Johnson v. State, 252 So. 3d 597

On August 11, 2013, Amber Kimbrough was assaulted at Pita Pit and suffered multiple broken bones (jaw, nose, eye socket), loss of consciousness, and other injuries; she identified Shauntez Johnson at trial as her attacker.
Johnson was indicted for aggravated assault under Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-7(2)(a) and convicted by a Lafayette County jury; he was sentenced to 20 years with 4 years suspended and 4 years postrelease supervision.
Defense submitted a jury instruction (D-1) defining “serious bodily injury”; the State objected, arguing the defense language tracked a child-abuse statute definition and omitted “temporary” disfigurement.
The trial judge handwrote the addition of the words “or temporary” before “disfigurement” in Instruction D-1 over defense objection; the jury was given both aggravated-assault and lesser-included simple-assault instructions.
Johnson appealed, arguing the modification lowered the State’s burden by improperly expanding the definition of “serious bodily injury”; the trial court denied his posttrial motions and the Court of Appeals affirmed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether adding “or temporary” to “serious permanent or temporary disfigurement” in the jury instruction misstates the law and lowered the State’s burden to prove "serious bodily injury."	Johnson: the amendment improperly broadened the statutory Fleming definition, reducing the State’s burden and converting aggravated assault into at most simple assault.	State: the original defense wording tracked a child-abuse context; adding “temporary” corrects and clarifies the instruction and aligns with precedent applied in some contexts.	Court: The modified instruction was erroneous as to the preferred Fleming formulation for aggravated assault, but any error was harmless because the undisputed injuries (multiple broken bones and unconsciousness) would permit no reasonable juror to find no serious bodily injury; conviction affirmed.

Conley v. State, 790 So.2d 773 (Miss. 2001) (defines harmless-error standard),
Fleming v. State, 604 So.2d 280 (Miss. 1992) (establishes aggravated-assault definition of “serious bodily injury” as involving substantial risk of death, serious permanent disfigurement, or protracted impairment),
Buffington v. State, 824 So.2d 576 (Miss. 2002) (clarifies that the child-abuse context adopts a broader definition including temporary disfigurement),
Bright v. State, 986 So.2d 1042 (Miss. Ct. App. 2008) (holds that broken facial bones supported aggravated-assault conviction),
Rickman v. State, 150 So.3d 983 (Miss. Ct. App. 2014) (applies Fleming definition to affirm aggravated-assault based on serious injuries),
Harbin v. State, 478 So.2d 796 (Miss. 1985) (upholds aggravated-assault where physical facts showed serious injury),
Brown v. State, 934 So.2d 1039 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006) (refuses lesser-included simple-assault instruction where injuries, including a broken jaw, were “serious”),
Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466 (2000) (criminal defendants are entitled to jury determinations of every element beyond a reasonable doubt).