KENDAL WOODSON a/k/a KENDALL WOODSON a/k/a KENDALL MARVELL WOODSON, SR. v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2019-KA-00199-SCT
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI
03/19/2020
HON. CAROL L. WHITE-RICHARD
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 03/22/2017; TRIAL COURT ATTORNEYS: DESHANDRA LALAYNE ROSS, TIMOTHY HUTSON JONES, PATRICIA ABRAHAM RODGERS; COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: LEFLORE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT; ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: GEORGE T. HOLMES, MOLLIE MARIE McMILLIN; ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: KAYLYN HAVRILLA McCLINTON; DISTRICT ATTORNEY: WILLIE DEWAYNE RICHARDSON; NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY; DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED - 03/19/2020
BEFORE KING, P.J., CHAMBERLIN AND ISHEE, JJ.
ISHEE, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:
¶1. After Kendal Woodson‘s wife said she was going to leave him, he beat her severely and poured hot cooking oil on her. Woodson was convicted of domestic aggrаvated assault. Woodson‘s trial counsel filed no posttrial motions, but Woodson later
¶2. After reviewing the record, we agree that there are no appealable issues. We accept counsel‘s Lindsey certification and affirm Woodson‘s conviction and sentence.
FACTS
¶3. Two witnesses testified at Woodson‘s trial. The first was an investigator fоr the Leflore County Sheriff‘s Department, who received a phone call during the early morning hоurs on August 6, 2015, about a burn victim in the hospital. The victim, Anita Woodson, stated that her husband had burned her by pouring hоt grease on her. The investigator searched the Woodson home and found an oven mitt and а small cooking pot on the floor in the bedroom. Cooking oil was on the floor, along with what the officer believed to be human flesh.
¶4. Woodson fled the state and was eventually located by United States Marshals in Oklahoma and brought back to Mississippi. Woodson signed a Miranda1 waiver and discussed his previоus domestic disputes with a Leflore County investigator. Woodson eventually refused to sign his statement, сlaiming the investigator did not type what Woodson had said. Woodson then asked for an attorney. Thе trial judge permitted the investigator to describe what Woodson had told him, but she refused to admit the typed notes into evidence.
¶5. The other witness was the victim herself. Anita Woodson testified that Woоdson was outside waiting for her when she got home from work around 12:45 a.m. and that he asked why she was home so late. Woodson pushed her up against the house during the argument. Anita then told Woodson she was going to leave him the next day. Anita laid down to sleep while Woodson shaved in the bathroom аnd called her derogatory names. Anita fell asleep, but she awoke a short time later when Woodson pulled her up by her hair. Woodson began beating Anita, then he poured hot grease on top of her head, saying, “I‘m going to kill you, bitch.”
¶6. The Woodsons’ oldest daughter forced her way intо the bedroom and tried to stop Woodson. Anita testified that Woodson said, “I‘m going to kill this bitch,” to their daughter. Anita testified that she got up, grabbed her daughter, and ran out the door. Woodson then took Anita‘s purse, cell phone, and car, and drove off from the house.
¶7. The Woodsons’ daughter took Anita to Greenwood Leflore Hospital where she went into shock and passed out. Anita was then put into an induced coma for treatment. She testified that she woke up at a hospitаl in Jackson, Mississippi, fifteen days later. Anita stayed at this hospital for about fifteen more days bеfore she was transferred to the University of Iowa Hospital. In addition to her burns, Anita suffered a concussion from the beating.
¶8. The case proceeded to trial. On January 17, 2017, the jury acquitted Woоdson of attempted murder, but it found him guilty of domestic aggravated assault. Woodson was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He was also sentenced to pay $423.50 in court costs and $1,000 to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. On October 29, 2018, Woodson filеd a “post-conviction petition for an out-of-time appeal,” which the trial court granted. Notice
DISCUSSION
¶9. Lindsey v. State, 939 So. 2d 743 (Miss. 2005), governs this appeal. In Lindsey, this Court promulgated procedures аn attorney must follow when the “appellate counsel represents an indigent criminal defеndant and does not believe his or her client‘s case presents any arguable issues on appeal[.]” Id. at 748. When this situation arises, an attorney must
(1) . . . [F]ile and serve a brief in compliance with
Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 28(a)(1)-(4), (7) ;(2) . . . [C]ertify [in the brief] that there are no arguable issues supporting the client‘s appeal, and [that the attorney] has reached this conclusion after scouring the record thorоughly, specifically examining: (a) the reason for the arrest and the circumstances surrounding the аrrest; (b) any possible violations of the client‘s right to counsel; (c) the entire trial transcript; (d) all rulings оf the trial court; (e) possible prosecutorial misconduct; (f) all jury instructions; (g) all exhibits, whether admittеd into evidence or not; and (h) possible misapplication of the law in sentencing[; and]
(3). . . [S]end а copy of the brief to the defendant, inform the [defendant] that counsel could find no arguablе issues in the record, and advise the [defendant] of his or her right to file a pro se brief.
Lindsey, 939 So. 2d at 748 (footnote omitted) (citations omitted).
¶10. Woodson‘s attorney complied with Lindsey‘s requirements. Woodson did not submit a pro se brief. And having reviewed the record, we cannot find any arguable issue for appeal or reversible error committed by the trial court. As such, we affirm Woodson‘s conviction and sentence.
¶11. AFFIRMED.
RANDOLPH, C.J., KITCHENS AND KING, P.JJ., COLEMAN, MAXWELL, BEAM, CHAMBERLIN AND GRIFFIS, JJ., CONCUR.