Schuck v. State12/4/2003
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 09/17/1998
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 12/04/2003
EN BANC.
. Frederick E. Schuck (hereafter Schuck or Freddie) was indicted by the George County grand jury for the murder of Byron Beasley by deliberate design. Schuck was represented at trial by private retained counsel. The jury found him guilty of murder, and Schuck was sentenced to a term of life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved by the judgment rendered against him, Schuck has perfected an appeal to this Court through an appointed appellate public defender.
FACTS
. David Cooper testified that the morning of December 7, 1996, he went to Schuck's trailer, where he talked for a while with Schuck and Schuck's cousin, Byron "Chucky" Beasley (Beasley). Later, the three of them went to Harold's liquor store, purchased a half gallon of whiskey, and then went to Cooper's house, ate lunch, and Schuck and Beasley consumed some of the liquor. After lunch Cooper drove Schuck and Beasley back home and they "sat around there for about two hours" and talked until Beasley laid down on the bed, and Schuck appeared to be getting sleepy, so Cooper left.
. Beasley's nephew, Mitchell Davis, testified that he and a "buddy" went to Schuck's trailer to visit Beasley that afternoon. When they arrived, Davis saw Schuck, holding a knife and pouring lighter fluid onto Beasley's clothes. Schuck first told Davis that he (Schuck) "was fixing to burn " Beasley's clothes, but then said "no, that he wasn't that low, just load them up and take them to him." Schuck further testified "they had got in a fight over a gallon of whiskey that he [Beasley] had hid from him," and Davis testified that Schuck said "that he was going to kill him" [Beasley] when he "come back over there." Davis took the clothes to the residence of Schuck's father, where Beasley was sleeping, and gave them to Beasley.
. A. C. Howell, who lived "on an angle, maybe 600 feet" from Schuck's trailer, testified that he heard gunshots to the left of his residence late that afternoon. When he went outside to investigate, he saw the defendant's brother Charles Schuck (Charles) exiting the trailer of the Schucks' father, Mr. Fred, which is "right across" from Howell's house. Charles "hollered at Freddie ... and asked him, said what are you doing you S.B.?" to which Schuck replied, "I just shot him, there he lays, call the law." Schuck then went "back towards his trailer with what looked like a ... short barreled gun on his shoulder." Howell saw Beasley, who did not appear to be or have been armed, lying motionless about a hundred and fifty feet from Freddie's trailer.
. Howell's daughter, Rhonda Watts, testified that she was visiting her parents the afternoon of the shooting when they heard two gunshots, and "saw Freddie walk across the field with a gun in his hands." Watts also heard Charles ask Schuck something to the effect of "what have you done" and Schuck replied, "I just shot Chucky, I shot the S.O.B., there he lays, if you want to go call the law, go ahead."
. James Robertson, who lived approximately a hundred yards from Schuck's trailer, testified that he was outside feeding his dogs the afternoon of December 7 when he "heard Freddie and [Beasley] arguing." He then heard Beasley say, "Don't shoot me," and saw that Beasley, who was unarmed, had "turned and run." Robertson further testified that Schuck shot Beasley and "walked up there and kicked him" after he fell, then told his brother that he had "shot this M.F., call the law to come and get him." After Schuck "kicked him in the side ..
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Mississippi DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|