Title: Davis v. State

State: mississippi

Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court

Document:

520 So. 2d 493 (1988) Louis DAVIS, Jr. v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 57473. Supreme Court of Mississippi. February 17, 1988. Robbie K. Asher, Bay St. Louis, for appellant. Edwin Lloyd Pittman and Mike Moore, Attys. Gen. by Leyser Q. Morris, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before HAWKINS, P.J., and SULLIVAN and ZUCCARO, JJ. ZUCCARO, Justice, for the Court: Louis Davis, Jr. was convicted of the sale of a controlled substance (cocaine) by the Circuit Court of Hancock County and sentenced to serve seven (7) years imprisonment. From this adverse verdict and sentence, Davis perfected his appeal to this Court, raising but one (1) assignment of error. Finding no error, we affirm. Davis' sole argument is that the lower court erred in refusing to give his "jury nullification" instruction, D-9, which reads: The basis for appellant's argument is that the jury has the power to acquit a criminal defendant for whatever reason even though the evidence supports a conviction and that this power is an important part of the constitutional scheme of our criminal law system. State v. Brailsford, 3 (3 Dall) U.S. 1, 1 L. Ed. 483 (1794); United States v. Leach, 632 F.2d 1337, n. 12 (5th Cir.1980). While this is indeed a correct statement of the constitutional principle of "jury nullification", Davis' further assertion that he has the right to an instruction on the point is unsound. The courts that have considered this issue have almost uniformly held that a criminal defendant is not entitled to such an instruction. Lee v. State, 743 P.2d 296 (Wyo. 1987); State v. Cote, 129 N.H. 358, 530 A.2d 775 (1987); Commonwealth v. Fernette, 398 Mass. 658, 500 N.E.2d 1290 (1986); Annas v. State, 726 P.2d 552 (Alaska App. 1986); Walker v. State, 723 P.2d 273 (Okl. 1986); State v. Allie, 147 Ariz. 320, 710 P.2d 430 (1985); State v. Perkins, 353 N.W.2d 557 (Minn. 1984); Walker v. State, 445 N.E.2d 571 (Ind. 1983); Williams v. Commonwealth, 644 S.W.2d 335 (Ky. 1983); State v. Lang, 46 N.C. App. 138, 264 S.E.2d 821 (1980); Keenan v. State, 379 So. 2d 147 (Fla.App. 1980); State v. Hunter, 586 S.W.2d 345 (Mo. 1979); State v. Vigna, 260 N.W.2d 506 (S.D. 1977); State v. Willis, 218 N.W.2d 921 (Iowa 1974). For federal decisions rejecting the right to a "jury nullification" instruction, see United States v. Wiley, 503 F.2d 106 (8th Cir.1974) citing United States v. Dellinger, 472 F.2d 340 (7th Cir.1972) cert. denied, 410 U.S. 970, 93 S. Ct. 1443, 35 L. Ed. 2d 706 (1973); United States v. Simpson, 460 F.2d 515 (9th Cir.1972); United States v. Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002 (4th Cir.1969) cert. denied, 397 U.S. 910, 90 S. Ct. 908, 25 L. Ed. 2d 91 (1970); Washington v. Watkins, 655 F.2d 1346, 1374 n. 54 (5th Cir.1981). As early as 1895, the United States Supreme Court, in Sparf et. al. v. United States, 156 U.S. 51, 15 S. Ct. 273, 39 L. Ed. 343 (1895), recognized that there was no right to have the jury instructed that it could do whatever it willed. The sound reasoning behind denying a right to a "jury nullification" instruction is that: United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113, 1133-1134 (D.C. Cir.1972) quoting United States v. Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002, 1009 (4th Cir.1969), cert. denied, 397 U.S. 910, 90 S. Ct. 908, 25 L. Ed. 2d 91 (1970). For the reasons set forth above, the assignment of error is without merit. Louis Davis, Jr. was properly tried and found guilty of the sale of cocaine. On appeal, he asks this Court to mandate an instruction that would in essence direct juries *495 that they could run amuck. This argument has failed in practically every jurisdiction in the United States and too it must fail in Mississippi. The decision of the lower court is affirmed. AFFIRMED. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS and DAN M. LEE, P.JJ., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, ANDERSON and GRIFFIN, JJ., concur.