McQuarters v. State
| Docket Number: | 2009-KA-01674-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-30-2010 Opinion Author: Randolph, J. Holding: Affirmed. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Manslaughter - Weathersby rule Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson and Graves, P.JJ., Dickinson, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 08-05-2009 Appealed from: Adams County Circuit Court Judge: Forrest Johnson Disposition: Conviction of manslaughter and sentence of twenty (20) years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with fifteen (15) years to serve and five (5) years on formal reporting post-release supervision, with conditions. District Attorney: Ronnie Lee Harper Case Number: 0195A-J |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Mary McQuarters |
OFFICE OF INDIGENT APPEALS: ERIN ELIZABETH PRIDGEN, LESLIE S. LEE |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: JEFFREY A. KLINGFUSS |
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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: | Manslaughter - Weathersby rule |
| Summary of the Facts: | Mary McQuarters was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to twenty years, with fifteen years to serve and the remaining five years suspended. McQuarters appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | McQuarters argues that the circuit court should have applied the Weathersby rule and granted her a directed verdict of acquittal on the manslaughter charge. The Weathersby rule provides that where the defendant or the defendant’s witnesses are the only eyewitnesses to the homicide, their version, if reasonable, must be accepted as true, unless substantially contradicted in material particulars by a credible witness or witnesses for the state, or by the physical facts or by the facts of common knowledge. The Weathersby rule is inapplicable where the defendant’s conduct and statements following the killing are inconsistent with his version of the events as recounted at trial. In this case, McQuarters’s conduct and statements following the killing were undeniably inconsistent with her version of the events as recounted at trial. Most notably, at both the crime scene and in her first police statement, McQuarters made no mention of her altercation with the victim or of cutting him on the forearm. Instead, McQuarters told police officers that someone possibly had hit the victim on the head and suggested that one of the victim’s friends should be considered a suspect. This evidence, along with other evidence presented, calls into question the reasonableness and credibility of the version McQuarters recounted at trial. Thus, the circuit court did not err in denying McQuarters’s motion for directed verdict on the manslaughter charge. |
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