Opinion ID: 1797214
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Whether Failure to Raise on Appeal The Lower Court's Denial of Certain Jury Instructions Amounted to Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Text: At trial, the judge refused defendant's jury instruction D-10 regarding manslaughter. The judge granted instruction SGP-5, over defense objection. Foster, again found his trial counsel as being ineffective. This issue was not raised on appeal. Instruction D-10 read: If you find that the State of Mississippi has failed to prove each and every element of the offense of capital murder and of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and you have therefore found that defendant not guilty of capital murder and of murder, then you may proceed to determine whether the defendant is guilty of manslaughter. If you find from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that: 1. The deceased, George Shelton, was a living person, and 2. Ron Chris Foster shot and killed George Shelton without malice aforethought, and 3. Ron Chris Foster was under the bona fide belief that it was necessary for him to shoot George Shelton in order to prevent George Shelton from inflicting death or great bodily harm upon Ron Chris Foster, and 4. That this belief of Ron Chris Foster was without reasonable cause, and 5. Not in necessary self-defense, then you shall find the defendant guilty of manslaughter. If the State has failed to prove any one or more of the elements beyond a reasonable doubt, then you shall find the defendant not guilty of manslaughter. The court granted instruction SG-5 reading: The Court instructs the Jury that under the laws of the State of Mississippi a person who provokes a difficulty or attempts to commit a crime upon another, and remains the aggressor throughout that difficulty cannot invoke the plea of self defense; and if you find from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant, Ron Chris Foster, provoked the difficulty with George Shelton, or attempted to commit the crime of robbery upon him, and remained the aggressor in the difficulty, then the defendant cannot now invoke the plea of self-defense. Another one of Foster's manslaughter instructions was granted, and so was a self-defense instruction. Instruction D-18 reads: The court instructs the jury if you find from the evidence that Ron Chris Foster was not engaged in the commission of robbery and that he was not the initial aggressor in the killing of George Shleton [sic], then such killing may be justifiable on the grounds of self defense. If you further find that defendant had reasonable grounds to apprehend a design on the part of George Shelton to kill him or to do him some great bodily harm, and that the danger to Ron Chris Foster was either actual, present and urgent, and that Ron Chris Foster had reasonable grounds to apprehend a design on the part of George Shelton to kill him or to do him some great bodily harm, and that he had reasonable grounds to apprehend that there was imminent danger of such design being accomplished. It is for the jury to determine the reasonableness of the ground upon which the defendant acts. Instruction D-17, states in part: If you find the defendant not guilty of the crime of capital murder and of murder, and further find from the evidence that Ron Chris Foster was not engaged in the crime of robbery or in 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 George Shelton, then you may continue your deliberations to determine whether or not the defendant is guilty of the crime of manslaughter. The court instructs the jury that manslaughter, as distinguished from murder, is the killing of a human being without malice, in the heat of passion, by the use of a weapon, without authority of law, and not in necessary self-defense. If you believe from the evidence in this case beyond a reasonable doubt that Ron Chris Foster did: 1... . 2. Kill George Shelton ... without malice, in the heat of passion, 3. Or by the use of a dangerous weapon, Then, in that event, you may find Ron Chris Foster guilty of the crime of manslaughter... . The issue of whether the instructions granted or rejected were error by the trial judge should have been raised on the direct appeal. Procedural bars of waiver, different theories, and res judicata and exception thereto as defined in post-conviction relief statute are applicable in death penalty post-conviction relief application. Lockett v. State, 614 So.2d 888 (Miss. 1992), cert. denied, 510 U.S. 1040, 114 S.Ct. 681, 126 L.Ed.2d 649 (1994). Post-conviction relief is not granted upon facts and issues which could or should have been litigated at trial and on appeal. The doctrine of res judicata shall apply to all issues, both factual and legal, decided at trial and on direct appeal. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-21(3) (Supp. 1994). Thus, this Court will not engage in a full blown argument about whether the instructions were erroneously excluded or whether those admitted were sufficient, as those issues are res judicata. Though procedurally barred, what is of concern is whether the appellate counsel acted reasonably in not raising the instructions issue on appeal. The standard for considering ineffective assistance of counsel is the same for appellate performance as it is for trial performance. Culberson v. State, 580 So.2d 1136, 1139 (Miss. 1990), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 943, 112 S.Ct. 383, 116 L.Ed.2d 334 (1991). Defense counsel assigned to prosecute appeal from criminal conviction does not have a constitutional duty to raise every nonfrivolous issue requested by defendant. Jones v. Barnes, 463 U.S. 745, 749, 103 S.Ct. 3308, 3311, 77 L.Ed.2d 987 (1983). Based upon the above jury instructions, we hold that the jury was presented a complete and accurate version of the law in this area via these two instructions. The instructions read as a whole present both theories of manslaughter. See Cook v. State, 467 So.2d 203, 207 (Miss. 1985) (discussing two theories of manslaughter). We find that because the law was so thoroughly covered, Foster's appellate attorneys were completely reasonable for not bickering over some obscure jury instruction being denied. If one instruction is denied, and the essence of the rejected instruction is granted via another instruction, then the issue has been fairly presented to the jury. Cook v. State, 467 So.2d 203, 208 n. 2 (Miss. 1985); Keys v. State, 635 So.2d 845 (Miss. 1994) (since the jury did not find itself precluded from considering a self-defense plea, the instructions were valid).