Cotton v. State


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Docket Number: 2004-KA-02161-COA

Court of Appeals: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 07-18-2006
Opinion Author: Lee, P.J.
Holding: Affirmed

Additional Case Information: Topic: Murder - Manslaughter instruction - Photographs - Sufficiency of evidence
Judge(s) Concurring: King, C.J., Myers, P.J., Southwick, Irving, Chandler, Griffis, Barnes, Ishee and Roberts, JJ.
Procedural History: Jury Trial
Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY

Trial Court: Date of Trial Judgment: 09-29-2004
Appealed from: DeSoto County Circuit Court
Judge: George B. Ready
Disposition: CONVICTED OF MURDER AND SENTENCED TO LIFE IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
District Attorney: JOHN W. CHAMPION
Case Number: CR-2004-0493 RD

  Party Name: Attorney Name:  
Appellant: Joe Henry Cotton




JOHN D. WATSON



 

Appellee: State of Mississippi OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: SCOTT STUART  

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Topic: Murder - Manslaughter instruction - Photographs - Sufficiency of evidence

Summary of the Facts: Joe Cotton was convicted of murder and was sentenced to life. He appeals.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: Issue 1: Manslaughter instruction Cotton argues that the court erroneously rejected his proposed manslaughter instruction. While a defendant is entitled to have the jury instructed regarding his theory of the case, the court may properly refuse an instruction if it states the law incorrectly, is covered elsewhere in the instructions, or is without an evidentiary foundation. Nothing in the record indicates that Cotton killed the victim in the heat of passion. Indeed, Cotton’s testimony was that he did not see, much less shoot, the victim that night. Issue 2: Photographs Cotton argues that the court erred in admitting photographs of the victim into evidence. Photographs have evidentiary value where they aid in describing the circumstances of the killing and the corpus delicti, describe the location of the body and cause of death, and supplement or clarify witness testimony. The photographs in this case fulfill all three of these criteria. The pictures depict the circumstances of the shooting, the location of the body and the cause of death, specifically that the victim was killed while sitting in her car. The pictures also supplement and clarify the testimony of the crime-scene investigators regarding the location of the wounds, the trajectory of the bullets, and the number of the bullets. Issue 3: Sufficiency of evidence The evidence of Cotton’s guilt is overwhelming, notwithstanding a witness’s testimony that Cotton was not the man she saw run towards the pond and dispose of the gun. A witness from the Mississippi Crime Laboratory testified that the bullets retrieved from the victim’s body were fired from a gun with the same serial number as the gun Cotton had retrieved from the pawn shop two days prior to the shooting. The gun bearing this serial number was found in the section of the pond where witnesses testified they saw a man toss an unidentified object. A witness identified Cotton as the man he saw running from the direction of the shooting and toss an object into the pond.


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