Favre v. State


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Docket Number: 2002-KA-01958-COA

Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 07-13-2004
Opinion Author: Southwick, P.J.
Holding: Affirmed

Additional Case Information: Topic: Aggravated assault - Exclusion of evidence - M.R.E. 401
Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Bridges, P.J., Lee, Irving, Myers, Chandler and Griffis, JJ.
Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 09-21-2002
Appealed from: Harrison County Circuit Court
Judge: Stephen Simpson
Disposition: CONVICTED OF AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AND SENTENCED TO TWENTY YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
District Attorney: Cono A. Caranna, II
Case Number: B2401-98-823

  Party Name: Attorney Name:  
Appellant: Melissa Doris Favre




TOM SUMRALL



 

Appellee: State of Mississippi OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALBY: JEFFREY A. KLINGFUSS  

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Topic: Aggravated assault - Exclusion of evidence - M.R.E. 401

Summary of the Facts: Melissa Favre was found guilty of aggravated assault and sentenced to twenty years. She appeals.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: Favre argues that, as a defendant, she should have been allowed to present her theory of what had happened to her husband. She alleges that her husband was involved in the illegal drug business, which common knowledge confirms is a potentially violent occupation, and that someone else involved in that business may have been the person committing this crime. In order for evidence supporting this theory to be admitted, there must be some predicate. For evidence to be relevant under M.R.E. 401, it must have a tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence. In this case, no one testified to having seen someone else at the trailer. No evidence of previous incidents involving violence by anyone involved in the drug trade against the victim was offered. The fact that DNA from more than the victim and the defendant was found was not evidence that other DNA was left behind at the time of the assault by some unknown person. Therefore, the judge was within his discretion in excluding this evidence.


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