Opinion ID: 1094922
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the lower court erred in allowing prosecutorial misconduct before and through out the trial of the appellant.

Text: In this assignment of error Dowbak contends that the prosecutor made several comments, during closing argument, on his failure to take the stand. Dowbak contends that the prosecutor's comments violated Dowbak's Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and require that his case be reversed and rendered. Dowbak relies on Butler v. State, 608 So.2d 314 (Miss. 1992), to support his argument that the prosecutor impermissibly commented on his failure to take the stand. When an accused exercises his or her constitutional right not to testify, the circuit judge must see that the State makes no direct or indirect comment on this fact. Butler, 608 So.2d at 318 (citing Ladner v. State, 584 So.2d 743, 754 (Miss. 1991), cert. denied 502 U.S. 1015, 112 S.Ct. 663, 116 L.Ed.2d 754 (1991)). Dowbak offers the following statements from the State's closing argument and suggests that these statements were direct or indirect comments on his failure to take the stand. The first statement is as follows: First of all, there's a day involved, May 13, 1991. I don't think anybody's in disagreement about that or  or the identity. It's not a who-dun-it you will. The district attorney in this segment of closing argument is discussing what the jury must find under Jury Instruction S-2A to find Dowbak guilty of arson in the second degree. Here the district attorney is simply arguing that the date of the fire and the actual identity of the parties who physically set the fire are not in dispute. The district attorney then argues to the jury that the sole issue for them to determine was whether Dowbak recruited Barnett to burn his office building on the day in question. This argument was permissible and we find no mention here of Dowbak's failure, either directly or indirectly, to take the stand. Next, Dowbak assigns the following comments as error: Who says Debra Dillingham told you a lie? What evidence contradicted Debra Dillingham ladies and gentlemen? Who said that to you? Who says ladies and gentlemen that Reagan Barnett is a professional crook? Who says that? Over and over and over again, the lawyers say that ladies and gentlemen. Yeah, he's been convicted of insurance fraud. He's on probation ladies and gentlemen. Probation, he must really be a thug. They thought enough of him they put him on probation. He has been convicted of a felony, yes, he is a convicted felon, but who told you he is a professional criminal, who told you that he's proficient in picking locks, who painted this demon from hell called Reagan Barnett. Where's the evidence of it ladies and gentlemen. That is no more than rank speculation and conjecture and guesswork. (emphasis added). During his closing argument, Dowbak's attorney suggests that Debra Dillingham Ross is lying about Dowbak getting in Jean Barnett's car and riding around town with her for approximately thirty minutes. [4] The district attorney pointed out on closing argument that Dowbak called several witnesses in his case and that there was no testimony as to Ross being a liar and in fact indicates that the jury must determine the weight and credibility to be afforded Ross's testimony. Next, Dowbak's attorney argued that Reagan Barnett was a convicted felon and that he had a motive for burning down Dowbak's office building. Dowbak argues that Reagan Barnett was motivated by revenge in burning down Dowbak's office because Dowbak had discharged Reagan from the Oktibbeha County Hospital and put a stop to a fraudulent insurance scam in which Reagan was collecting one-hundred dollars per day for phony injuries. A search of the record does not reveal any testimony which would indicate that Reagan was involved in an insurance scam while a patient at the Oktibbeha County Hospital. Instead, the testimony simply reveals that Dowbak had told several nurses that he was afraid of Reagan and did not want to be at the hospital when Reagan was discharged. [5] Accordingly, we find that the above comments are not comments on Dowbak's failure to take the stand but are comments regarding the paucity of evidence before the jury to support Dowbak's defense. Shook v. State, 552 So.2d 841, 851 (Miss. 1989). Dowbak assigns the following as further comment by the prosecution on the defendant's failure to take the stand: Well that's true. Dr. Dowbak communicated his fear to us. Ladies and gentlemen, all rank speculation, all nothing more than guesswork but there's even worse speculation than that. Because it is intimated that the Lieutenant of Detectives, wanted to get his picture in the paper and so he is trying to railroad this case through. Now ladies and gentlemen, I don't know what you think of the Starkville Police Department, I don't know what you think of the caseload and the amount of work they have to do, but I assume that if you think Ed Brennan was going to manufacture evidence and was going to tell stories on the witness stand and make up things to railroad an orthopaedic surgeon, I would have at least told you to give him credit for being able to make up a good story. See ladies and gentlemen Ed Brennan didn't have to testify to what he did. If he was going to make up things ladies and gentlemen, he could have gotten on that witness stand and said, yeah, I saw John Dowbak sitting out front when I got out of that house. I asked him about who would burn down a house and he broke down in tears right there in front of me, started crying and said I