Stubbs v. State
Decision Date | 20 March 2003 |
Docket Number | No. 2001-KA-01361-SCT.,2001-KA-01361-SCT. |
Citation | 845 So.2d 656 |
Parties | Leigh STUBBS and Tammy Vance v. STATE of Mississippi. |
Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
John M. Colette, Jackson, Walter E. Wood, Ridgeland, attorneys for appellants.
Office of the Attorney General, by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.
Before McRAE, P.J., DIAZ and CARLSON, JJ.
CARLSON, J., for the court.
¶ 1. Having been indicted, tried, convicted and sentenced for conspiracy to possess morphine and to commit grand larceny, possession of morphine in an amount greater than twenty (20) dosage units, and aggravated assault, Leigh Stubbs (Stubbs) and Tammy Vance (Vance) appeal from the final judgment of the Circuit Court of Lincoln County, claiming that the circuit court erred in not granting either a continuance or severance, in not dismissing the case on the grounds that the State failed to prove each element of each of the crimes and in allowing the expert testimony of a forensic odontologist, Dr. Michael West. Finding no error, we affirm the judgment of the circuit court.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE TRIAL COURT
¶ 2. On September 20, 2000, Leigh Stubbs, twenty years of age, and Tammy Vance, thirty-one years of age, were indicted in a multi-count indictment for conspiracy to possess morphine and to commit grand larceny, possession of morphine, in an amount greater than twenty (20) dosage units, and aggravated assault.1 Nine (9) days before trial was scheduled to begin, Stubbs's attorney withdrew with Stubbs's consent. On June 20, 2001, Stubbs's new attorney filed his appearance the day trial was scheduled to begin and also filed a motion for continuance. The trial court denied the motion for continuance, but the trial was rescheduled for June 27, 2001.2
¶ 3. The trial was commenced on June 27, 2001, before a Lincoln County Circuit Court jury, Circuit Judge Mike Smith presiding. On June 30, 2001, Stubbs and Vance were found guilty of conspiracy to possess morphine and to commit grand larceny, possession of morphine in an amount greater than twenty (20) dosage units, and aggravated assault. They were each sentenced to serve terms of imprisonment as follows: Five (5) years as to Count One; twenty-four (24) years as to Count Two; and, twenty (20) years as to Count Three; provided, however, that the sentences in Count One were ordered to run concurrently with the sentences in Count Two, and the sentences in Counts One and Two were ordered to run consecutive to the sentences in Count Three. Each defendant was also ordered to pay a $115,000.00 fine in addition to court costs and the victim's medical expenses. After their motions for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or in the alternative, a new trial were denied, Stubbs and Vance each timely filed a notice of appeal to this Court.
SUMMARY
¶ 4. On March 7, 2000, Kimberly Williams (Williams), twenty-one years of age, was found unconscious in a hotel room at the Comfort Inn in Brookhaven, Lincoln County. She was discovered by Stubbs and Vance who called the desk clerk for help after determining Williams was not breathing. An emergency team arrived on the scene and determined Williams was suffering from a drug overdose. She was immediately transported to the emergency room in Brookhaven and then later to Baptist Hospital in Jackson.
¶ 5. After her arrival at the hospital, the medical staff discovered Williams had sustained severe injuries to her vaginal area. Law enforcement officials were notified that Williams had been sexually assaulted. Upon her transfer to Jackson, it was discovered that Williams had also suffered injuries to her head. Williams recovered from her coma after twelve (12) days.
FACTS
¶ 6. Stubbs, Vance and Williams were in treatment for drug abuse at Cady Hill which is located in Columbus, Lowndes County. Stubbs and Vance, who had been in the program longer than Williams, were in the second phase of treatment. This entitled them to leave the facility after receiving weekend passes. Stubbs and Vance had used a pass the weekend of March 3, 2000. Upon their return to Cady Hill on Sunday, March 5, Stubbs and Vance decided to leave the facility without completing the program. Williams asked if she could leave with them, and Stubbs and Vance agreed to give Williams a ride to her boyfriend's house in Summit, Pike County.
¶ 7. On March 7, 2000, the night Williams was found, Stubbs and Vance both gave written, voluntary statements to the police. These statements were taken by Det. Noland Jones of the Brookhaven Police Department, and each statement was introduced into evidence at trial during his testimony.
¶ 8. In Stubbs's voluntary statement, she stated she, Vance and Williams left Cady Hill, the drug treatment center in Columbus, Lowndes County on March 5, 2000. The women stayed in Columbus the first night before traveling to Summit, in Pike County, to take Williams to the house of her boyfriend, James Ervin. Stubbs also stated that she and Vance decided to leave after thirty minutes because the people at Ervin's house were "partying." After she and Vance left, Williams followed them and asked if she could leave with them. The women rented a motel room in Brookhaven around 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. on the night of March 6. Stubbs stated when she and Vance awoke the next morning, March 7th, they attempted unsuccessfully to wake up Williams. Because they thought she was only passed out, Stubbs and Vance left to get something to eat and came back and watched TV. Once they noticed Williams was not breathing, they called 911. Stubbs recalled Vance and Williams buying beer, but she could not remember how much Williams drank.
