Doss v. State
| Docket Number: | 2007-CA-00429-SCT Linked Case(s): 2007-CA-00429-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: |
Opinion Date: 12-11-2008 Opinion Author: Lamar, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Capital murder - Ineffective assistance of counsel - Mental retardation Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Easley, Carlson and Randolph, JJ. Dissenting Author : Diaz, P.J., with separate written opinion. Dissent Joined By : Graves, J.; Dickinson, J., Joins in Part. Concur in Part, Dissent in Part 1: Waller, P.J. with separate written opinion. Concur in Part, Dissent in Part Joined By 1: Dickinson, J.; Diaz, P.J., and Graves, J. Join In Part. |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 12-12-2006 Appealed from: Grenada County Circuit Court Judge: Joseph H. Loper Case Number: 6078A |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Anthony Doss |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | |||
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: | Capital murder - Ineffective assistance of counsel - Mental retardation |
| Summary of the Facts: | Anthony Doss was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. His conviction and sentence were affirmed on direct appeal. The Court granted Doss’s Application for Leave to file a Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence, finding that Doss was entitled to an evidentiary hearing on the issues of whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel at the penalty phase and whether he was mentally retarded. The circuit court considered the evidence and found against Doss on both issues. Doss appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Ineffective assistance of counsel Counsel could have put on evidence of Doss’s mental and educational problems, history of substance abuse, and troubled childhood. If he had, the details of Doss’s criminal activity and drug use also would have been admitted. There is no reasonable probability that, but for the attorney’s failure to produce for the jury all potentially available mitigating evidence, the result of Doss’s sentencing hearing would have been different. The circuit court’s finding that Doss did not suffer prejudice was not clearly erroneous. Issue 2: Mental retardation The circuit court considered the expert testimony and lay witnesses presented by the parties and found that Doss was not mentally retarded. The circuit court found the Whitfield doctors, who had determined that Doss was not retarded, were more credible than the doctors who had found that Doss was retarded. The record revealed that those doctors had not administered any tests to show lack of malingering. Doss was given two tests by the examiners at the Mississippi State Hospital to assess malingering, one of which indicted possible malingering. A review of the record reveals that considerable evidence was presented which supported the trial court’s determination. The circuit court’s finding that Doss had failed to prove, to a preponderance of the evidence, that he was mentally retarded, is not clearly erroneous. |
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