Opinion ID: 1936097
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: whether the trial court adopted an improper standard to review the sufficiency of the evidence to support a lesser included offense instruction of simple assault

Text: Jackson was indicted and convicted of two counts of aggravated assault for his attacks upon Regina and Sarah Jackson. He was denied a lesser included offense instruction on simple assault despite his argument that there was nothing in his confession that he intentionally stabbed anybody. Once a deadly weapon is introduced, the distinction between simple and aggravated assault, as defined by Miss. Code Ann. §§ 97-3-7(1) and (2) (1994), hinges upon whether the injuries were inflicted negligently or intentionally. Hutchinson v. State, 594 So.2d 17, 20 (Miss. 1992). Therefore, we have held that whether a lesser offense instruction should be given turns on whether there exists an evidentiary basis for it. Id. at 18. Evidence introduced about the events leading to Regina's and Sarah's injuries leaves little room for a jury to find that Jackson was merely negligent in his handling of a knife that evening. Moreover, when serious or substantial bodily harm has resulted, we have been inclined to hold that the case is definitely one of aggravated assault. Hutchinson, 594 So.2d at 20 (but, conversely, minor injuries do not mandate that a case is one of simple assault); Harbin v. State, 478 So.2d 796, 800 (Miss. 1985); Colburn v. State, 431 So.2d 1111, 1114 (Miss. 1983). The multiple stab wounds suffered by both Regina and Sarah were serious and life-threatening. That, coupled with an absence of evidence suggesting that Jackson was merely negligent in his handling of the knife, compels us to find that the jury was properly instructed.