Lyndon C. Myers v. State of Mississippi, 153 So. 3d 581

Lyndon C. Myers was convicted on three armed-robbery counts, conspiracy, and felon-in-possession, with a life-expectancy argument raised on appeal.
Myers allegedly planned the Dollar Tree robbery by coordinating with Earnest Johnson, including providing a gun and store information.
A Wal-Mart alibi video was admitted showing Myers at another location during the robbery, though the State argued alibi did not defeat the charged offenses.
Myers sought two jury instructions—alibi and necessity—that the trial court denied or limited; the alibi instruction focused on being at Wal‑Mart, not a direct defense to the charged offenses.
The State impeached Myers with a prior felony conviction during trial; Myers testified and the court allowed questioning about the conviction.
Post-trial, Johnson recanted his trial testimony in writings and later at a hearing, but the trial court found the recantations not credible and denied a motion for a new trial.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether alibi instruction should have been given	Myers argues for alibi instruction	State contends alibi not a defense to charged crimes	Alibi defense not legally dispositive; no abuse of discretion
Whether necessity instruction should have been given	Myers asserts necessity defense to felon-in-possession	Necessity not applicable given evidence of continued criminal conduct	No reversible error; necessity defense not supported by record
Whether admission of prior felony for impeachment was proper	Myers contends improper impeachment	Court properly balanced Rule 609 factors and impeachment value	No abuse of discretion; admissible with limiting instruction
Whether denial of new trial based on recantations was proper	Recantations entitled to new trial	Recantations unreliable; corroborated trial testimony existed	No abuse of discretion; denial affirmed
Whether sentences exceed life expectancy or were properly calculated	Sentence calculation potentially violated life expectancy limits	Consecutive/concurrent sentences within statutory bounds	Sentences within statutory maximum; no excess on appeal

Flowers v. State, 51 So.3d 911 (Miss. 2010) (required alibi/necessity instruction when supported by evidence)
Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632 (Miss. 1987) (factors for Rule 609 impeachment value)
Gathings v. State, 46 So.2d 800 (Miss. 1950) (recantation credibility and jury’s opportunity to assess truth)
McMillan v. City of Jackson, 701 So.2d 1105 (Miss. 1997) (necessity defense elements and adequacy of alternatives)
Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836 (Miss. 2005) (impeachment by prior convictions and conditional invitations to impeachment)