McBride v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's mistrial motion based on his failure to cooperate with his lawyers or the court-appointed psychiatric evaluator.

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A jury convicted Earl Darrisaw McBride of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, simple battery, obstruction of an emergency telephone call, and three counts of obstruction of an officer. The trial court sentenced him to 35 years, 20 to be served in confinement. McBride contends on appeal that the trial court erred in failing to charge the jury that it could find him not guilty by reason of insanity, and in declining McBride’s request for a mistrial based on his failure to cooperate with his counsel. For the reasons that follow, we affirm. The evidence showed that McBride lived with his mother and had been admitted to Central State Hospital numerous times. In September 2008, his mother was in the kitchen about to cook breakfast when McBride assaulted her. He poured dishwater over her head, pushed her into the table, knocked her down, hit her with his cane, and pulled the phone cord from the wall so she could not call for help. McBride left the house, and his mother called 911 from a neighbor’s house. While two police officers were talking to the mother in her kitchen, McBride returned and walked straight back to his bedroom and locked the door.

The first officer on the scene asked McBride to come out and talk to him, but he refused to open the door. McBride’s mother wanted McBride removed from her house, so the officer kicked the door open about a foot. McBride came to the door but instead of coming out, he stabbed the officer in the abdomen with a knife. The officer felt his stomach get “real, real hot” and noticed he was bleeding, but managed to kick the door open again briefly and fire his taser. The shots hit the door, which McBride had managed to close again, and other officers took over. They pushed the door partly open again, but McBride hit them with a fan and closed it. Finally, the officers kicked the door fully open and found McBride sitting in a chair. He refused to show his hands, but the officers subdued him and took him into custody and he was placed in jail.

McBride v. State

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's mistrial motion based on his failure to cooperate with his lawyers or the court-appointed psychiatric evaluator.

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