Opinion ID: 1839020
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: whether it was error for the circuit judge to grant instructions s-1-2 and s-1-3, due to said instructions being incorrect and abstract judgments of the law and failing to instruct the jury on an element of the crime of capital murder.

Text: Here Mackbee challenges the following jury instructions: S-1-2: Robbery is defined as the taking of the personal property of another, in his presence or from his person and against his will, by such violence to his person or by putting such person in fear of some immediate injury to his person. Therefore, if you believe from the evidence in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt and to the exclusion of every reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence, that the defendant, Frank Mackbee, took money or other personal property belonging to Cicero Montgomery, from his person or in his presence by violence or by putting the said Cicero Montgomery in fear of immediate injury to his person, then you may find that the defendant was engaged in the crime of robbery. S-1-3: The defendant, Frank Mackbee, has been charged by an indictment of the crime of capital murder for having caused the death of Cicero Montgomery while engaged in the commission of the crime of robbery. If you find from the evidence in this case, beyond a reasonable doubt and to the exclusion of every other reasonable hypothesis consistent with innocence, that the defendant was engaged in the criminal act of robbery which began in Lincoln County, Mississippi, and further that the defendant, did willfully, without authority of law and of his malice aforethought and with deliberate design killed Cicero Montgomery, a living person while he, the said Frank Mackbee, was engaged in the commission of the crime of robbery, although the death of Cicero Montgomery may have occurred in another county, then you should find the said Frank Mackbee guilty of capital murder. (Vol. I, T. 151-52). Mackbee argues that the above jury instructions on the underlying offense of robbery were confusing and vague and failed to include an essential element. Mackbee contends that the instructions fail to indicate what specifically the state alleges to be the acts constituting robbery. He contends that the instructions allow the jury to find the element of armed robbery if the defendant took money, or other personal property from the victim Montgomery. Thus, he asserts that neither the indictment nor the instructions gave the defendant notice that the robbery might encompass taking a car or a body. Additionally, Mackbee argues that neither instruction mentions the element of robbery known as felonious intent. He contends that in order to prove the crime of robbery, one must show: (1) felonious intent, (2) force, or putting in fear of, as a means of carrying out that intent, (3) asportation. (Brief of Appellant at 36). The State contends that the instructions at issue were somewhat tailored to fit the facts. That is, the instructions simply stated what occurred by accurately describing the crime. The State argues that the instructions at issue define the elements of robbery, including the use of the word robbery as felonious intent to steal. The State submits that when both instructions are read together, they are clarifying as opposed to confusing. Thus, the jury was fully instructed as to the elements of both the crime of robbery and the crime of capital murder.