Stephens v. State, No. 2003-KA-02549-SCT.
| Decision Date | 13 October 2005 |
| Docket Number | No. 2003-KA-02549-SCT. |
| Citation | 911 So.2d 424 |
| Parties | Stephanie K. STEPHENS v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Ray T. Price, Hattiesburg, attorney for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.
Before SMITH, C.J., EASLEY and GRAVES, JJ.
GRAVES, Justice, for the Court.
¶ 1. Stephanie K. Stephens (Stephanie) was convicted of murdering her husband, Dr. David Stephens, in violation of Section 97-3-19 of the Mississippi Code of 1972. Following the jury's verdict, the trial judge sentenced Stephanie to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Following the denial of her post-trial motions, Stephanie timely brings this appeal and asserts numerous errors in the trial below. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 2. In 1987, Dr. David Stephens, a prominent heart surgeon, moved to Hattiesburg to establish a cardiovascular program at Forrest General Hospital. Accompanied by his wife, Karen, and two children, David began to establish a new life in Mississippi. However, this new life was not to commence without incident and tragedy.
¶ 3. In March 1996, Karen confronted David at their home about an affair David was having with another woman, allegedly Stephanie Kennedy, his nurse. In the heat of their argument, Karen retrieved a pistol, which discharged in her mouth and rendered her immediately paralyzed from the neck down and eventually resulted in her death some two months later. Karen's death was ruled a suicide over David's objection, who wanted it to be ruled an accidental death.
¶ 4. Despite demonstrating signs of guilt and depression over Karen's death, David began openly dating Stephanie, and the two were married in 1997. Shortly after his marriage to Stephanie, David suffered a stroke which resulted in hospitalization, missed time from work and a loss of eyesight. To this end, his loss of sight rendered David unable to perform surgical procedures which he had previously performed.
¶ 5. In 1998, David began suffering from symptoms of hepatitis C, with which he had been diagnosed years earlier, but previously had been asymptomatic. David was also diagnosed at approximately the same time with diabetes mellitus, the most serious form of diabetes, which caused widespread fluctuations in his blood sugar and attendant complications such as dizziness, blurred vision, difficulty concentrating and confusion. In an attempt to treat and slow the symptoms of his hepatitis C, David underwent two courses of interferon therapy, which did little to slow the progression of his hepatitis C. Instead, the interferon therapy caused severe damage to David's liver.
¶ 6. By 2000, David's illnesses had taken their toll and rendered him unable to work. He began to draw disability benefits from his policy with UNUM Insurance Company. David requested that the Hattiesburg Clinic, his previous employer, allow him to continue practicing medicine by reading diagnostic studies, but he was turned down by the Clinic's board of directors for a full-time position and instead was only given part-time work. David's monthly salary dropped from $50,000 to approximately $6,000.
¶ 7. In addition to David's severe illnesses, by 2001 Stephanie's health also began to deteriorate. She had severe complications from Crohn's disease, an intestinal disorder, and a broken hip which limited her mobility. These conditions rendered Stephanie unable to work. With both David and Stephanie unable to maintain employment, the couple hired a nanny to care for Stephanie's two young children as well as a medical professional to see after them. By this time, David's condition had worsened to the point where he was placed on an organ transplant list at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans. His diabetes had worsened due to his poor eating and health habits to the point where he wore an insulin pump twenty-four hours a day which automatically injected a regulated amount of insulin into his abdomen at regular intervals.
¶ 8. On May 1, 2001, Stephanie awoke to find David lying lifeless in his bed. Bobby Shurden, the deputy coroner who investigated the case, spoke with Dr. Philip Rogers, David's treating physician, and concluded that David had died of natural causes as a result of his end-stage liver failure. Initially, neither Dr. Rogers nor Butch Benedict, the Forrest County Coroner, saw any indication of foul play, other than the possibility that the death may have resulted from a malfunction of the insulin pump. As is customary practice, the Forrest County Coroner's Office drew two vials of blood from David and sent them to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory for analysis. The lab report revealed that a chemical called laudanasine, a metabolite of a hypnotic anesthetic drug called atricurium, was found in the sample of blood drawn from David.