¶ 9. In Vance's voluntary statement, she also stated she left the treatment facility in Columbus with Stubbs and Williams. Vance stated that as she and Stubbs were leaving, Williams asked for a ride to her boyfriend's house in Summit. They were in Summit for approximately thirty minutes before Vance and Stubbs decided to leave. Vance stated Williams's boyfriend, Ervin, was smoking marijuana. Vance stated Williams left the house right after Vance and Stubbs. Williams asked if she could stay with them, and Vance told Williams she could probably stay with Vance at her mother's house. Vance noticed Williams came out of her boyfriend's house with a different purse. When the women arrived at the motel room in Brookhaven, Vance stated Williams was acting really drunk. The women had stopped for alcohol, but Vance said Williams was acting "worse than that." The women then went to sleep. After Vance and Stubbs woke up, they went to the store. At this point, Vance stated she noticed Williams was breathing. Later the women became aware that Williams had stopped breathing.
¶ 10. At trial the State called Detective Noland Jones to testify during its case-in-chief. Jones, a detective with the Brookhaven Police Department (BPD), was contacted regarding the incident at the Comfort Inn "a little after four p.m." He stated the initial call was about a drug overdose. Det. Jones remained at the station to question two witnesses, Stubbs and Vance. He testified each gave a written voluntary statement.
¶ 11. At approximately 8:00 a.m. the next morning, Det. Jones was informed that Williams had been sexually assaulted. Det. Jones then went to Jackson on March 8, 2000, to photograph Williams's body. He photographed Williams's swollen vaginal area and swollen nipples. Det. Jones also testified he photographed "passion marks" and bruises on Williams's right hip. Det. Jones stated that after the photographs were taken, Dr. Michael West was contacted to take comparison bite marks.
¶ 12. Det. Jones questioned Stubbs and Vance again on March 8, 2000, and the women stated they had been with Williams the entire time since leaving the treatment center in Columbus. On March 14, 2000, the BPD, through a search warrant, obtained the teeth impression of Vance and Stubbs. Those molds, along with the molds of James Ervin and his brother, Emmit, were given to Dr. West to compare to the bite marks found on Williams.
¶ 13. On March 15, 2000, a search warrant was also obtained for Stubbs's truck. The police took possession of the tool box found in the back of the truck, and the Mississippi Crime Lab examined the box for blood, hair and fibers. However, no blood or hair which could be linked to Williams was found in the tool box. Det. Jones also testified as to the surveillance tape from the Comfort Inn. He was questioned by the State as to what he saw on that particular tape. Det. Jones testified that he believed he saw Leigh Stubbs "step[ ] up in the back of the truck, raise[ ] the tool box and pick[ ] a person up out of that tool box and step[ ] off the truck and [enter] Room 109." Based on the videotape, Det. Jones stated he and Dr. West removed a latch from the tool box to compare to the marks found on Williams's head. Det. Jones also measured the distance between the latches on the tool box and found them to be thirty-seven (37) inches apart.
¶ 14. Det. Jones testified drugs were found in James Ervin's black bag which was found at the scene and brought to the hospital by the paramedics. Det. Jones testified he personally counted the morphine pills and found thirty-nine (39) tablets which were released to James Ervin since Ervin had a valid prescription for these drugs. At a later date, Det. Jones was able to question Vance again and record her statement. In this statement, Vance admitted to taking some of the morphine after they left Summit. Vance also stated Williams was "popping-taking pills."
¶ 15. Helen Ervin, James Ervin's mother, testified she saw Williams on Monday evening, March 6, 2000, in her (Mrs. Ervin's) home in Summit, Pike County. Mrs. Ervin stated Williams did not appear to be in any kind of distress. Mrs. Ervin testified that Williams was with two women, but Williams only introduced her to one of the women. Mrs. Ervin was questioned...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Howard v. State
...have exaggerated the reliability of his disciplines and has proceeded to testify outside the scope of his expertise. See Stubbs v. State, 845 So.2d 656, 669 (Miss.2003); Brooks, 748 So.2d at 749-50; Brewer v. State, 725 So.2d 106, 126 (Miss.1998). In fact, in 1994, the American Academy of F......
-
Edmonds v. State, 2004-CT-02081-SCT.
...to allow bite-mark testimony when defense did not provide an affidavit from an expert witness as rebuttal evidence); Stubbs v. State, 845 So.2d 656, 669 (Miss.2003) (expert testimony admissible, even though "[t]here is little consensus in the scientific community on the number of points whi......
-
Edmonds v. State, No. 2004-CT-02081-SCT (Miss. 1/4/2007)
...this Court has never required bite-mark "experts" to meet any one of the Daubert factors required of Dr. Redlich. Stubbs v. State, 845 So. 2d 656, 669 (Miss. 2003) (bite mark expert testimony admissible, even though "[t]here is little consensus in the scientific community on the number of p......
-
Howard v. State
...have exaggerated the reliability of his disciplines and has proceeded to testify outside the scope of his expertise. SeeStubbs v. State , 845 So. 2d 656, 669 (Miss. 2003) ; Brooks , 748 So. 2d at 749-50 ; Brewer v. State , 725 So. 2d 106, 126 (Miss. 1998). In fact, in 1994, the American Aca......