Whitfield v. State
| Docket Number: | 2010-KA-01238-COA Linked Case(s): 2010-KA-01238-COA ; 2010-CT-01238-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 11-15-2011 Opinion Author: Lee, C.J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Fondling & Sexual battery - Weight of evidence Judge(s) Concurring: Irving and Griffis, P.JJ., Myers, Barnes, Ishee, Roberts, Carlton, Maxwell and Russell, JJ. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-01-2010 Appealed from: Monroe County Circuit Court Judge: Jim S. Pounds Disposition: CONVICTED OF COUNT I, FONDLING, AND SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS, WITH FIVE YEARS SUSPENDED AND FIVE YEARS OF POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION, AND COUNT II, SEXUAL BATTERY, AND SENTENCED TO THIRTY YEARS, WITH THE SENTENCE IN COUNT I TO RUN CONSECUTIVELY TO THE SENTENCE IN COUNT II, ALL IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, AND TO PAY $1,000 IN RESTITUTION TO THE MISSISSIPPI CHILDREN’S TRUST FUND Case Number: CR2007-145 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Donald R. Whitfield |
BENJAMIN ALLEN SUBER |
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| Appellee: | State of Mississippi | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: STEPHANIE BRELAND WOOD |
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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: | Fondling & Sexual battery - Weight of evidence |
| Summary of the Facts: | Donald Whitfield was convicted of fondling and sexual battery. In regard to Count I, Whitfield was sentenced to seven years, with five years suspended and five years post-release supervision. In regard to Count II, Whitfield was sentenced to thirty years. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Whitfield argues that the guilty verdict for sexual battery is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence, because the State failed to prove “sexual penetration” occurred. The victim testified that Whitfield had made her perform fellatio on him on several occasions. The uncorroborated testimony of a sex-crime victim is sufficient to support a conviction if accepted as true by the finder of fact. Whitfield contends that the STD test results contradict the victim’s testimony. However, although the test was non-specific, the victim did test positive for the herpes virus. Whitfield tested positive for HSV-I. The victim and Whitfield also tested positive for trichomonas. It was the jury’s job to make inferences from the testimony concerning the test results. Given the evidence, allowing the guilty verdict to stand would not sanction an unconscionable injustice. |
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