Readus v. State
| Docket Number: | 2005-KA-01618-COA Linked Case(s): 2005-KA-01618-COA ; 2005-CT-01618-COA |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-22-2008 Opinion Author: ISHEE, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Kenneth Readus was convicted on one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault and sentenced to life imprisonment plus twenty years. He appeals. Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., IRVING, CHANDLER, GRIFFIS, BARNES, ROBERTS AND CARLTON, JJ. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 04-08-2004 Appealed from: MADISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: William E. Chapman, III Disposition: CONVICTION OF MURDER AND AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AND SENTENCE OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT PLUS TWENTY YEARS TO RUN CONCURRENTLY ALL IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS District Attorney: David Byrd Clark Case Number: 2003-0051 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | KENNETH READUS |
JULIE ANN EPPS |
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| Appellee: | STATE OF MISSISSIPPI | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. GLENN WATTS | ||
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: | Kenneth Readus was convicted on one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault and sentenced to life imprisonment plus twenty years. He appeals. |
| Summary of the Facts: | Kenneth Readus was convicted on one count of murder and one count of aggravated assault and sentenced to life imprisonment plus twenty years. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Jury instruction Readus argues that the court erred by granting a jury instruction which defined the elements of murder, because it failed to instruct the jury that it was required to unanimously agree on either deliberate design murder or depraved heart murder. The jury instruction allowed the jury to convict Readus of murder if the killing was of deliberate design or if the killing evinced a depraved heart. It is not error to grant a jury instruction which combines the elements of deliberate design murder with the elements of depraved heart murder. Readus also argues that there was no evidence to support a jury instruction for murder as the State offered no evidence that he acted with deliberate design or depraved heart. However, the State produced evidence showing Readus was the person who shot the two victims. In fact, Readus himself admitted that he perpetrated the shooting. At the very least, the State produced evidence of depraved heart murder by establishing that while Readus was engaged in an argument with his wife, he fired shots inside an apartment that contained unarmed individuals and several children. Issue 2: Sufficiency of evidence Readus argues that the evidence presented by the State was insufficient as a matter of law to support a conviction of both murder and aggravated assault. Construing the evidence in favor of the prosecution, a rational juror could conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that Readus was guilty of both murder and aggravated assault. At the very least, the evidence in this case tends to show that Readus acted recklessly in the commission of an imminently dangerous act and with extreme indifference to human life, thereby supporting the verdicts of both depraved heart murder and aggravated assault. Two eyewitnesses testified that Readus fired a gun inside an occupied apartment. Readus did not deny this fact, and he did not deny that he pulled out the gun with the intention of shooting it. |
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