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[W] State v. Shaw10/9/2003
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: PRESENTED QUESTION ANSWERED- 10/09/2003
EN BANC.
. Relying on Harris v. State, 723 So.2d 546 (Miss. 1997), the Circuit Court of Stone County granted a directed verdict for Tommy Dean Shaw on the indicted charge of murder and would not allow the jury to consider whether Shaw was guilty of the unindicted crime of manslaughter. The State of Mississippi appeals the entry of the directed verdict and asks this Court to overrule Harris. The State argues that if the State fails to make out a prima facie case on the charge of murder, the trial judge should have the discretion to enter a "limited" directed verdict as to the murder charge and to submit the case to the jury on the uncharged offense of manslaughter. We reject the State's contextion and reaffirm our ruling in Harris.
FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW
. Tommy Dean Shaw ("Shaw") was indicted by the Grand Jury of Stone County on November 22, 2000, for the crime of murder in violation of Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-19(1)(a) (1972). Following a 2001 mistrial in Stone County, trial began in Stone County on November 5, 2001. After a three-day trial, the court granted a directed verdict of acquittal on the indicted charge of murder and would not allow the jury to consider whether Shaw was guilty of the unindicted crime of manslaughter. Relying on Harris v. State, 723 So.2d 546 (Miss. 1997), the trial judge ruled that the State had failed to make a prima facie case on the indicted murder charge; therefore, the court was obligated to grant a directed verdict of acquittal on the charge of murder and not permitted to submit the case to the jury on manslaughter, a lesser unindicted offense.
. Pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 99-35-103(b) (Rev. 2000), which provides in relevant part that:
The state or any municipal corporation may prosecute an appeal from a judgment of the circuit court in a criminal cause in the following cases:
(b) From a judgment actually acquitting the defendant where a question of law has been decided adversely to the state or municipality; but in such case the appeal shall not subject the defendant to further prosecution, nor shall the judgment of acquittal be reversed, but the Supreme Court shall nevertheless decide the question of law presented.
The State seeks redress only as to a pure question of law and not for the purpose of further prosecution of Shaw. The State does not contest the trial judge's rulings as to the "facts" but only contends that this Court's ruling in Harris should be overruled.
DISCUSSION
. Since the issue presented is a question of law, we conduct de novo review. Ostrander v. State, 803 So.2d 1172, 1174 (Miss. 2002) (citing Dep't of Human Servs. v. Gaddis, 730 So.2d 1116, 1117 (Miss. 1998)).
. The State calls upon this Court to overrule Harris. The State argues that this Court's ruling in Harris is contrary to the modern trend of allowing trial courts to submit a lesser charge to the jury without the necessity of a separate count in the indictment, if the court directs a verdict on the charge in the indictment. The State argues that a defendant under indictment for murder is sufficiently on notice that the subsequent submission of the charge of manslaughter, for which the defendant is not under indictment, does not cause prejudice. Further, the State argues that submitting to the jury a lesser unindicted crime is not contrary to the well-established precedent of allowing trial judges to submit uncharged lesser- included offenses to the jury upon a limited directed verdict acquitting the defendant of the superior offense.
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