Opinion ID: 1712073
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence of Defendant's Flight.

Text: ¶ 17. Following his initial arrest on October 31, 2001, Shaw attempted to escape from the lawful custody of the Jackson Police Department on November 2, 2002. The State sought to introduce evidence of Shaw's escape attempt. Shaw objected on the grounds of relevance and, alternatively, that its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury pursuant to M.R.E. 403. The trial court held that the escape was admissible and not unfairly prejudicial. At trial, the court admitted the testimony of two witnesses detailing Shaw's flight from authorities. Shaw claims that the trial court erred by allowing evidence of his escape. ¶ 18. We have consistently held that a defendant's flight is admissible as evidence of consciousness of guilt. Fuselier v. State, 702 So.2d 388, 390 (Miss.1997). However, a flight instruction is appropriate only where the flight is unexplained and somehow probative of guilt or guilty knowledge. Id. Therefore, evidence of flight is inadmissible where there is an independent reason for the flight. Id. Also, it is well settled that evidence of flight or escape is admissible as an exception to M.R.E. 404(b) in order to show guilty knowledge. Davis v. State, 722 So.2d 143, 145 (Miss.1998); Mariche v. State, 495 So.2d 507, 508 (Miss.1986) (citing Lee v. State, 457 So.2d 920, 923 (Miss.1984)); Hill v. State, 432 So.2d 427 (Miss.1983). While evidence of flight is admissible under Rule 404(b), it must be filtered through M.R.E. 403. See Ford v. State, 555 So.2d 691 (Miss.1989). Rule 403 provides: Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence. M.R.E. 403. In determining whether to admit evidence of flight under Rule 403, the trial court is afforded great discretion. Foster v. State, 508 So.2d 1111, 1118 (Miss. 1987). ¶ 19. Shaw attacks the trial court's ruling allowing evidence of his attempted escape to the jury. Shaw argues that since his escape amounts to a different, independent crime, it should not have been admissible at a trial on the charge of capital murder. Shaw was charged with capital murder. Here, the trial judge erred in finding that evidence of Shaw's flight was admissible because Shaw in fact possessed an independent reason for fleeing: he was attempting to escape from lawful confinement. Escape from established lawful police custody is a criminal offense of itself and punishable in this State by up to five years in prison. Miss. Code Ann. § 97-9-49 (Supp.2004). Under these circumstances, current jurisprudence prohibits the State from instructing or offering evidence of flight which allows the jury to draw an inference of the defendant's guilt or guilty knowledge. See Fuselier v. State, 702 So.2d at 390-91; Mack v. State, 650 So.2d 1289, 1308-09 (Miss.1994). ¶ 20. Though the State offered evidence of Shaw's flight, it did not offer an instruction on flight. We have attempted to equalize evidence of flight and flight instructions with regard to their admissibility under our evidentiary rules. This Court has held in Mack, that, if a prosecutor cannot give a jury instruction on flight because evidence of flight is probative of things other than the defendant's guilt or guilty knowledge, it follows that the prosecutor cannot place evidence [of flight] before the jury. Id. at 1310. ¶ 21. Generally, we have upheld evidence of flight as well as flight instructions only where there was no independent reason or basis for flight. See Jimpson v. State, 532 So.2d 985 (Miss.1988); Mariche v. State, 495 So.2d 507 (Miss.1986). Because Shaw possessed a sufficient, independent basis for his flight, we hold that the trial court erred in allowing testimony of his escape to be presented to the jury in order to infer guilt or guilty knowledge to the charge of capital murder. ¶ 22. While acknowledging that it was error to allow the flight testimony, we conclude that such error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. A thorough review of the record reveals that Shaw's two companions, Joseph and Reginald, testified that Shaw murdered Duffie. Shaw was placed at the scene of the murder by other corroborating evidence. The bullet extracted from Joseph's knee was fired from the same weapon used to kill Duffie. In sum, the evidence of Shaw's flight pales in comparison to more direct evidence of his guilt. Under the facts before us, we hold that admission of Shaw's escape was harmless error.