Harrell v. State
2014 Miss. LEXIS 52
| Miss. | 2014Background
- On April 2008 Frank Damico disappeared after giving Christopher Harrell a ride; Damico’s body was found April 15 with a single gunshot to the head. Harrell was arrested with the victim’s car keys and a 9mm pistol nearby; the victim’s car was later found with the trunk lining removed. Harrell gave multiple, inconsistent statements admitting presence and involvement; an inmate testified Harrell confessed to shooting Damico.
- Harrell was indicted and convicted by a Hinds County jury of (1) capital murder under Miss. Code § 97-3-19(2)(e) (killing while engaged in robbery) and (2) felon in possession of a firearm; the circuit court sentenced him to life without parole for murder and ten years (concurrent) for firearms possession.
- The trial court’s capital-murder instruction told jurors they must find Harrell killed Damico while "engaged in the commission of the crime of robbery," but the court failed to give a separate instruction defining the elements of robbery.
- Harrell did not contemporaneously object to the omission at trial; he raised the instructional error on appeal and sought review here. The State sought and the trial court gave a flight instruction; Harrell objected.
- The Supreme Court of Mississippi held the omission of robbery elements from the jury instructions violated Harrell’s state-constitutional right to a jury trial and required reversal of the capital-murder conviction; the court affirmed the felon-in-possession conviction and upheld the flight instruction.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument (Harrell) | Defendant's Argument (State) | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Whether failing to instruct the jury on the elements of the underlying felony (robbery) violated defendant’s right to a jury trial | Omission denied Harrell the jury’s determination of every element; under Mississippi law this is fundamental error requiring reversal | Any omission is subject to harmless-error review; evidence overwhelmingly proved the omitted elements so the error was harmless | Reversed capital-murder conviction: failure to instruct as to robbery elements is always reversible under the Mississippi Constitution (overruling Kolberg to that extent) |
| 2. Whether the trial court erred in giving the State’s flight instruction | Flight was explained (Harrell went to Holmes County to dispose of the body) and thus instruction was improper | Harrell’s departure to dispose of the body was not an independent explanation and was highly probative of guilty knowledge; flight instruction therefore appropriate | Affirmed: flight was unexplained by independent reasons and was highly probative, so the flight instruction was proper |
Key Cases Cited
- Kolberg v. State, 829 So.2d 29 (Miss. 2002) (previously allowed harmless-error review when jury not instructed on underlying felony)
- Shaffer v. State, 740 So.2d 273 (Miss. 1999) (failure to instruct jury on a vital element requires reversal)
- Hunter v. State, 684 So.2d 625 (Miss. 1996) (State must ensure jury instructed on elements; omission is fundamental error)
- Neder v. United States, 527 U.S. 1 (1999) (U.S. Supreme Court: omission of an element from jury instruction may be subject to harmless-error review)
- Conley v. State, 790 So.2d 773 (Miss. 2001) (harmless-error analysis applied to defective instruction on lesser-included offense)
- Ballenger v. State, 761 So.2d 214 (Miss. 2000) (post-conviction relief where failure to instruct on underlying felony required reversal under prior Mississippi precedent)
- States v. State, 88 So.3d 749 (Miss. 2012) (flight admissible only when unexplained and highly probative of guilt)