Opinion ID: 1658871
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Did the trial court err in refusing to set aside the jury verdict and order a new trial?

Text: In Mississippi, a new trial will not be ordered unless the Court is convinced that the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that, to allow it to stand, would be to sanction an unconscionable injustice. Pearson v. State, 428 So.2d 1361, 1364 (Miss. 1983). See also, Winters v. State, 449 So.2d 766 (Miss. 1984); Rule 5.16(1) and (2), Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice. The factual situation of this case is similar to that of May v. State, 460 So.2d 778, 781 (Miss. 1985) in which the defendant wife also pled the necessary self-defense of a battered wife. A discussion of the office of a motion for a new trial was enunciated in that opinion as follows: The motion for a new trial is a different animal. While the motion for judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict presents to the trial court a pure question of law, the motion for a new trial is addressed to the trial court's sound discretion. Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743, 760 (Miss. 1984). When he moves for a new trial, a defendant in a criminal case necessarily invokes Rule 5.16 of our Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice which in pertinent part provides: The court on written notice of the defendant may grant a new trial on any of the following grounds: (1) if required in the interest of jutice; (2) if the verdict is contrary to law or the weight of the evidence; ... . As distinguished from the j.n.o.v. motion, here the defendant is not seeking final discharge. He is asking that the jury's guilty verdict be vacated on grounds related to the weight of the evidence, not its sufficiency, and may be retried consistent with the double jeopardy clause. Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31, 39, 102 S.Ct. 2211, 2217, 72 L.Ed.2d 652, 659-60 (1982). ... . A greater quantum of evidence favoring the State is necessary for the State to withstand a motion for a new trial, as distinguished from a motion for j.n.o.v. Under our established case law, the trial judge should set aside a jury's verdict only when, in the exercise of his sound discretion, he is convinced that the verdict is contrary to the substantial weight of the evidence. Pearson v. State, 428 So.2d at 1364. As we said in Groseclose v. State, 440 So.2d 297 (Miss. 1983): We will not order a new trial unless convinced that the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that, to allow it to stand, would be to sanction an unconscionable injustice. [citation omitted] Any less stringent rule would denigrate the constitutional power and responsibility of the jury in our criminal justice system. 440 So.2d at 300. As in the May case, this Court holds that the circuit judge's action in denying a new trial on this record was proper. The jury held the proof of the defendant and rejected her self-defense plea. This Court, as well as the trial court, finds no reason to disturb that finding, notwithstanding features of the sterotyped case of a battered wife. Finding no reversible error, this Court affirms the conviction and ten year sentence. AFFIRMED. WALKER, C.J., ROY NOBLE LEE and HAWKINS, P.JJ., and DAN M. LEE, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, ANDERSON and GRIFFIN, JJ., concur.