Webster v. State, No. 2000-KA-01648-SCT.

• Decision Date: 14 February 2002
• Docket Number: No. 2000-KA-01648-SCT.
• Citation: 817 So.2d 515
• Parties: J.W. WEBSTER v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

817 So.2d 515

J.W. WEBSTER v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2000-KA-01648-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 14, 2002.

Rehearing Denied June 6, 2002.

Johnnie E. Walls, Jr., Greenville, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, Attorney for Appellee.

Before McRAE, P.J., EASLEY and GRAVES, JJ.

EASLEY, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. J.W. Webster ("Webster") was previously convicted on May 22, 1997, in the Circuit Court of Coahoma County, Honorable Kenneth L. Thomas, Circuit Judge, presiding, for the murder of Bennie Rosebur ("Rosebur") and sentenced to serve a term of life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. See Webster v. State, 755 So.2d 451 (Miss.Ct.App. 1999)

. Webster appealed to the Mississippi Court of Appeals which affirmed the judgment and found that (1) the trial court's ruling to reject a peremptory strike of a juror was not clearly erroneous or against the overwhelming weight of the evidence; (2) the trial court properly admitted testimony that indicated possible motive and showed intent under M.R.E. 404(b), the judge made an on the record determination regarding relevancy in accordance with M.R.E. 403, and the trial court's failure to sua sponte give a limiting instruction about the prior bad acts was harmless error; (3) an accident instruction to the jury was properly denied; and (4) the cumulative effect of all errors did not deprive the defendant of a fair trial. Id. The motion for rehearing was denied by the Court of Appeals on April 20, 1999. Id.

¶ 2. This Court granted a writ of certiorari. On January 27, 2000, this Court reversed and remanded for a new trial as to the peremptory challenge issue only. Webster v. State, 754 So.2d 1232, 1240 (Miss.2000). As to the other two issues, this Court affirmed the Court of Appeals and stated "We further hold that the Court of Appeals was correct in finding that the trial court's failure to sua sponte give a limiting instruction was harmless error and that there was not a sufficient evidentiary basis for the trial court to give an accident instruction. Therefore, we affirm on these two issues." Id.

¶ 3. On July 24-27, 2000, a retrial was conducted, Circuit Court Judge Thomas, presiding. On July 27, 2000, Webster, again, was sentenced to serve a term of life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Webster filed an amended motion for new trial. On August 22, 2000, the trial judge entered an order denying the amended motion for new trial. Webster now appeals to this Court.

FACTS

¶ 4. On July 5, 1996, Deloris Leflore ("Leflore") was moving from 526 Bolivar Street to a new address in Clarksdale. Leflore's boyfriend at the time was Rosebur. Leflore had been dating Rosebur for about a year and had previously dated Webster for approximately thirteen to fourteen years.

¶ 5. Webster came to the house and wanted his lawn mover that he lent to Leflore's oldest son, Michael. Leflore next heard an argument in the upstairs den. When she arrived at the den, Webster claimed that Rosebur pulled a knife on him. Rosebur claimed that Webster had pushed him, which Webster denied. Leflore asked Webster to leave and told Rosebur to put away his knife, which was at his side. Rosebur put away the knife, and the two men continued to argue. Leflore asked her younger son, Curtis, to call the police because Webster would not leave the house. Michael took Webster downstairs, and both left the house. Later, Curtis and Rosebur went downstairs, and Rosebur went to get some wood to repair a chair.

¶ 6. Leflore went into the kitchen, and Webster came into the kitchen. Webster went to the dish rack and told Leflore that Rosebur had pulled a knife on him. Leflore saw Webster take a brown-handled knife and stick it in the back of his pants. The knife was a butcher knife used for cutting meat. After Webster walked out the front door, Leflore ran upstairs to call the police.

¶ 7. Webster rushed past Curtis, who was standing in the doorway. Curtis testified that Rosebur had his back facing him and Webster stuck Rosebur with the knife on his left side. Curtis yelled to his mother that Webster stabbed Rosebur. From a window on her stairwell, Leflore saw Webster chasing Rosebur in the yard. Curtis then shut the door and locked it and ran upstairs to call the police. Webster later knocked on the door and asked to be let in the house, but Curtis refused. After Webster left, Curtis followed the blood trail to the store up the street. Rosebur was lying on the store porch. Then, Curtis saw his brother Michael drive by in a car, flagged him down, and told him that they needed to bring Rosebur to a hospital.

¶ 8. Leflore and her daughter Shunta ran to the store. When they arrived, Michael and Curtis had Rosebur in a car and took him to the hospital. As Leflore and Shunta returned home, Webster drove by in his car. Leflore flagged down Webster and said "J.W., I think you might have killed Bennie." According to Leflore, Webster replied "Well, if I have, he should be dead."

¶ 9. Officer Norman Starks ("Officer Starks") was on duty with the Clarksdale Police Department on July 5, 1996. He responded to a dispatch call concerning a stabbing at 526 Bolivar Street in Coahoma County, Mississippi. Neither the victim nor the defendant was at the scene. About fifteen minutes later, Webster walked back toward the house. Shunta, Leflore's daughter, pointed out Webster to the officers as he walked down the street. The officers detained Webster as a suspect at that time. Webster had a cut under his right arm and was taken to the hospital for treatment.

¶ 10. Dr. Steven Hayne ("Hayne"), state forensic pathologist, testified that Rosebur had two stab wounds located over the left chest and front surface of the elbow. The stab wound to the chest was lethal. The stab wound to the elbow indicated a defensive posturing position. DNA testing of blood samples from the knife and knife holder were consistent with Rosebur's DNA type. None of the samples had Webster's blood or DNA on it.

¶ 11. The December 10, 1996, indictment against Webster stated:

J.W. WEBSTER, ... on or about July 5, 1996, ... did unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously, without the authority of law, kill and murder Bennie Rosebur in the commission of an act imminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved heart, regardless of human life, although without any pre-meditated design to effect the death of Bennie Rosebur...

¶ 12. At trial, Webster testified on his own behalf and denied ever stabbing Rosebur. In addition, Webster testified to getting a butter knife as opposed to a butcher knife from the kitchen sink. Webster stated that Rosebur had his knife open. Webster stated that Rosebur told him "I'm going to get your damn ass." He claimed that he did not stab Rosebur, who was stabbed with his own knife. Webster stated that he never intended Rosebur to die on July 5. On July 27, 2000, Webster was sentenced to life imprisonment, and he now appeals.

STATEMENT OF THE ISSUES

I. Whether appellant's murder conviction is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

II. Whether appellant killed the deceased in self-defense.

III. Whether the trial court erred in failing to grant appellant's motion for mistrial after allowing the State to elicit evidence of the appellant's prejudicial prior bad acts.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether the overwhelming weight of the evidence supports the murder conviction.

¶ 13. In the first issue, Webster asserts that his murder conviction is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. In the second issue, Webster asserts that the overwhelming weight of the evidence supports a finding of self-defense. "It is well established that matters regarding the weight of the evidence are to be resolved by the jury." Danner v. State, 748 So.2d 844, 846 (Miss.App.1999)(citing Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743, 758 (Miss.1984)). Whether a slaying is considered either murder or manslaughter is a question for the jury. Windham v. State, 520 So.2d 123, 127 (Miss.1987). As to a claim of self-defense, the jury is the ultimate judge of whether the defendant acted in a manner to justify self-defense. Rush v. State, 278 So.2d 456, 459 (Miss.1973). "The court is bound by the jury findings upon an issue presented by the instruction requested by the [defendant]." Kinney v. State, 336 So.2d 493, 496 (Miss.1976).

¶ 14. In a jury trial, as the case before the Court today, the jury determines whether the defendant committed murder, manslaughter or acted in self-defense based on the testimony and evidence presented by counsel. This Court has restricted authority to interfere in the province of the jury verdict. McFee v. State, 511 So.2d 130, 133 (Miss.1987). The jury in Webster's case returned a unanimous verdict of guilty of murder. Accordingly, this Court is bound to review the weight of the evidence in regard to the verdict of murder only and cannot review, as Webster requests, a lesser-included offense of manslaughter nor a theory of self-defense. The jury already made a determination on whether Webster was guilty of murder, manslaughter or acted in self-defense. Therefore, this Court will only review the record to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the jury verdict of murder. Webster's second issue concerning a self-defense issue is not appropriately before this Court to review and will not be addressed.

Standard of Review

¶ 15. A motion for new trial challenges the weight of the evidence. Sheffield v. State, 749 So.2d 123, 127 (Miss. 1999). A reversal is warranted only if trial lower court abused its discretion in denying a motion for new trial. Id. (citing Gleeton v. State, 716 So.2d 1083 (Miss. 1998)). This Court held in McFee, that it has limited authority to interfere with a jury verdict. McFee, 511 So.2d at 133. The court looks at all the evidence in the light that is most consistent to the jury verdict. Id. The...