Opinion ID: 1671765
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Inflammatory Letters and Manuscript Page

Text: ¶ 123. Reed Massengill was the nephew of Byron De La Beckwith's wife of twenty years, Mary Louise Williams. From 1986 to 1992, Mr. Massengill corresponded with Beckwith in an effort to write a book about Beckwith's life. To aid Mr. Massengill, Beckwith sent him letters Beckwith had written, racist propaganda, and a manuscript of a book about Beckwith written by another author who had collaborated with Beckwith. Mr. Massengill also received documents and materials from his aunt, Ms. Williams. During Mr. Massengill's testimony, and over defense objections, the trial court admitted into evidence three of the letters and a page from the book manuscript. ¶ 124. The documents admitted into evidence expressed support for segregation and hostility towards the black race and the NAACP, spoke with favor of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and proclaimed involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. The manuscript page contained a letter submitted by Beckwith in 1957 to a newspaper editor for publication. It reads in part: Believe it or not, the NAACP, under the direction of its leaders, is doing a first class job of getting itself in a position to be exterminated! In an undated letter To a Friend, Beckwith wrote: The Negro in our country is as helpful as a boll weevil to cotton. Some of these weevils are puny little runts, and can't create the volume of damage that others can. Some are powerful, becoming mad monsters, snapping and snarling and biting the cotton. They must be destroyed, with their retched remains burned, lest the pure white cotton bolls be destroyed. In a November, 1963 letter to his son, Beckwith wrote: And it looks like the country's politics are gradually going to get straight now pretty soon since Kennedy was assassinated. Whoever shot Kennedy sho did some fancy shooting, to be sure. No need for us to make much fuss over it except to say, to me it came as no surprise. ... Well, I guess when a few more of our enemies are gone then this will be a real fine world to live in  wonder who will be next? I bet ole Medgar Evers told Kennedy when he got down there, I thought you'd be along pretty soon. Haw. Haw. Haw. Now its best to keep this letter out of sight and don't let anyone see it. Oh, what a load off the country's back  what a relief. When a few more Reds bite the dust we can live in peace once more. In a 1976 letter to Ms. Williams, Beckwith wrote: So when you think of me, you see a man in deep debt, facing five years in prison, living like a nigger and as far in global, not state or county, Klan work as a 56-year-old man can be, and happy at it. ¶ 125. Beckwith argues that because none of these documents contained an admission to the murder of Medgar Evers, they were irrelevant to the crime charged in this case. He contends the documents constituted character evidence used to prove that he acted in conformity therewith in violation of Mississippi Rule of Evidence 404(b). Even if the evidence was permissible under Rule 404(b), Beckwith argues, its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, and thus the documents were inadmissible under Rule 403. The State argues that the documents were not other crimes, wrongs, or acts within the meaning of Rule 404(b), and thus the rule was inapplicable. The State also contends that the evidence was relevant under Rule 401 and thus was admissible under Rule 402. Even if Rule 404(b) was applicable, the State urges, the evidence was admissible because it was introduced to show motive. The State argues, finally, that the probative value of the evidence was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. We agree with the State. ¶ 126. Beckwith urges us to hold that any evidence not amounting to an admission is irrelevant to show motive. There is nothing in our Rules of Evidence, however, that even remotely suggests such a principle. Clearly, the rules do not intend such an unlikely result, for Rule 404(b) provides that evidence of other acts, while not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith, may nonetheless be admissible for other purposes, including proof of motive. ¶ 127. We are asked here to determine whether Beckwith's letters constituted other crimes, wrongs, or acts under Rule 404(b). If the letters did constitute other crimes, wrongs, or acts, then our analysis turns on whether the trial judge abused his discretion under Rule 403 in admitting the evidence despite the danger of unfair prejudice. However, even if the letters do not fall under Rule 404(b), our analysis is still essentially the same, since the letters could still be relevant under Rules 401 and 402 to show intent or motive. May v. State, 524 So.2d 957, 965 (Miss. 1988). In either scenario, the question of remoteness enters the analysis as a question of relevancy. May, 524 So.2d at 965. ¶ 128. In the case of Kolb v. State, 542 So.2d 265 (Miss. 1989), the defendant was arrested and charged with sexual battery of a child. While in jail following his arrest, the defendant wrote two letters in which he indicated that he had sexual urges toward small children, which letters were admitted into evidence over the defendant's relevancy objection. On appeal, this Court affirmed, holding the letters were relevant to show that the defendant did have such sexually deviant tendencies in conjunction with the issue of whether he in fact engaged in the act with which he was charged. Kolb, 542 So.2d at 269. The weight to be given to the letters was entirely up to the jury. Id. Although the Court determined the admissibility of the letters under a Rule 401/402 analysis, we noted that federal courts have held such evidence to be admissible under Rules 403 and 404 as well. Id. (citing McGahee v. Massey, 667 F.2d 1357 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 943, 103 S.Ct. 255, 74 L.Ed.2d 199 (1982); U.S. v. Free, 574 F.2d 1221 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 439 U.S. 873, 99 S.Ct. 209, 58 L.Ed.2d 187 (1978); Oliphant v. Koehler, 594 F.2d 547 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 877, 100 S.Ct. 162, 62 L.Ed.2d 105 (1979)). ¶ 129. Likewise, we believe that Beckwith's expressions of violent animosity towards the black race, the NAACP and civil rights leaders were relevant to establish his motive for killing Medgar Evers, the black leader of the NAACP's Mississippi chapter. As for the remoteness of the letters, such determination was one for the sound discretion of the trial judge. Edlin v. State, 533 So.2d 403, 407 (Miss. 1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1086, 109 S.Ct. 1547, 103 L.Ed.2d 851 (1989); May v. State, 524 So.2d 957, 965 (Miss. 1988). We do not believe the judge abused his discretion in this instance, given that the letters were not isolated and were written both before and after Medgar Evers was killed. As in Kolb, the weight to be given the letters was entirely up to the jury. ¶ 130. Finally, these documents were particularly probative since there was no evidence that Beckwith ever met Mr. Evers face to face. Beckwith's views, which he expressed in these documents, offered the only explanation of his motive for killing Mr. Evers. Although the prosecution is not required to show motive, it is certainly entitled to do so in order to paint a clearer picture of the crime. To be sure, this evidence prejudiced Beckwith's defense, but we do not believe the prejudice was so unfair as to outweigh its probative value. Beckwith himself provided these documents to Mr. Massengill in order to aid the effort to write a book about Beckwith's life. Beckwith's intent apparently was to express to the world his hostile views towards the black race in America and its leaders. We do not find it unfair that these views were presented to the jury so that it could determine whether such views led Beckwith to murder Medgar Evers. We hold the trial court did not err in finding that this evidence was relevant to show motive, and that its probative value was not substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.