Little v. Mississippi

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Sitting as “thirteenth juror,” the Court of Appeals reversed Marlon Little’s convictions and remanded for a new trial, finding the weight of the evidence preponderated heavily against the verdict. Despite its prior language suggesting otherwise, neither the Mississippi Supreme Court nor the Court of Appeals assumes the role of juror on appeal. Nurse practitioner David Ellis was attacked from behind and robbed while leaving his medical clinic. Ellis reacted by swinging his computer bag at the assailant’s head. During the struggle, Ellis fell down, and his attacker also stumbled. Ellis was on the ground when his attacker stuck a gun in Ellis’s face. Ellis saw the man “square in the face” from about three feet away. The man demanded Ellis’s wallet. Ellis complied. And the man fled. When Ellis took the stand, he stated clearly and unequivocally that Little was man who robbed him. The jury found him guilty of armed robbery and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to thirty years’ imprisonment for armed robbery and ten years’ for felon-in-possession, with his sentences to run concurrently. After his post-trial motions for judgment not withstanding the verdict and for a new trial were denied, he timely appealed. The appellate court majority found Ellis’s initial identification conflicted with Little’s “actual physical attributes, including age and build.” And because Ellis’s identification of Little as the robber was the only substantive evidence against Little, the majority found a new trial was warranted. The Supreme Court took an opportunity to clarify that neither it nor the Court of Appeals ever acted as “juror” on direct appeal. “We sit as an appellate court, and as such are ill equipped to find facts. [E]ven if we wanted to be fact finders, our capacity for such is limited in that we have only a cold, printed record to review.” The Court found no reason to disturb Little’s guilty verdict. Therefore, the Curt reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated and affirmed the judgment of the trial court. View "Little v. Mississippi" on Justia Law