Parks v. State
| Docket Number: | 2003-KA-00895-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 09-16-2004 Opinion Author: Smith, C.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Accessory after the fact to armed robbery & Kidnapping - Corpus delicti - Sufficiency of evidence - Accessory after the fact instruction Judge(s) Concurring: Waller and Cobb, P.JJ., Easley, Carlson, Graves, Dickinson and Randolph, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Diaz, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 03-07-2003 Appealed from: Attala County Circuit Court Judge: Joseph H. Loper Disposition: Convicted of accessory after the fact to armed robbery and kidnaping. District Attorney: Doug Evans Case Number: 00-0093-B-CR |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | James Parks |
THOMAS A. COLEMAN |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: JOHN R. HENRY |
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| Topic: | Accessory after the fact to armed robbery & Kidnapping - Corpus delicti - Sufficiency of evidence - Accessory after the fact instruction |
| Summary of the Facts: | James Parks was convicted of accessory after the fact to the crime of armed robbery and kidnaping. He was sentenced to consecutive sentences of five years imprisonment for the accessory charge and twenty-five years imprisonment for the kidnaping charge. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Corpus delicti Parks argues that because the State failed to prove corpus delicti, the court erred in admitting his statement into evidence. Corpus delicti has two elements which must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in order to show that a crime has actually been committed. It is necessary to prove the existence of a certain act or result forming the basis of a criminal charge, and the State must prove the existence of criminal agency as the cause of this act or result. Where there is a confession, much slighter evidence is required to prove corpus delicti. Parks advances no evidentiary or constitutional basis as to why his statement was inadmissible at trial. The statement was freely given to the police, and there is no indication that it was the result of coercion. Issue 2: Sufficiency of evidence Parks argues that the evidence is insufficient, because he did not take the money and did not put a gun to the victim’s head until after another man had taken the victim’s money. The evidence shows that Parks directly aided another man in avoiding arrest, trial, conviction or punishment after the commission of the felony by preventing one of the victims escaping to obtain assistance. It does not matter that he did not become involved in the incident until after the money was taken from the victim, because he was convicted as an accessory after the fact, not as the principal in a robbery. In addition, the testimony was sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was an act or result forming the basis of a criminal charge - specifically, forcing the victim into the back seat of the car and confining him there against his will at gunpoint forms the basis of a criminal charge for kidnaping. Issue 3: Accessory after the fact instruction Parks argues that the court erred by granting the accessory after the fact instruction which he requested. Because Parks requested the instruction, he may not now complain that the instruction was erroneously granted. |
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