Dondrego Bolton v. State of Mississippi

Summary

The Supreme Court of Mississippi held that the burglary jury instructions were fatally flawed because they allowed conviction based on an intent to commit any crime rather than the specific crime charged in the indictment. The court found plain error despite the defendant's failure to object, reversed the lower court decisions, and remanded for further proceedings.

Holdings

1. When the indictment specifies the intended crime underlying a burglary charge, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, and the jury must find, the defendant's intent to commit that specific crime. An instruction allowing conviction based on intent to commit any crime is fatally flawed.
2. Failure to instruct the jury on an essential element of the charged crime constitutes plain error requiring reversal, even when the defendant did not object to the instruction at trial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether jury instructions permitting conviction for burglary upon a finding that the defendant intended to commit larceny or any other crime failed to require the jury to find the specific intended crime charged in the indictment.
2. Whether the instructional error constituted plain error requiring reversal despite Bolton's failure to object at trial.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded