Williams v. State

Summary

The Mississippi Supreme Court reviewed David Jackson Williams’s murder conviction arising from the death of Demetria Bracey. The court held that the trial court erred by refusing to give an assisted-suicide instruction as a lesser-nonincluded offense because the evidence supported the instruction, and it reversed the convictions and sentence and remanded for a new trial.

Holdings

1. A defendant is entitled to an instruction on a lesser-nonincluded offense when the offense arises from the same operative facts as the charged offense and the record contains an evidentiary basis for the instruction.
2. The trial court reversibly erred by refusing Williams's assisted-suicide instruction because, viewing the evidence favorably to Williams, a reasonable jury could find that he advised, encouraged, abetted, or assisted Bracey in committing suicide.
3. The refusal to give the assisted-suicide instruction was reversible error requiring reversal of the murder conviction and life sentence and a new trial.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the trial court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser-nonincluded offense of assisted suicide.
2. Whether the evidence, viewed in the light most favorable to Williams, provided an evidentiary basis for the assisted-suicide instruction.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded