Opinion ID: 1665694
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: did the trial court commit plain error in granting jury instruction s-3, which relieved the state of the fundamental requirement of proving every element of the charge?

Text: ¶ 4. Without objection by Berry, the jury was given Instruction S-3 on the definition of an accessory. That instruction reads as follows: The Court instructs the jury that each person present at the time, and consenting to and encouraging the commission of a crime, and knowingly, willfully and feloniously doing any act which is an element of the crime, or immediately connected with it, or leading to its commission, is a principal. One who aids, assists and encourages a transfer of cocaine is a principal and not an accessory, and his guilt in nowise depends upon the guilt or innocence, the conviction or acquittal of any other alleged participant in the crime. Therefore if you believe from the evidence, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Merlinda Berry did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously do any act which is an element of the crime of transfer of cocaine, as defined by the Court's instructions, or immediately connected with it, or leading to its commission, then and in that event, you should find Merlinda Berry guilty of transfer of cocaine as charged in the indictment. ¶ 5. Berry maintains that this instruction is insufficient in that it does not require the jury to find that the crime was actually completed. Berry also asserts that the instruction unconstitutionally relieves the State of its burden to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The State's position is that read as a whole, the jury instructions adequately informed the jury of the State's burden, because additional instructions (Instructions S-2, D-2, C-5, and C-2) instructed the jury on the elements of transfer of cocaine and the State's burden of proving each element beyond a reasonable doubt. ¶ 6. Ordinarily, failure to object to a given instruction at trial results in a procedural bar on appeal, unless its granting amounts to plain error. Sanders v. State, 678 So.2d 663, 670 (Miss.1996) (As a rule, the Supreme Court only addresses issues on plain error review when the error of the trial court has impacted upon a fundamental right of the defendant); Walker v. State, 671 So.2d 581, 606 (Miss.1995). In this case, the granting of Instruction S-3 amounts to plain error, because the jury was not fully instructed on the elements of the crime. Hunter v. State, 684 So.2d 625, 636 (Miss.1996) (Failure to submit to the jury the essential elements of the crime is `fundamental' error.). ¶ 7. In Simmons v. State, 568 So.2d 1192 (Miss.1990), the defendant similarly argued that a nearly identical accessory instruction for the crime of kidnapping implies that the jury could convict her if only one element of the crime charged was proven, relieving the State of its burden to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Simmons, 568 So.2d at 1203-04. We held that the language in the accessory instruction, together with additional instructions informing the jury that the State was required to prove every element of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, properly instructed the jury. Id. ¶ 8. Again, in Hornburger v. State, 650 So.2d 510 (Miss.1995), the defendant made the same argument as in Simmons regarding the accessory instructions in his case. Hornburger, 650 So.2d at 514-15. We pointed to our decisions in Simmons and the similar cases of Davis v. State, 586 So.2d 817, 821 (Miss.1991) and Kelly v. State, 493 So.2d 356, 359 (Miss.1986), and found, Nevertheless, while similar instructions have been approved in Simmons, Kelly, and Davis, the jury was improperly instructed in the case sub judice with regard to instruction S-8. Id. at 515. We went on to hold that the error was harmless, because other instructions informed the jury of the State's burden of proving every element beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. ¶ 9. In this case, however, we find that reading the instructions as a whole did not cure the error resulting from the improper instruction. The jury was in fact informed of the elements of transfer of cocaine and the State's burden of proof in this case in instructions other than S-3. The problem with the offending instruction is that it appears to give the jury an additional option of finding the defendant guilty if she committed only one element of the crime without even finding that the crime was ever completed. Even if the jury read all of the instructions together, they could still be misled into believing that Instruction S-3 was merely another option in addition to the choice of finding that Berry committed all of the elements of the crime herself. We find that the instruction on an accessory in this case was confusing and misleading, and therefore requires reversal. Brazile v. State, 514 So.2d 325, 326 (Miss.1987) (inaccurate and confusing nature of instruction requires reversal and remand for a new trial).