A Lowndes County circuit judge ruled Thursday not to drop the manslaughter indictment against a former Columbus police officer involved in a fatal shooting three years ago.
However, the defendant’s attorneys said they plan to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court, which they hope will send the case back to a grand jury before it goes to trial.
Attorneys for Canyon Boykin moved earlier this year for Judge Lee Coleman to quash the indictment. One of those attorneys, Jeff Reynolds of Jackson, filed the request after new evidence came to light which, he argues, proves Boykin was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed 26-year-old Ricky Ball following a traffic stop on Oct. 16, 2015.
A Lowndes County grand jury indicted Boykin for manslaughter in September 2016 and Boykin is slated to stand before a jury in Walthall County after he was granted a change of venue. However, the trial date has not been set, and Boykin has been embroiled in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by members of the Ball family.
Boykin has since been dismissed from the wrongful death suit, but Reynolds argued Thursday during that suit, he had learned multiple agents with Mississippi Bureau of Investigation who investigated the case believed Boykin was acting in self-defense when he shot Ball. He argued that same evidence should be presented before a grand jury.
But Coleman said neither the Mississippi Supreme Court nor the Court of Appeals have ever said whether a prosecutor is required to present exculpatory evidence — meaning evidence which shows a defendant is not guilty — to a grand jury. He also worried setting a precedent that could result in a “procedural nightmare” wherein every defense attorney who learns of new evidence before a jury trial files a motion to quash the indictment and send the case back to grand jury.
He did, however, say he would “love” for Reynolds to file the appeal so the Supreme Court could give trial judges guidance on the issue.
Reynolds told The Dispatch after Thursday’s hearing that Coleman ruled correctly in reference to the Supreme Court never ruling whether a prosecutor has the duty to present clearly exculpatory evidence to the grand jury. He believes, though, Boykin’s case is a good test for that.
“We’re going to ask the Mississippi Supreme Court to grant what’s called an interlocutory appeal, and that’s a discretionary appeal, which means they don’t have to grant it,” Reynolds said. “But we will be arguing that because there’s no Mississippi case, this is a very good case for the court to rule on the issue and give us some guidance.”
The Attorney General’s Office, which is prosecuting the case against Boykin, declined to comment on the decision, citing department policy.
Evidence presented
During Boykin’s hearing Thursday, Reynolds showed several videos recorded during a deposition when MBI agents who investigated the case said they believed Boykin was acting in self-defense. He also showed a memo sent by an MBI investigator to the director of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety which supports Boykin’s story that he shot Ball after Ball displayed a gun.
“We’ve got four MBI agents that testified … Officer Boykin shot in self-defense,” Reynolds said.
“Thank God I had that civil case so I could find out all their witnesses don’t believe in their case,” he later added.
Reynolds also said the pathologist who examined Ball’s body said the wounds were consistent with a person holding a weapon turning to the right to face Boykin.
“This was not presented to the grand jury,” Reynolds said. “It should have been. Anybody that’s trying to get to the truth of something should have (presented it).”
However, Stanley Alexander, who is prosecuting the case for the AG’s Office, called Reynolds’ questions to MBI agents during the deposition “leading” and Coleman himself pointed out that a pathologist could determine what position the body was in when the bullet entered it but not what the individual being shot was holding — meaning the pathologist could not say whether Ball was holding a gun or whether he was turning for some other reason, such as to raise his hands in self-defense.
Alexander argued the MBI agents had given their opinion, not evidence, and that of course they hadn’t given those opinions to the grand jury.
“The grand jury is to hear evidence, not opinion,” he said.
He further argued that all the MBI investigators had to go on was Boykin’s account, since there was only one other witness to the scene, Boykin’s fellow officer Yolanda Young.
Young told investigators she never saw Ball display a gun, though her account matched Boykin’s otherwise.
Alexander said Reynolds’ request to quash the indictment was “nothing more than a summary judgment in disguise.”
“Self-defense is a question that can only be answered by a jury,” he said.
Once Coleman files his order denying Boykin’s motion, Reynolds said he has about 21 days to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
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