Opinion ID: 1725241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Did the court err when it allowed the state to call Maurice Ford, Chris Thomas, Jimmy Carruth and Dr. Tom Jeffcoat to the stand as rebuttal witnesses?

Text: The defense maintains that the state purposely withheld Maurice Ford, Chris Thomas, Jimmy Carruth, and Dr. Tom Jeffcoat as witnesses in its case-in-chief so that they could be specifically called to rebut Clifton Dillon's testimony that he accidentally shot himself when he dropped the gun. The substance of Carruth's rebuttal testimony does not warrant any further discussion because, as indicated supra, the introduction of his testimony about the safety features of the .45 caliber pistol was already entirely improper constituting reversible error. In regard to the testimony of Jeffcoat, Ford and Thomas, they each similarly testified that Dillon, while at the hospital, said he had been shot by Cotton. First, there was no objection to the rebuttal testimony of Jeffcoat. Cotton has therefore failed to preserve this as error for review by this Court since he failed to make a contemporaneous objection. King v. State, 615 So.2d 1202, 1205 (Miss. 1993). Nor does the record reveal proper objections to the testimonies of Ford and Thomas. A bench conference occurred immediately before Ford took the stand in rebuttal, but the substance of this conference was not recorded. Although the defense suggests that a proper objection was entered at this point, it is incumbent upon the party complaining of an error to preserve the record for appeal. The burden was on Cotton to make a contemporaneous objection, Carr v. State, 655 So.2d 824, 852 (Miss. 1995); Conner v. State, 632 So.2d 1239, 1255 (Miss. 1993); Russell v. State, 607 So.2d 1107, 1117 (Miss. 1992), and to obtain a ruling. Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 456 (Miss. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1232, 84 L.Ed.2d 369, reh. denied, 470 U.S. 1089, 105 S.Ct. 1858, 85 L.Ed.2d 154 (1985). Thus, this assignment of error is procedurally barred.