Blunt v. State
| Docket Number: | 2009-CA-00452-COA | |
| Oral Argument: | 09-14-2010 | |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 02-22-2011 Opinion Author: Carlton, J. Holding: Reversed and remanded. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Post-conviction relief - Ineffective assistance of counsel - Self-defense jury instruction Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Lee, P.J., Irving, Griffis, Barnes, Ishee, Roberts and Maxwell, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Myers, P.J. Procedural History: PCR Nature of the Case: CIVIL - POST-CONVICTION RELIEF |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 02-27-2009 Appealed from: LOWNDES COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: HON. LEE J. HOWARD Disposition: MOTION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF DENIED Case Number: 1999-0098-CVI |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Edward Lamon Blunt |
JULIE ANN EPPS |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: DEIRDRE MCCRORY |
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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: | Post-conviction relief - Ineffective assistance of counsel - Self-defense jury instruction |
| Summary of the Facts: | Edward Blunt was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. His conviction was affirmed on appeal. With new representation, Blunt filed an application with the Mississippi Supreme Court for leave to proceed in the trial court on a motion for post-conviction relief. The Court granted his motion, and Blunt filed a motion for post-conviction relief. The trial court denied the motion, and Blunt appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Blunt argues that he received ineffective assistance of counsel at trial because his trial counsel failed to make an investigation prior to the trial, failed to use readily available exculpatory evidence in his defense, failed to obtain an expert witness to testify as to the victim’s cause of death, failed to object to the jury instructions and to improper argument by the State which impermissibly vouched for the credibility of the State’s witnesses and appealed to the passions and prejudices of the jury, failed to object to the prosecution’s closing argument that the jury’s decision need not be unanimous, and failed to render effective assistance on appeal. With regard to the jury instructions, Blunt argues that his attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel by his failure to distinguish between malice murder and manslaughter, failure to distinguish between depraved-heart murder and manslaughter, failure to instruct the jury that Blunt had no duty to retreat, failure to instruct the jury properly on self-defense, and objecting to the State’s proffered instruction on imperfect self-defense. Blunt has demonstrated both a deficiency on his attorney’s part and prejudice as a result of the deficiency. Blunt’s attorney requested only one jury instruction. The circuit court granted the instruction, which contained in incorrect recitation of the law on self-defense in Mississippi. The supreme court in Johnson v. State, 908 So. 2d 758, 764 (Miss. 2005) noted that an instruction like the one Burdine requested in Blunt’s trial “is contradictory and confusing and does not correctly state the applicable law because one acting in self-defense does not act at his own peril.” Blunt admits that he hit the victim, but he asserted at trial that he had acted in self-defense. Blunt’s entire theory of defense centered on the victim being the initial aggressor and Blunt hitting him in self-defense. His attorney’s proffered jury instruction misstated the law on self-defense to the jury, and it essentially left Blunt with no instruction on his theory of the defense. |
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