Boyd v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed James Earl Boyd’s conviction for aggravated assault and his twenty-year sentence. The court held that Boyd procedurally barred his challenge to the jury instruction by failing to object at trial and, alternatively, that the instructional omission was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence that the knife was a deadly weapon. A dissent argued that omission of the deadly-weapon element required reversal and a new trial.

Holdings

1. Boyd's challenge was procedurally barred because he did not specifically object to the aggravated-assault instruction at trial and did not raise the issue in his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
2. Even apart from the procedural bar, the instructional error did not warrant reversal because the overwhelming evidence established that the knife was a deadly weapon and that Boyd's repeated cutting and stabbing of Sherrod was likely to produce serious bodily injury.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Boyd's unpreserved challenge to the aggravated-assault jury instruction was procedurally barred because he failed to object at trial or raise the issue in his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
2. Whether the aggravated-assault instruction was reversible error because it failed to require the jury to find that the knife was a deadly weapon or that the injuries were caused by other means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm.

Disposition

affirmed