Windell Washington v. State of Mississippi
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2008-KA-00947-COA
WINDELL WASHINGTON
APPELLANT
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
APPELLEE
DATE OF JUDGMENT:
TRIAL JUDGE:
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
DISTRICT ATTORNEY:
NATURE OF THE CASE:
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
DISPOSITION:
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
05/22/2008
HON. JANNIE M. LEWIS
HOLMES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
LATRICE WESTBROOKS
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: W. GLENN WATTS
JAMES H. POWELL III
CRIMINAL - FELONY
CONVICTED OF MANSLAUGHTER AND
SENTENCED TO TWENTY YEARS IN THE
CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
AFFIRMED - 09/21/2010
BEFORE LEE, P.J., ISHEE AND MAXWELL, JJ.
LEE, P.J., FOR THE COURT:
PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶1.
On May 13, 2008, a jury in the Holmes County Circuit Court found Windell
Washington guilty of manslaughter. Washington had been indicted on one count of murder
and one count of aggravated assault. The jury found Washington not guilty of aggravated
assault. Washington was sentenced to twenty years in the custody of the Mississippi
Department of Corrections. Washington now appeals, asserting that the trial court erred in
admitting a prejudicial photograph of the victim into evidence. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTS
¶2.
On July 23, 2006, Washington drove to downtown Lexington, Mississippi, to speak
with his former girlfriend, Patricia Gibson. Gibson had been driving Anthony Collins’s car,
and Collins was in the passenger seat.
Gibson, who was holding her six-month-old
grandchild, was standing outside the car and speaking to Angela Thomas. Thomas was
parked next to Gibson. Washington parked his car behind Collins’s car and Thomas’s car,
but he did not leave his car throughout the altercation.
¶3.
According to Thomas, Washington and Gibson began arguing.
Washington to leave Gibson alone.
Collins told
When Collins exited the car and moved toward
Washington, Washington pulled out a gun and shot Collins six times. A bullet also hit
Gibson in the leg. Collins died from gunshot wounds to his right chest.
¶4.
Washington testified that he saw Collins with his hand in his pocket and thought
Collins might have a weapon. Washington contended that he shot Collins in self-defense.
No weapon was found on Collins or in his car.
DISCUSSION
¶5.
In his only issue on appeal, Washington contends that the trial court erred in allowing
prejudicial photographs of Collins to be admitted into evidence. Washington claims that the
photographs did not need to be admitted for identification purposes since he did not contest
the identification of Collins. This Court will not disturb a trial court’s ruling on the
admission of photographs unless the trial court abused its discretion. Gardner v. State, 573
2
So. 2d 716, 718 (Miss. 1990). The photograph will be admissible if it has an evidentiary
purpose, regardless of whether it is gruesome or inflammatory. Id. at 719.
¶6.
One of the photographs Washington is concerned with depicts Collins’s face post-
autopsy. We note that this photograph was admitted for identification purposes only and not
as an exhibit. Since the jury was never shown this particular photograph, we can find no
error in regard to this photograph.
¶7.
The other two photographs depict the gunshot wounds Collins suffered. The trial
court determined these photographs were admissible to show the location of Collins’s
wounds. Washington claimed that he only shot Collins three times, but the photographs
show that Collins was hit six times. We cannot find that the trial court abused its discretion
in admitting these photographs into evidence. This issue is without merit.
¶8.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE HOLMES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT OF
CONVICTION OF MANSLAUGHTER AND SENTENCE OF TWENTY YEARS IN
THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IS
AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO HOLMES
COUNTY.
KING, C.J., MYERS, P.J., IRVING, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE, ROBERTS,
CARLTON AND MAXWELL, JJ., CONCUR.
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