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Hopkins v. State11/8/2001
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 05/17/2000
TRIAL JUDGE: HON. KENNETH L. THOMAS
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: TUNICA COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 11/08/2001
. Gary Hopkins (Hopkins) appeals his conviction in the Circuit Court of Tunica County for vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol. Hopkins was tried and convicted the same day and later sentenced by Judge Kenneth L. Thomas to twenty years in prison with five to be served under post-release supervision. By objection at trial, two questions were raised for this Court to consider: 1) whether it was reversible error to allow the investigating officer to testify about statements Hopkins made at the scene of the wreck and at the hospital without first informing him of his Miranda rights and 2) whether it was reversible error to admit Hopkins's medical records into evidence.
FACTS
. Joyce H. Canups (Canups) died after being injured at the intersection of U.S. Highway 61 and Casino Center Drive in Tunica County, Mississippi, when the car she was driving was struck from behind by a red pickup truck allegedly being driven by Gary Hopkins. About forty minutes after the wreck, Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol Sergeant William Williamson arrived at the scene of the wreck and began an investigation into its cause. There he found Hopkins wrapped in a blanket and seated in the median of the highway. Sergeant Williamson approached Hopkins and asked him if he was the driver of the red pickup to which Hopkins responded affirmatively. Sergeant Williamson also asked if Hopkins was the only occupant of the pickup, and Hopkins again answered affirmatively. Hopkins also told Sergeant Williamson that he did not see the car Canups was driving until he had hit it. During this conversation, Sergeant Williamson noted that Hopkins appeared intoxicated as his eyes were glassy and bloodshot and he smelled of alcohol. Sergeant Williamson also observed Hopkins had blood on his hands and face. Williamson then inspected Hopkins's red pickup.
. Williamson found beer bottles and cans in the bed and cab of the pickup. He also saw no signs to indicate another person was inside the truck at the time of the wreck. The windshield of the pickup was broken in a spider-web shape on the driver's side of the car but the passenger's side was only crossed with stress cracks. There was no blood on either the passenger's side or the driver's side of the truck.
. Hopkins was transported to the hospital to be treated for his injuries. Sergeant Williamson followed Hopkins thirty minutes later, ostensibly to complete his accident report, and asked Hopkins again whether he was driving the red pickup and who else was in the car.
Hopkins again admitted he was driving the pickup at the time of the wreck and made no mention of other passengers in the truck. At this time, it is apparent the Sergeant Williamson knew that Canups had died from her injuries and state law required him to obtain a blood sample from Hopkins. Therefore, Sergeant Williamson asked the hospital's lab technician to draw Hopkins's blood with a standard blood collection kit which he later forwarded to the Mississippi Crime Lab. Williamson testified that at no time was Hopkins under arrest. Hopkins was not informed of his Miranda rights either at the scene of the wreck or at the hospital.
. This case has been tried four times. The first time, the trial judge declared a mistrial after Hopkins was brought before the jury wearing shackles. The second and third times, the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and the judge again declar
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