Lafayette v. State

BARNES, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. In the early morning hours of October 20, 2007, Earnest Booth died from a gunshot wound that he suffered during an altercation at a local dance club in Benoit, Mississippi. Anthony Lafayette was charged with Booth’s murder and was convicted of manslaughter by a Bolivar County Circuit Court jury. The circuit court sentenced Lafayette to eighteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). After the circuit court denied Lafayette’s motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV), or in the alternative, for a new trial, he…