¶ 9. After receiving the lab report, a full investigation was launched by local law enforcement officials into David's death. On June 1, 2001, Officer Rusty Keyes of the Hattiesburg Police Department, along with Benedict, visited the Stephens home and met with Stephanie regarding the lab report. Stephanie claimed no knowledge of what the drugs were or how they could have gotten into David's system. The Hattiesburg Police Department continued its investigation by subpoenaing phone records, banking information, and David's medical records. On June 25, 2001, Keyes and Benedict received an order from Forrest County Circuit Judge Dickie McKenzie to have David's body exhumed for an autopsy. Dr. Stephen Hayne performed the autopsy which revealed that the cause of death was the "laudanosine overdose and also etomidate toxicity."
¶ 10. Further, the investigation revealed that David maintained a deferred compensation plan with MetLife Insurance Company which at the time of his death was valued at approximately $732,000. On May 1, 2001 (the day of David's death), MetLife sent out a standard form letter regarding participant renegotiations of pay-out dates to all participants in the Maximum Deferred Compensation program. After failing to receiving correspondence from David, MetLife re-sent the form to his residence on June 1, 2001. On June 14, 2001, MetLife received the form purportedly signed by David and dated April 30, 2001.
¶ 11. With the above information, the Hattiesburg Police Department obtained an arrest warrant for Stephanie Stephens. During the January 2003 term the Forrest County Grand Jury indicted Stephanie for the murder of her husband in violation of Section 97-3-19 of the Mississippi Code of 1972. Stephanie was arraigned on April 14, 2003, and the trial was set for September 8, 2003.
¶ 12. Due to enormous pretrial publicity surrounding this case, the trial court granted Stephanie's Motion for Change of Venue, and a jury was selected from DeSoto County. Also, during the pre-trial hearing, the trial court announced that CBS Television wished to cover the courtroom proceedings in hopes of creating a news documentary about this case. Neither counsel for the State nor Stephanie objected to the presence of the media. The trial lasted seven days and involved approximately twenty witnesses and numerous exhibits. On September 15, 2003, Stephanie was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Having failed on all post-trial motions, Stephanie timely brings this appeal and asserts numerous errors at the trial below.
DISCUSSION
¶ 13. Stephanie argues that the trial court violated Rule 4 of the Mississippi Rules of Electronic and Photographic Coverage (MREPC) by allowing media into the courtroom during her trial. Specifically, she argues that the placement of the cameras in the courtroom prejudiced her by infringing upon her right to a fair trial. Also, Stephanie contends that when the trial court advised the jury that the trial was being covered by a national news program, the protection afforded to her by the trial court's order changing venue were reversed. Stephanie avers that these errors resulted in a more tainted jury than could have been obtained originally in Forrest County.
¶ 14. On June 5, 2003, a pre-trial motion hearing was conducted wherein the trial court addressed several preliminary matters. Among these was the idea of having cameras in the courtroom during the entire trial. Prior to making his ruling, then-Circuit Judge Jess H. Dickinson made the following observations:
The third thing I want to cover is that I have disclosed previously a contact that was made to the Court through the clerk's office from an executive producer with CBS News. CBS, through its television program "48 Hours," is interested in filming this trial for a subsequent segment on one of their shows. Their reason for making the inquiry is that our Supreme Court recently passed a new rule which allows cameras in the courtroom. And as of the time that this trial will begin, that rule will be in effect. So they made the inquiry stating that they would like to come down and film the trial.
..............
I have talked with counsel for Ms. Stephens and with the district attorney about this, but now on the record in open court, I would ask if either of you have any comment to make, any objection, or statement to make to the Court prior to the Court making a determination of whether or not that permission will be granted.
Both counsel for the State and the defendant made no objections to granting CBS access to the courtroom proceedings. The trial judge went on to state, ...
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