidence suggests otherwise. Even if Shirley did initially defend himself against a perceived attack from Roberts, the fear for his own safety would necessarily have ended once Roberts fell to the ground and was obviously incapacitated. Yet, Shirley continued to beat Roberts well after any initial threat had passed. Therefore, Shirley's argument that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence is without merit.
¶ 14. Shirley also argues that the State did not provide sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed manslaughter. Relying solely on Nelson's and Shirley's own testimony, Shirley states that the only eyewitness testimony offered showed that he acted in self-defense. Shirley cites the Weathersby rule:
[W]here a defendant or the defendant's witnesses are the only eyewitnesses to a homicide, their version, if reasonable, must be accepted as true, unless substantially contradicted in material particulars by a credible witness or witnesses for the State, or by the physical facts or by the facts of common knowledge.
Weathersby v. State, 165 Miss. 207, 209, 147 So. 481, 482 (1933). It is important to note that, Buchanan v. State, 567 So.2d 194, 196 (Miss.1990).
¶ 15. Shirley's account of what happened that night sharply contrasted with the evidence presented by the State. Shirley claims he only hit Roberts four times, but the pathologist stated that the injuries Roberts suffered indicated he was severely beaten and endured several blows. Shirley also stated that he only hit Roberts in self-defense, but evidence was presented that Roberts never struck Shirley, and conflicting testimony exists as to who was the first aggressor.
¶ 16. The State offered the testimony of Nelson, an eyewitness to the altercation, along with statements from an officer attending the scene of the crime, the pathologist who conducted Roberts's autopsy, and numerous acquaintances of Shirley's who commented that Shirley had a reputation as an instigator of fights. The State's witnesses sharply contradicted Shirley's testimony, and even Nelson's view of the events did not conclusively show that Shirley acted in self-defense. "[Weathersby] has no application where the defendant's version is patently unreasonable, or contradicted by physical facts." Taylor v. State, 795 So.2d 512, 517(¶ 20) (Miss.2001). Therefore, these contradictions were sufficient to take this case out of the purview of the Weathersby rule, and we find this argument to be without merit.
¶ 17. Shirley contends that he should have been granted a directed verdict because the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt a case for manslaughter. We disagree.
¶ 18. A motion for a directed verdict challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss.1993). The standard of review is that "all evidence supporting the guilty verdict is accepted as true and the State must be given the benefit of all reasonable inferences that can be reasonably...
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