Opinion ID: 1632866
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: was it error to refuse instruction d-13?

Text: Instruction D-13 was offered by Sayles as follows: An accomplice is some one who knowingly, voluntarily, and with common intent with the principal offender unites in the commission of a crime. If you believe the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, did knowingly, voluntarily and with common intent with Lee Frank Savage unite in the commission of the burglary of Reeds Store, then it is your sworn duty to find the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, guilty of burglary. However, if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, merely come along after Lee Frank Savage had committed the burglary and assisted Lee Frank Savage in transporting the stolen goods and took possession of some of the stolen goods, but have a reasonable doubt that the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, voluntarily and with common intent with Lee F. Savage unite in the actual commission of this burglary of Reed's Store, then it is your sworn duty to find the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, not guilty. Sayles had requested that the trial court grant instruction D-13 and refuse both State's instruction S-4 and defense instruction D-9. The trial court, however, granted instructions D-9 and S-4 and refused D-13. The prosecution asserts that the gist of D-13 is covered by S-1 and S-4 and D-9. S-1 states as follows: The Court instructs the Jury that if you believe from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, did feloniously break and enter Reed's Grocery, in Pattison, Mississippi, the property of Clovis Reed, in which building was located the property of Clovis Reed, with the intent of Jerome Sayles to steal therein, then it is your sworn duty to find the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, guilty of Burglary. When one reads Instructions S-1, S-4, and D-9, confusion results. Instruction D-13 should have been granted as it is a proper statement of the law and is the only instruction that presents Sayles' theory of the case to the jury. He is entitled to have the theory of his defense presented. D-9 states as follows: Even though you, the jury, may be able to say from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, is guilty of being an accessory after the fact of burglary or that of receiving stolen property, you may not return a guilty verdict in this case unless the State has proved from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant, Jerome Sayles, is guilty of each and every material element of the crime of burglary of the Reed Store building. (Emphasis Added). Therefore, it was reversible error not to grant Instruction D-13 because D-9 and S-4 do not accomplish the same purpose in a clearer manner to squarely put the issue before the jury. S-4 and D-9 might have accomplished the objective if D-9 would have stopped at the underlined portion indicated above but it did not, and S-4 and D-9 in conjunction therefore do not fully and fairly instruct the jury. They are confusing and abstract and could have led the jury to believe that it could convict Sayles based on the wrong evidence presented at trial. For the reasons set forth above, the burglary conviction and sentence of five years' imprisonment in the Mississippi Department of Corrections is reversed and the case is remanded to the Circuit Court of Claiborne County. REVERSED AND REMANDED. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS, DAN M. LEE, P.JJ., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, ANDERSON, PITTMAN and BLASS, JJ., concur.