Shaw v. State
| Docket Number: | 2010-KA-01442-COA | |
| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-27-2011 Opinion Author: Griffis, P.J. Holding: Affirmed. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Armed robbery, Attempted armed robbery & Aggravated assault - Weight of evidence - Victims' identification - Photographic lineup Judge(s) Concurring: Lee, C.J., Irving, P.J., Myers, Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton, Maxwell and Russell, JJ. Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-28-2010 Appealed from: Coahoma County Circuit Court Judge: Charles E. Webster Disposition: CONVICTED OF COUNT I, ARMED ROBBERY, AND SENTENCED TO FIFTEEN YEARS; COUNT II, ATTEMPTED ARMED ROBBERY, AND SENTENCED TO FIFTEEN YEARS; AND COUNT III, AGGRAVATED ASSAULT, AND SENTENCED TO EIGHT YEARS, ALL TO RUN CONCURRENTLY IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS District Attorney: Brenda Fay Mitchell Case Number: 2010-0011 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Xavier Shaw |
LESLIE S. LEE
MOLLIE MARIE MCMILLIN |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: LADONNA C. HOLLAND |
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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: | Armed robbery, Attempted armed robbery & Aggravated assault - Weight of evidence - Victims' identification - Photographic lineup |
| Summary of the Facts: | Xavier Shaw was convicted of armed robbery, attempted armed robbery, and aggravated assault. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Shaw argues that the verdicts are against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. He argues that the victims’ identifications were tainted by a suggestive photographic lineup. Shaw argues that of the six men featured in the lineup, he was the only one with an Afro hairstyle. He also argues that five of the men are holding whiteboards with numbers and dates. Shaw’s whiteboard was the only one that listed the date that this crime occurred. A photographic lineup is impermissibly suggestive when the accused is conspicuously singled out in some manner from others. Shaw is clearly the only suspect with a large Afro, and his whiteboard was the only one that displayed the date of the crime. But the suggestive nature of the lineup alone is insufficient to negate the in-court identifications of Shaw. The jury was presented with ample evidence to find that the victims’ identifications of Shaw were reliable. One of the victims testified that he knew Shaw stayed with someone in the neighborhood and that he had seen Shaw come to the game room with other neighborhood kids prior to the robbery. He said that Shaw entered the game room three times on the day of the robbery. Shaw wore the same clothes each time; he merely covered his mouth with a bandana when he entered the third time. The victim stated that he had an opportunity to get a good look at Shaw the first two times he entered the game room. He testified that he had no doubt that Shaw was the man who had robbed him. The other victim testified that he had seen Shaw outside the game room as well as during the three times that Shaw entered the game room. He also saw Shaw down the street from the game room immediately after the robbery had occurred and that he was able to get a good look at the face of the man who had attempted to rob him. The victims’ testimony shows that they gave close attention to Shaw’s face. And they both identified Shaw in the photographic lineup just two days after the crime had occurred. Because the victims’ identifications of Shaw were reliable, his claim that the verdicts are against the overwhelming weight of the evidence is without merit. |
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