did it, I did it, I burned the place down. I wanted to get it off my chest. He already confessed to me on the site of the burning. And he wouldn't have been able to say otherwise ladies and gentlemen. Who would have been able to say otherwise? But he did not say that because that's not what happened. During the State's case-in-chief, Brennan testified that he spoke to Dowbak at the scene of the crime and asked Dowbak who could have burned his building. Brennan testified that Dowbak told him that it might have been Elaine Gray or her family. No mention of Barnett was made by Dowbak to Brennan on the night of the fire. Accordingly, Brennan's testimony was offered by the State to rebut Dowbak's story that he thought Barnett burned the building for revenge. [6] Later, when Dowbak's attorney cross-examined Brennan, he attempted to impeach Brennan's credibility by attempting to show that Brennan was after publicity and would do anything possible, including fabrication of evidence, to see that Dowbak was convicted of arson. In fact, Dowbak's attorney accused Brennan of fabricating statements and attributing them to certain witnesses. We find that these comments by the State were not a comment on Dowbak's decision not to take the stand. Instead, these statements were comments on Dowbak's defense, i.e., Brennan fabricated statements to insure that Dowbak would be convicted. Dowbak called several witnesses to the stand and none of his witnesses testified that Brennan fabricated false statements. Accordingly, we hold that the prosecutor's argument was designed to show that the defense attorney presented no evidence to demonstrate that Brennan fabricated evidence in order to obtain Dowbak's conviction. Thus, this argument merits Dowbak no relief. Next, Dowbak claims that the following comments were made in violation of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination: Ladies and gentlemen likewise, you are told that Dolph Bryan's testimony alone allows you to return a verdict of not guilty. Dolph Bryan, I agree with everything defense counsel said, I do not live in Oktibbeha County. If I did, I would vote for Dolph Bryan. I think he is an excellent sheriff, maybe one of the best in the State. He is an excellent man. He is a good man and his opinion is, indeed, and I believe he believes it truthfully that this man is honest. I believe that, but ladies and gentlemen, have any of you ever been mistaken? Dolph Bryan is indeed just like you, a human being. And we have all been fooled by people before. He is this man's doctor. He is this man's friend and part of our human existence ladies and gentlemen is that we confine our feelings, our emotions, our thoughts, our perceptions of other human being [sic] to our experiences with them. That's it. And we have all been fooled before, each and every one of us. Because Dolph Bryan doesn't know the man, ladies and gentlemen, that Mrs. Peeples knows. It's a different individual altogether. And then ladies and gentlemen, likewise you were told that you are, of course, it is incredible for you to believe that this man who gets this feeling, this warmth, this  this somehow unspeakable feeling of closeness with this community by working on these people, to commit this crime. Ladies and gentlemen, where is the testimony of that? How do you know what John Dowbak feels about working on the people of this community? For all you know all he does is see his patients as dollar signs. You know no better. Dowbak's attorney argued on closing argument that Dowbak derived a certain feeling of satisfaction from having the people of the community rely on him as their orthopaedic surgeon. In effect, Dowbak's attorney that Dowbak would not commit arson because he respected the community too much and they relied upon him. Dowbak called five witnesses in his case-in-chief and one witness in surrebuttal. A review of their testimony does not indicate that any of these witnesses testified that Dowbak derived a sense of closeness from the community because he was their orthopaedic surgeon. The prosecutor's comment was intended to show that there was no evidence in the record to support Dowbak's attorney's argument. Accordingly, the prosecutor's comments were a valid comment on the lack of evidence to support Dowbak's defense that he would not engage in the crime of arson because Dowbak derived a feeling of satisfaction and closeness from the community as a result of his practice. Shook, 552 So.2d at 851. Thus, Dowbak merits no relief on this argument. Finally, Dowbak offers as reversible error the following: And then ladies and gentlemen you're told, well it's blackmail. That's what they're doing they're blackmailing him. Where's the testimony? Who said that ladies and gentlemen, the lawyers did. This excerpt comes from a part of the district attorney's closing argument in which he debunks each of Dowbak's defenses. In this specific context the prosecutor argues before the jury that none of Dowbak's witnesses testified that he was being blackmailed by the Barnetts. The record does not indicate any evidence to suggest that Dowbak was being blackmailed by the Barnetts. Dowbak's attorneys argued blackmail as a defense. However, argument is not evidence. Ormond v. State, 599 So.2d 951, 961 (Miss. 1992). Accordingly, the prosecutor's remarks were permissible to illuminate the fact that there was no testimony or evidence to indicate that Barnett was blackmailing Dowbak. Therefore, this comment is a permissible comment by the district attorney on the lack of evidence to support Dowbak's blackmail defense. Shook, 552 So.2d at 851.