Lowe v. State
| Docket Number: | 2011-CT-00762-SCT Linked Case(s): 2011-KA-00762-COA ; 2011-KA-00762-COA ; 2011-CT-00762-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 12-12-2013 Opinion Author: Dickinson, P.J. Holding: Reversed and remanded. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Exploitation of child - Request for expert assistance - Indigent defendant Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler, King and Coleman, JJ. Dissenting Author : Pierce, J., With Separate Written Opinion Dissent Joined By : Randolph, P.J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-13-2011 Appealed from: JONES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: BILLY JOE LANDRUM Disposition: The jury convicted Lowe of all five counts. The circuit court found Lowe to be a habitual offender and sentenced him to life imprisonment in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. District Attorney: Anthony J. Buckley Case Number: 2009-343-KR2 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | John Bartholemew Lowe a/k/a John B. Lowe |
OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER: HUNTER N. AIKINS, LESLIE S. LEE, JOHN BARTHOLOMEW LOWE (PRO SE) |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: LISA L. BLOUNT |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Exploitation of child - Request for expert assistance - Indigent defendant |
| Summary of the Facts: | John Lowe was convicted of five counts of exploitation of a child. He was sentenced as a habitual offender to life imprisonment. He appealed, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | A trial court must provide expert assistance to an indigent defendant when denial of such assistance would render the trial fundamentally unfair. In this case, the circuit court deprived Lowe of a fundamentally fair trial by denying him the assistance of a computer forensics expert when the State relied exclusively on its own expert to identify Lowe as the perpetrator of the offenses charged. The State could not have convicted Lowe simply by showing the sexually explicit images and videos were on his computer. It had the burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lowe, himself, downloaded them. The State presented its case without the testimony of any lay witness purporting to have knowledge that Lowe downloaded the files in question. Instead, the State relied solely on the opinions of its expert witness. Anticipating this reliance on expert testimony by the State, Lowe’s counsel repeatedly explained to the trial court its specific needs for an independent expert in computer forensics. Because the trial court’s denial of Lowe’s requested expert funds denied him the opportunity to prepare an adequate defense, the decision rendered Lowe’s trial fundamentally unfair. |
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