Opinion ID: 1787012
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Did jury instruction S-5 properly define depraved heart murder?

Text: ¶ 16. Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-19(1)(b) (1994) defines depraved heart murder as [t]he killing of a human being without the authority of law by any means or in any manner shall be murder ... [w]hen done in the commission of an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved heart, regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual. ¶ 17. Jury instruction S-5 stated the following: The Defendant, Milton Evans, Jr. has been charged with the crime of murder in Count II of the indictment. The Court instructs the Jury, that if you find from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that Milton Evans, Jr., on or about January 31, 1997, in Sharkey County, Mississippi, killed Bill Hollins, Jr., a human being, without authority of law, by shooting him, at a time when Milton Evans, Jr., was committing an act eminently dangerous to others evidencing a depraved heart, regardless of human life, even though Milton Evans, Jr., did not intend with premeditated design to effect the death of Bill Hollins, Jr., then you shall find the Defendant, Milton Evans, Jr., guilty of murder in Count II of the indictment. If the State has failed to prove any one or more of the above listed elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then you shall find the Defendant, not guilty of murder in Count II of the indictment. Jury instruction S-6 stated the following: The Defendant, Milton Evans, Jr. has been charged with the crime of murder in Count II of the indictment. The Court instructs the Jury, that if you find from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that Milton Evans, Jr., on or about January 31, 1997, in Sharkey County, Mississippi, did willfully and with deliberate design to effect the death of Bill Hollins, Jr., a human being, killed Bill Hollins, Jr., by shooting him, and the defendant was not acting in lawful self defense, then you shall find the Defendant, Milton Evans, Jr., guilty of murder in Count II of the indictment. If the State has failed to prove any one or more of the above listed elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then you shall find the Defendant, not guilty of murder in Count II of the indictment. Evans objected to S-5, arguing that it should contain the phrase and the defendant was not acting in lawful self-defense just as S-6 contained. The trial court overruled Evans' objection. ¶ 18. In essence, Evans now argues that the trial court erred in failing to grant a self-defense instruction regarding the charge of depraved heart murder in conjunction with Bill Hollins, Jr.'s death. Jury instruction C-5 stated that: [t]he Court instructs you that the killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or omission of another shall be justified under the law when committed in the lawful defense of one's own person where there shall be reasonable grounds to apprehend a design to do some great personal injury, and there shall be imminent danger of such design being accomplished. In other words, the danger, if any, to the defendant, Milton Evans, Jr., must have been either actual, present and urgent, or the defendant must have had reasonable grounds to apprehend that Bill Hollins, Jr., either alone or in concert with others, to kill defendant, or to do defendant some great bodily harm, and in addition to this defendant must have had reasonable grounds to apprehend that there is imminent danger of such design being accomplished by Bill Hollins, Jr., either alone or in concert with others. It is for the jury to determine the reasonableness of the grounds upon which defendant, Milton Evans, Jr., acted. Because C-5 specifically instructed the jury that the killing of Bill Hollins, Jr., would be justified if committed by Evans in the lawful defense of his own person, and when reading all of the instructions as a whole, we find Evans' argument not to be well taken, and hold that this assignment of error must fail.