Dehart v. State
| Docket Number: | 2018-KA-01580-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 01-28-2020 Opinion Author: McCarty, J. Holding: Affirmed. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Attempted aggravated assault - Sufficiency of evidence Judge(s) Concurring: Barnes, C.J., Carlton and JWilson, P.JJ., Greenlee, Westbrooks, Tindell, McDonald, Lawrence and CWilson, JJ. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 10-08-2018 Appealed from: JONES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: HON. DAL WILLIAMSON Disposition: Convicted of attempted aggravated assault and sentenced to twelve years, with eight years to serve and four years suspended with the condition of four years post-release supervision. District Attorney: ANTHONY J. BUCKLEY Case Number: 2017-92-KR2 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Kevin Dehart a/k/a Kevin Ray Dehart |
OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER: HUNTER NOLAN AIKENS |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: BILLY L. GORE | ||
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: | Attempted aggravated assault - Sufficiency of evidence |
| Summary of the Facts: | Kevin Dehart was convicted of attempted aggravated assault and sentenced to twelve years, with eight years to serve and four years suspended with the suspension conditioned on the completion of four years of post-release supervision. Dehart appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Dehart argues that the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict, because the evidence failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to cause bodily injury to the victim. Dehart admits to firing his gun three times but argues that the evidence indicated he fired his gun to scare, intimidate, or dissuade the victim. However, Dehart did not simply brandish his weapon or shoot into the air, which may have shown Dehart just wanted to scare the victim and could have been guilty of simple assault. Dehart shot three separate times at the back of the victim’s car as the victim was crouched down between his car and the above-ground pool. Holes were left in both. This evidence supports the jury’s conclusion that Dehart attempted to cause bodily injury by shooting at the victim. The victim and an eyewitness testified that Dehart was shooting at the victim. The jury also saw photographs taken of the bullet holes. The evidence presented was sufficient to support Dehart’s conviction for attempted aggravated assault. |
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