Opinion ID: 1855302
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: whether the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to grant mr. humphrey's requested lesser included offense jury instructions for lesser included murder, lesser included manslaughter, and proposed accessory after the fact instruction

Text: ¶ 32. Humphrey proposed a lesser included murder instruction, D-6, and a proposed lesser included manslaughter instruction, D-7, which were denied by the trial court. Humphrey argued that the facts warranted these instructions. The trial court also denied Humphrey's proposed accessory after the fact instruction, and stated that the facts warranted such an instruction. ¶ 33. The standard of review for challenges to jury instructions is as follows: Jury instructions are to be read together and taken as a whole with no one instruction taken out of context. A defendant is entitled to have jury instructions given which present his theory of the case, however, this entitlement is limited in that the court may refuse an instruction which incorrectly states the law, is covered fairly elsewhere in the instructions, or is without foundation in the evidence. Heidel v. State, 587 So.2d 835, 842 (Miss. 1991) (citations omitted). Even though based on meager evidence and highly unlikely, a defendant is entitled to have every legal defense he asserts to be submitted as a factual issue for determination by the jury under proper instruction of the court. Where a defendant's proffered instruction has an evidentiary basis, properly states the law, and is the only instruction presenting his theory of the case, refusal to grant it constitutes reversible error. Hester v. State, 602 So.2d 869, 872 (Miss. 1992) (citations omitted). ¶ 34. The standard for determining whether an evidentiary basis exists is as follows: Lessor included offense instruction should be granted unless the trial judgeand ultimately this courtcan say, taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the accused, and considering all reasonable references which may be drawn in favor of the accused from the evidence, that no reasonable jury could find the defendant guilty of the lessor included offense (and conversely not guilty of at least one element of the principal charge). Harper v. State, 478 So.2d 1017, 1021 (Miss.1985); Brady v. State, 722 So.2d 151, 161 (Miss.Ct.App.1998). If a rational or a reasonable jury could have found Humphrey not guilty of the principal offense charged in the indictment yet guilty of the lesser included offense, then the lesser included offense instruction should have been granted. Evans v. State, 725 So.2d 613, 664 (Miss.1997). ¶ 35. Humphrey argues that the facts support a lesser-included offense of manslaughter instruction. The trial court refused such an instruction. The reason given by the trial court was that there was no basis in evidence to permit such an instruction in light of the defense of alibi chosen by Humphrey and that to grant instructions on alibi and lesser included offense instructions would be inconsistent and confusing to the jurors because it would necessarily require him to be on the scene and make some admission that he was there. The defense acknowledged that alibi was the defense to the State's indictment, and also acknowledged that it would be absolutely inconsistent with Humphrey's own defense. For the same reason the trial court denied the murder, as opposed to capital murder, jury instruction. Jury instructions will not be given unless there is an evidentiary basis for them. Burns v. State, 729 So.2d 203, 225 (Miss.1998); Blue v. State, 674 So.2d 1184, 1201 (Miss.1996). The State's evidence and the testimony of Humphrey provide no evidentiary basis whatsoever which would allow for the conclusion that Humphrey did not kill Mrs. Phillips while engaged in a burglary, or that the killing was in the heat of passion. Humphrey's own testimony was that he was not present during the burglary, did not commit any burglary, and did not kill Mrs. Phillips. Because there is no basis in the record to support such lesser included offense instructions, this assignment of error is without merit. ¶ 36. Humphrey also claims that the circuit court erred in not granting a requested instruction, D-4, which would have told the jury that it had the right to reject all or part of the testimony of any witness who had been impeached by a showing of prior inconsistent testimony or statements. Though the trial court expressed concern that this instruction might not be necessary and was a matter that would be better covered during the lawyer's argument, it appears that this instruction was ultimately granted according to the clerk's papers and the record and is therefore not an issue to be addressed by this Court. ¶ 37. The trial court also denied Humphrey's proposed accessory-after-the-fact jury instruction for the same reasons it denied the lesser instructions of murder and manslaughter, determining that no evidence had been presented during the trial which would allow the jury to consider this lesser offense. An accessory after the fact is a person assisting one who has completed the commission of a felony to avoid being apprehended, arrested, convicted, etc. Chase v. State, 645 So.2d 829, 851 (Miss.1994) (citations omitted). There is no evidence in the record that Humphrey assisted someone who had completed a felony, and the trial court correctly refused to grant such an instruction. ¶ 38. Taking the evidence in the light most favorable to the accused, there is no evidence in the record to support any of the proposed lesser included offense instructions. Thus the proposed instructions were devoid of any evidentiary foundation at all. Humphrey was not denied a fair trial and due process, and these assignments of error are therefore without merit.