JACKSON — A federal appeals court panel has overturned a lower court’s ordered granting an appeal hearing in a Mississippi robbery and aggravated assault case.
WTVA-TV in Tupelo reports Yasmin Hughes, now 24, is serving 30 years in prison after he was convicted of a three-count indictment in the 2006 robbery and shooting of two people in their home.
Court documents say Hughes and Adrion Webster walked up to the home claiming to have run out of gas and asked to use the phone.
When the homeowner turned his back to go back inside the home, he was shot three times and his wife was shot once when she came to the door to see what had happened.
In his appeal, Hughes argued he had no knowledge prior to the robbery and shootings that they would take place.
He argued there was no evidence to prove he was an accomplice to the crime until after it had occurred.
The state Court of Appeals and the Mississippi Supreme Court upheld his conviction.
Hughes appealed to federal court, and a district court judge in Mississippi granted his request for a hearing.
The State of Mississippi appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
A three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit found the Mississippi federal judge had no jurisdiction over the case. The panel said Hughes didn’t provide any evidence to support his arguments that decisions by the state courts were wrong.
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