Eddie Lee Saunders v. State of Mississippi
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2010-KA-00031-COA
EDDIE LEE SAUNDERS
APPELLANT
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
DATE OF JUDGMENT:
TRIAL JUDGE:
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED:
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
DISTRICT ATTORNEY:
NATURE OF THE CASE:
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
DISPOSITION:
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
APPELLEE
07/21/2009
HON. ROBERT B. HELFRICH
FORREST COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
C. GRANT HEDGEPETH
LESLIE S. LEE
BENJAMIN ALLEN SUBER
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: STEPHANIE BRELAND WOOD
JON MARK WEATHERS
CRIMINAL - FELONY
CONVICTED OF MURDER AND
SENTENCED AS A HABITUAL OFFENDER
TO LIFE IN THE CUSTODY OF THE
MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF
CORRECTIONS WITHOUT ELIGIBILITY
FOR PROBATION OR PAROLE
AFFIRMED - 03/22/2011
EN BANC.
ISHEE, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
Eddie Lee Saunders was tried and convicted of murder in the Circuit Court of Forrest
County. Two days after the conviction, Saunders, a habitual offender, was sentenced to life
in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without eligibility for probation
or parole. Aggrieved, he now appeals his conviction. Finding no error, we affirm.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2.
Charles Harris left his cell phone lying on the counter at the Handy Pantry in
Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Alex Anderson picked up the phone and, in an effort to return the
phone, arranged to meet with Harris. Anderson agreed to exchange the phone for fifty
dollars; however, he told Harris his name was “Duke.” In fact, “Duke” was the nickname
of a teenager from the area, Charles Moore.
¶3.
After Anderson failed to show at the arranged meeting to return the phone, Harris and
Saunders (Harris’s uncle) began looking for the phone and for “Duke.” While attempting
to find the phone and to track down “Duke,” the two men learned where “Duke’s” mother
lived. After numerous failed attempts to find “Duke” and the phone, Harris and Saunders
decided to go back to Saunders’s house.
¶4.
Upon arriving at Saunders’s home, Saunders instructed Harris to pull up next to the
mailbox. At the same time, a white vehicle being driven by Moore a/k/a “Duke” drove up
near Saunders and Harris, as they were sitting in their car. Saunders got out of his car and
fired a gun several times at Moore’s car, killing Moore. Saunders then got back into the
vehicle, pointed the gun at Harris, and told him to drive.
¶5.
Saunders eventually showed up at the house of Richard McBride. McBride testified
that Saunders told him and his grandmother that he had shot someone. Saunders left
McBride’s home and tossed the gun into a nearby backyard. Saunders was arrested while
running back towards McBride’s house.
2
¶6.
Saunders was tried and convicted of murder in the Circuit Court of Forrest County.
He was sentenced as a habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 9919-83 (Rev. 2006) to serve a life sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of
Corrections with no eligibility for parole or early release.
DISCUSSION
I. Motion for Mistrial
¶7.
Saunders believes that testimony which referenced his prior incarceration was
substantially and irreparably prejudicial. Therefore, the trial court was in error in denying
his motion for mistrial. We disagree.
¶8.
The standard of review for denial of a motion for mistrial is abuse of discretion.
Rollins v. State, 970 So. 2d 716, 720 (¶10) (Miss. 2007). Further, the Mississippi Supreme
Court, with regards to the trial court’s discretion in declaring a mistrial has stated:
The trial court must declare a mistrial when there is an error in the proceedings
resulting in substantial and irreparable prejudice to the defendant's case. Miss.
Unif.Crim. R. Cir. Ct. Prac. 5.15. The trial judge is permitted considerable
discretion in determining whether a mistrial is warranted since the judge is best
positioned for measuring the prejudicial effect. Roundtree v. State, 568 So.2d
1173, 1178 (Miss.1990). When the trial judge determines that the error does
not reach the level of prejudice warranting a mistrial, the judge should
admonish the jury to disregard the impropriety in order to cure its prejudicial
effect. Perkins v. State, 600 So.2d 938, 941 (Miss.1992); Estes v. State, 533
So.2d 437, 439 (Miss.1988).
Gossett v. State, 660 So. 2d 1285, 1290-91 (Miss. 1995).
¶9.
First, Saunders complains of testimony that was in response to his counsel’s questions.
“Generally, an appellant cannot complain of damaging testimony if the testimony is in
3
response to his questions.” Triggs v. State, 803 So. 2d 1229, 1234 (¶14) (Miss. Ct. App.
2002). It is clear the testimony about which Saunders complains came in direct response to
a question asked during his cross-examination of the witness.
¶10.
Once the trial court determined the comment did not rise to the level of prejudice
which would require a mistrial, the judge admonished the jury to disregard the comment.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has held: “The better remedy for an improper comment or
question that has been put before the jury is for the court to admonish the jury not to consider
the improper statement.”
Hughes v. State, 735 So. 2d 238, 256 (¶65) (Miss. 1999).
Furthermore, “[i]t must be presumed that the jury will follow the court's instruction to
disregard any inadvertent comments or evidence and to decide the case solely on the
evidence presented. To presume otherwise would be to render the jury system inoperable.”
Lofton v. State, 818 So. 2d 1229, 1233 (¶12) (Miss. Ct. App. 2002).
¶11.
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Saunders’s motion for a mistrial.
Accordingly, this issue is without merit.
II. Weight of the Evidence
¶12.
As to Saunders's challenge to the weight of the evidence, this Court “will only disturb
a verdict when it is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it
to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice.” Bush v. State, 895 So. 2d 836, 844
(¶18) (Miss. 2005). The court in Bush noted:
We have stated that on a motion for a new trial, the court sits as a thirteenth
juror. The motion however, is addressed to the discretion of the court, which
should be exercised with caution, and the power to grant a new trial should be
4
invoked only in exceptional cases in which the evidence preponderates heavily
against the verdict.
Id. Saunders has failed to overcome this burden. Specifically, the State provided evidence
that: Saunders was in possession of a gun; the bullet that was removed from the victim’s
body was fired from Saunders’s gun; Saunders showed up at the house of Richard McBride
with a gun, and Saunders told his grandmother and McBride that he had shot someone.
¶13.
We find there was sufficient evidence before the jury to return a verdict of guilty;
therefore, this issue is without merit.
¶14. THE JUDGMENT OF THE FORREST COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT OF
CONVICTION OF MURDER AND SENTENCE OF LIFE AS A HABITUAL
OFFENDER WITHOUT ELIGIBILITY FOR PROBATION OR PAROLE IN THE
CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IS
AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO FORREST
COUNTY.
LEE, C.J., IRVING AND GRIFFIS, P.JJ., MYERS, BARNES, CARLTON AND
MAXWELL, JJ., CONCUR. ROBERTS, J., CONCURS IN PART AND IN THE
RESULT WITHOUT SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION.
5
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.