Opinion ID: 1775659
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: did the trial court err in refusing, during the sentencing phase, to grant a continuance in order for cole to secure two (2) unavailable witnesses?

Text: After the trial had begun, Cole moved for a continuance, claiming that two (2) of the witnesses he intended to call at the sentencing phase were unavailable. He assigns as error the trial court's denial of that motion. Motions for continuance in criminal trials are governed by Miss. Code Ann. § 99-15-29 (1972), which provides, in part, as follows: On all applications for a continuance the party shall set forth in his affidavit the facts which he expects to prove by his absent witness or documents that the court may judge of the materiality of such facts, the name and residence of the absent witness, that he has used due diligence to procure the absent documents, or presence of the absent witness, as the case may be, stating in what such diligence consists, and that the continuance is not sought for delay only, but that justice may be done. It is in light of these requirements that we consider the showing which Cole made in support of his motion for continuance to secure the attendance of these two (2) witnesses. Nathaniel Booker was a minister who was to testify regarding Cole's religious beliefs. Instead of submitting the affidavit required by statute, Cole's counsel simply stated, in his motion ore tenus, that Booker was to testify about Cole's religious beliefs, but that he was conducting a funeral service and could not be present to testify. Not only did defense counsel fail to make any showing of due diligence to procure Booker's presence, on the contrary, defense counsel affirmatively stated that he had not sought a subpoena instanter for Booker, since he knew Booker was conducting a funeral. Lurien Bennett was Cole's former landlady. She submitted to the court a letter in which she stated that Cole was a helpful, hardworking, compassionate man. Defense counsel, however, did not make any showing of due diligence to procure this witness's presence. The record contains a letter from Lurien Bennett's physician stating that she had a pacemaker and was taking medications which required careful attention to her dosage schedule. That letter, however, in no way indicated that the witness was unable to testify; it simply stated that she was taking medication and required attention. Nor did defense counsel make any other showing to the effect that Bennett was unable to testify. Even if we were to assume that Bennett's medical condition prevented her from testifying, there was no indication that her condition would improve to the extent that she later would be able to testify. Because Cole's showing fell far short of that required by the statute, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Cole's motion for a continuance. See Johnson v. State, 477 So.2d 196 (Miss. 1985).