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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 8/6/96 OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 93-KA-00794 COA

GEORGIA LEE BLACKMON APPELLANT v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE

THIS OPINION IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION AND MAY NOT BE CITED, PURSUANT TO M.R.A.P. 35-B

TRIAL JUDGE: HON. JOSEPH H. LOPER, JR. COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED: CARROLL COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: LELAND H. JONES, III ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: SCOTT STUART DISTRICT ATTORNEY: DOUG EVANS NATURE OF THE CASE: MURDER AND GRAND LARCENY TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION: VERDICT OF GUILTY ON COUNT ONE, MURDER, AND NOT GUILTY ON COUNT TWO, GRAND LARCENY. SENTENCED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS CONSECUTIVELY TO ANY OTHER SENTENCE PREVIOUSLY IMPOSED.

BEFORE THOMAS, P.J., DIAZ, AND PAYNE, JJ. THOMAS, P.J., FOR THE COURT: Blackmon was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Feeling aggrieved, she appeals, assigning the following issues as error: (1) whether the trial court erred in refusing to grant any jury instructions on the lesser offense of manslaughter; (2) whether the trial court erred in permitting a photograph of the victim to be admitted into evidence; and (3) whether the trial court erred in failing to grant a directed verdict on the charge of murder. Finding all three issues without merit, we affirm. FACTS In the early morning hours of April 25, 1993, Georgia Blackmon and her boyfriend Bruce King returned from a date to the trailer where Blackmon lived with her mother, Beauty Blackmon. Blackmon and King had been arguing as they drove home, and the argument continued when they stopped outside of the trailer. There was some testimony at trial that King had been hitting and choking Blackmon at some point during their argument, and the couple continued to yell at one another after stopping the car. Beauty Blackmon came outside and attempted to get Blackmon to come inside the trailer; however, Blackmon refused. Eventually the argument ended and the couple began talking. King then asked Blackmon to get out of his car so that he could go home since he had to go to work early that morning. Blackmon refused to get out of the car. After King had tried unsuccessfully for over half an hour to get Blackmon to go inside, Blackmon's brother yelled outside for King to come inside and call the sheriff's department in order to get Blackmon out of the car. King got out of his car and walked inside the trailer. Blackmon picked up a gun from the floorboard of King's car and followed King. Blackmon testified that she had no intention of shooting King when she entered the trailer. As she entered the trailer, King was standing with his back toward her. As Beauty Blackmon attempted to prevent Blackmon from firing the weapon, King turned toward Blackmon, and she shot him in the neck. Blackmon then ran out into the yard. Beauty followed her and knocked the gun from her hand. Blackmon then re-entered the trailer and retrieved the keys to King's car, the only available vehicle . She then fled in King's car and took fourteen dollars from his wallet. Later that morning, Blackmon called the sheriff's department and drove herself to the jail. Blackmon confessed to the crime and signed a confession which was introduced into evidence at trial. ANALYSIS I. Did the trial court err in refusing to grant jury instructions on the lesser included offense of manslaughter ?

Blackmon's first assignment of error is the trial court's failure to grant her proposed jury instructions on the lesser included offense of manslaughter. Manslaughter is defined as "[t]he killing of a human

being, without malice, in the heat of passion, but in a cruel or unusual manner, or by the use of a dangerous weapon, without authority of law, and not in necessary self-defense. . . ." Miss. Code Ann.

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