Title: State v. Clements

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

383 So. 2d 818 (1980) STATE of Mississippi v. George CLEMENTS, Jr. No. 51757. Supreme Court of Mississippi. May 14, 1980. John A. Gregory, Asst. Dist. Atty., Okolona, for appellant. Ottis B. Crocker, Jr., Bruce, for appellee. Before ROBERTSON, P.J., and LEE and BOWLING, JJ. LEE, Justice, for the Court: George Clements, Jr. was indicted in the Circuit Court of Calhoun County on a charge of aggravated assault. He filed a motion to quash the indictment on the grounds that the charge was prohibited by constitutional provisions against double jeopardy and on the doctrine of collateral *819 estoppel. The trial court, Honorable J.O. Sams, Sr., presiding as special judge, sustained the motion, quashed the indictment, and the State of Mississippi has appealed. The sole question presented to this Court is whether or not the trial judge erred in quashing the indictment. On October 8, 1977, appellee, accompanied by three (3) other male individuals, left his place of employment, went to a nearby tavern, and drank beer and shot pool for a lengthy period of time. On the way back to the plant, after leaving the tavern, evidence indicates that appellee, being drunk, grabbed the steering wheel of the car. Subsequently, appellee and two of the individuals got into a pickup truck with one Bryant driving same, and were proceeding to Calhoun City. All three had been drinking intoxicating liquor. According to the State's evidence, appellee grabbed the steering wheel of the truck, caused it to veer into the opposite line of travel, and collide with a vehicle there, resulting in the deaths of two (2) women and injuries to a 12-year-old child, Lori Parker. Appellee denied that he grabbed the steering wheel, saying, "I couldn't have, I was too drunk." Appellee was first indicted in the Circuit Court of Calhoun County for manslaughter of Alice Parker by culpable negligence in the operation of the pickup truck. He was tried and acquitted on the charge. Then appellee was indicted for aggravated assault of Lori Parker. A motion to quash the indictment was filed on the grounds of former jeopardy and collateral estoppel, and, as stated, it was sustained by the trial judge. The case of Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S. 436, 90 S. Ct. 1189, 25 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1970) applied the doctrine of collateral estoppel (and double jeopardy) as enunciated by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The rule was approved and expanded in Turner v. Arkansas, 407 U.S. 366, 92 S. Ct. 2096, 32 L. Ed. 2d 798 (1972). In State v. Smith, 278 So. 2d 411 (Miss. 1973), Smith was indicted and tried on a murder charge and was acquitted. Subsequently, he was indicted for robbery on the same facts, a plea in bar and motion to quash were filed, and were sustained by the trial court. In affirming the judgment, this Court discussed the facts and principles of Ashe, supra, and said: The Court further stated: In State v. Cox, 339 So. 2d 1374 (Miss. 1976), Cox was indicted and tried in the Circuit Court of Monroe County for manslaughter arising out of the death of a 13-year-old child. At the conclusion of the State's case, the trial judge sustained a motion for directed verdict. Subsequently, Cox was indicated for the felonious battery of the child and a motion to quash the indictment was sustained on the ground of former jeopardy. The judgment of the lower court was reversed and the case was remanded for trial on that charge. The Court distinguished the case from Ashe and Smith in the following respect: In the case sub judice, in the manslaughter trial, the court instructed the jury at the request of the State "that she (Alice Parker) died as a result of George Clements, Jr.'s gross negligence demonstrating a reckless manner by grabbing the steering wheel of said pickup truck and causing said pickup truck to enter the lane of traffic reserved for the vehicle occupied by Alice Parker while in the state of public drunkenness ..." The indictment against appellee for aggravated assault charged that appellant "did ... commit an aggravated assault upon one Lori Parker, a human being, by recklessly causing serious bodily injury to said Lori Parker, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, by causing a pickup truck to wrongfully and illegally enter the lane of traffic reserved by law for the operation of the vehicle occupied by the said Lori Parker and thereby causing a collision in which the said Lori Parker was seriously injured." In Nelson v. State, 361 So. 2d 343 (Miss. 1978), the Court said with reference to aggravated assault: We note that, unlike in Cox, supra, the same elements are present in the charge of manslaughter by culpable negligence and in the charge of aggravated assault. The simple issue of whether or not appellee grabbed the steering wheel of the pickup truck and caused the vehicle to drive into the opposite lane of traffic resulting in the death of Mary Parker was the charge and issue in the indictment charging aggravated assault upon Lori Parker. We see no difference in the litigation of that issue here than in the litigation of the issue of identity in Ashe, supra, or in the issue presented in Smith, supra. Therefore, we are of the opinion that the trial judge correctly sustained the motion to quash the indictment and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed. AFFIRMED. PATTERSON, C.J., SMITH and ROBERTSON P. JJ., and SUGG, WALKER, BROOM, BOWLING and COFER, JJ., concur.