Case Name: Raymond Helton FRILEY, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee
Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals
Jurisdiction: Mississippi
Decision Date: 2003-06-24
Citations: 856 So. 2d 654
Docket Number: No. 2002-KA-00041-COA
Parties: Raymond Helton FRILEY, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
Judges: Before McMILLIN, C.J., LEE and IRVING, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 856
Pages: 654–667

Head Matter:
Raymond Helton FRILEY, Jr., Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.
No. 2002-KA-00041-COA.
Court of Appeals of Mississippi.
June 24, 2003.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 21, 2003.
Jane Cleland O’Mara, Pat McNamara, attorneys for appellant.
Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorneys for appellee.
Before McMILLIN, C.J., LEE and IRVING, JJ.

Opinion:
LEE, J.,
for the Court.
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶ 1. On May 2, 2000, Raymond Helton Friley, Jr. was indicted by the grand jury in Warren County for the sexual battery of C.M., a female minor. On November 10, 2000, a jury returned a verdict of not guilty to the charge of sexual battery, but guilty to the lesser offense of molestation. The court sentenced Friley to serve fifteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Friley has perfected his appeal to this Court asserting the following issues: (1) the trial court erred in granting jury instruction S-2; (2) the guilty verdict was against the overwhelming weight and sufficiency of the evidence; and (3) proof of venue was never proven by the State. Finding merit to the first issue, we reverse and render.
FACTS
¶ 2. In July of 1995, C.M. was swimming at her grandmother's pool when she encountered Friley, who was servicing the pool. According to C.M., Friley cornered her, placed a plastic bag in front of her face, put his hand in the bottom of her swimsuit, and inserted his finger into her vagina. C.M. testified that Friley also "took his other hand and put it inside his pants, . moving his hand around." This assault apparently lasted between five and ten minutes. Afterwards, Friley grabbed her and told her not to repeat to anyone what had occurred.
¶ 3. At the time of the assault C.M. was approximately nine years old. The present proceeding did not begin until five years later when C.M. mentioned the incident to a friend at school. This friend contacted C.M.'s mother and told her about the assault. The authorities were contacted and Friley was identified as the assailant. C.M. positively identified Friley as the person who had assaulted her. In the years since the assault, C.M. has had nightmares and anxiety attacks.
DISCUSSION OF ISSUES
I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN GRANTING JURY INSTRUCTION S-2?
¶ 4. With his first issue, Friley contends that the trial court erred in granting jury instruction S-2, which authorized the jury to find Friley guilty of molestation. It is well settled that jury instructions which are unsupported by the evidence or incorrectly state the law are not to be given to the jury. Perry v. State, 637 So.2d 871, 877 (Miss.1994). Reversible error will be found only if the instructions create an injustice. Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 782 (Miss.1997).
¶ 5. The indictment charged Friley with sexual battery, a crime of which the jury found him not guilty. According to the record, the trial judge mistakenly determined the crime of molestation under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-23 (Rev.2000) to be a lesser-included offense of sexual battery. A lesser-included offense instruction may be given if the more serious offense includes all the elements of the lesser offense, "that is, it is impossible to commit the greater offense without at the same time committing the lesser-included offense." Sanders v. State, 479 So.2d 1097, 1108 (Miss.1985).
¶ 6. Under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95 (Rev.2000), "a person is guilty of sexual battery if he or she engages in sexual penetration with . (d) a child under the age of fourteen (14) years of age, if the person is twenty-four (24) or more months older than the child." Under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-23 (Rev.2000), molestation is defined as follows:
Any person above the age of eighteen (18) years, who, for the purpose of gratifying his or her lust, or indulging his or her depraved licentious sexual desires, shall handle, touch, or rub with hands or any part of his or her body or any member thereof, any child under the age of sixteen (16) years, with or without the child's consent, . shall be guilty of a felony....
The Mississippi Supreme Court has reversed a conviction of child fondling where the charge of child fondling was not an additional count in the indictment. Hailey v. State, 537 So.2d 411, 416-17 (Miss.1988). The supreme court has more recently stated that "lustful intent is not an element of sexual battery that needs to be proven. Rather, Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-95(l)(c) (1994) requires only a showing of sexual penetration with a child under the age of fourteen." Watts v. State, 733 So.2d 214(¶ 45) (Miss.1999). After comparing the above statutes, we find molestation is not a lesser-included offense of sexual battery. See Brady v. State, 722 So.2d 151(¶ 36) (Miss.Ct.App.1998); Hailey, 537 So.2d at 414. Thus, the judge erred in allowing the instruction concerning molestation.
¶ 7. The dissent can see no instance where a person would sexually batter a child without doing so for the purpose of gratifying his or her lust. Our state legislature felt it necessary to construct two separate and distinct statutes regarding sexual battery and molestation. Were we to regard molestation as a lesser-included offense of sexual battery, then we would effectively nullify the molestation statute. We decline to do so and leave any needed clarification to the legislature. Furthermore, molestation is recognized as a separate offense from sexual battery as defendants are frequently charged with both crimes simultaneously. See Todd v. State, 806 So.2d 1086 (Miss.2001); Taylor v. State, 836 So.2d 774 (Miss.Ct.App.2002); Byars v. State, 835 So.2d 965 (Miss.Ct.App.2003).
¶ 8. We can find no reason or legal authority to allow this lesser offense instruction. The prosecutor and the trial court confused the jury by allowing them to consider an erroneous instruction. We find that to allow Friley to be convicted of a crime for which he was never charged would create an injustice. Although applying the law in this instance may produce an unpopular result in the eyes of the public, in light of the evidence and applicable law we have no choice but to reverse and render.
II. WAS THE JURY VERDICT AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE?
III. DID THE STATE PRESENT SUFFICIENT PROOF OF VENUE?
¶ 9. Because we reverse and render on the first issue, we decline to discuss the merits of the other two issues.
¶10. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF WARREN COUNTY IS REVERSED AND RENDERED. COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE TAXED TO WARREN COUNTY.
McMILLIN, C.J., KING, P.J., BRIDGES, THOMAS, AND IRVING, JJ., CONCUR. SOUTHWICK, P.J., CONCURS WITH A SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY McMILLIN, C.J., AND BRIDGES, J. GRIFFIS, J., DISSENTS WITH A SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY MYERS AND CHANDLER, JJ.
. The words "fondling" and "unlawful touching" are also used interchangeably with molestation when referring to a crime committed under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-23 (Rev.2000).