Opinion ID: 865371
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: whether the trial court erred in instructing

Text: THE JURY ON THE AGGRAVATOR “ESPECIALLY HEINOUS, ATROCIOUS OR CRUEL,” AND WHETHER THERE WAS INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE OF THE AGGRAVATOR, IN VIOLATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTIONS AND THIS COURT’S SPECIFIC MANDATE. 39 ¶51. King argues that the trial court ignored this Court’s express instruction that the trial court use the precise language of an approved instruction from Edwards on remand. King v. State, 784 So. 2d 884, 890-892 (Miss. 2001). King’s counsel objected to the State’s instruction, noting that counsel proposed the instruction that this Court directed the trial court to use; however, the trial court granted the State’s instruction. In King’s last appeal, this Court stated: This Court has approved the following “exact narrowing instruction on the heinous, atrocious, cruel aggravator”: The Court instructs the jury that in considering whether the capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; heinous means extremely wicked or shockingly evil; atrocious means outrageously wicked and vile; and cruel means designed to inflict a high degree of pain with indifference to, or even enjoyment of the suffering of others. An especially heinous, atrocious or cruel capital offense is one accompanied by such additional acts as to set the crime apart from the norm of capital murders-the conscienceless or pitiless crime which is unnecessarily torturous to the victim. If you find from the evidence beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant utilized a method of killing which caused serious mutilation, that there was dismemberment of the body prior to death, that the defendant inflicted physical or mental pain before death, that there was mental torture and aggravation before death, or that a lingering or torturous death was suffered by the victim, then you may find this aggravating circumstance. Edwards v. State, 737 So. 2d 275, 315 (Miss. 1999). The instruction this Court has approved requires, at a minimum, that the offense be a “conscienceless or pitiless crime which is unnecessarily torturous to the victim.” Id. The instruction the trial court approved is different in that it uses the disjunction “or” rather than “and” or “which is” to precede “unnecessarily torturous.” The effect is to simply substitute the words “conscienceless, pitiless, or unnecessarily torturous” for the words “heinous, atrocious or cruel.” 40 King argues that if “an ordinary person could honestly believe that every unjustified, intentional taking of human life is ‘especially heinous’,” so too could an ordinary person believe that every unjustified, intentional taking of human life is “conscienceless” or “pitiless.” King insists that the words “conscienceless” or “pitiless” no more limit a jury’s discretion than the words, “heinous, atrocious or cruel.” With no limiting effect on the jury’s discretion, King argues, the trial court’s instruction is unconstitutionally vague. The State contends that while the language here is somewhat different than that usually given the jury, this is still an acceptable definition of this aggravating circumstance. The State argues that there is no magic language that is required to define this aggravating circumstance. The definition which we have previously established as an acceptable instruction is certainly not the only acceptable instruction. It remains, however, the only definition which we have approved and which has explicitly been found to pass constitutional muster. Whether the instruction used in the case sub judice is acceptable in light of the previously-approved instruction is a close call. Departing from the tried and true trail is fraught with danger. Therefore, on remand, the precise language of the previously-approved instruction should be used. King, 784 So. 2d at 890-892. (Emphasis added). However, at King’s resentencing. the trial court gave the following instruction: The Court instructs the jury that an especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel murder is one accompanied by such additional acts as to set the homicide apart from other murders; a conscienceless or pitiless crime which is unnecessarily torturous to the victim. ¶52. This Court has affirmed, at a minimum, that the instruction on the HAC aggravator defines an “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel” offense as “a conscienceless or pitiless crime which is unnecessarily torturous to the victim.” Id; Edwards, 737 So. 2d at 315; Manning, 735 So. 2d 323, 349 (Miss. 1999). Further, the United States Supreme Court, in Bell v. Cone, 543 U.S. 447, 458, 125 S.Ct. 847, 854-855, 160 L.Ed.2d 881, 893 (2005), held that this narrowing construction was not unconstitutionally vague. Therefore, we find that the 41 instruction given by the trial court conforms to the minimum standard. However, we caution trial courts on remand from giving different instructions other than the specific one that this Court has directed the court to use. Accordingly, while we find the trial court should not have disregarded our instruction, we do not find it requires reversal, because a proper instruction approved by the Supreme Court and this Court was given. ¶53. Next, King asserts that there was insufficient evidence to support the HAC aggravator instruction, as the State failed to present evidence of torturousness to show that his crime rose to the level that set it apart as “heinous, atrocious or cruel” from other murders. Specifically, King argues that the evidence at best was unclear that Patterson suffered extended or torturous suffering before losing consciousness. ¶54. However, King’s argument is not supported by the evidence. This Court has held that “[t]he number of wounds, the number of lethal weapons used to inflict these wounds, and the fact that death was not immediate, but prolonged” may all be considered as evidence supporting a jury’s finding of the HAC aggravator. Manning, 735 So. 2d at 349 (quoting Davis v. State, 684 So. 2d 643, 662 (Miss. 1996)). Dr. Martin testified that Mrs. Patterson’s death could be attributed to either manual strangulation, a blow to the head, or drowning. He further testified that Patterson suffered multiple bruises about her neck, face, and arms, blunt trauma to her head, and that she aspirated water into her lungs, causing significant cellular damage and edema. While he could not specify the order in which the events occurred, he testified that if Patterson received the head trauma first, she could have been completely aware of her surroundings during the strangulation and immersion of her head. However on crossexamination, he testified that it was possible that she was unconscious during the strangulation 42 and drowning. This Court has rejected the notion that the victim’s “ability to remain conscious” after sustaining the lethal wounds has any relevance to this issue. Manning, 735 So. 2d at 349-350 (Miss. 1999) (citing Underwood, 708 So. 2d at 39). We find that the HAC aggravator was properly presented to the jury, as it was sufficiently supported by the evidence in this case.