## Facts

- David W. Parvin was charged with murdering his wife, Joyce Parvin, who died from a shotgun wound while seated at a home computer.
- Parvin called 911 and consistently claimed the shooting was accidental: he grabbed a double-barreled 12-gauge shotgun to shoot a beaver, tripped while rushing out, and the gun discharged, striking Joyce.
- Parvin’s descriptions varied on key details, including what caused him to trip, his body movement during the fall, and whether the shotgun contacted the victim’s chair.
- Law enforcement witnesses described circumstances they viewed as inconsistent with an accidental fall, including an apparently undisturbed rug and observations suggesting a downward wound angle.
- The State presented firearms testing; the firearms examiner could not determine a precise muzzle-to-target distance from testing.
- The State’s forensic pathologist testified the pellets traveled at roughly a 25–30 degree downward angle, about 15 degrees forward, and estimated the muzzle was about four feet from Joyce when fired.
- A crime-scene analyst created and presented a computer-generated depiction using the pathologist’s distance/angle estimates as fixed inputs and adding assumptions about the victim’s posture and the gun’s position.

## Issues

1. Whether Parvin was entitled to acquittal under the Weathersby rule because he was the only eyewitness and his account was not substantially contradicted by credible evidence, physical facts, or common knowledge.
2. Whether the trial court abused its discretion under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert by admitting (a) the forensic pathologist’s opinions on shooting angle and distance and (b) a computer-generated depiction based on those opinions and additional assumptions.

## Decision

- The Mississippi Supreme Court rejected Parvin’s request for acquittal under the Weathersby rule.
- The court held the trial court erred by admitting certain expert testimony on angle and distance and the computer-generated depiction derived from that testimony.
- The court concluded the errors substantially prejudiced the defense and were not harmless because the prosecution’s theory relied heavily on the improper evidence.
- The conviction was reversed and the case remanded for a new trial.

## Legal Principles

- Under the Weathersby rule, a defendant’s sole-eyewitness account of a homicide must be accepted as true only if it is reasonable and not materially contradicted by credible State evidence, physical facts, or common knowledge.
- Mississippi Rule of Evidence 702 requires expert testimony to be relevant and reliable; the trial court must exclude expert opinions lacking a demonstrable methodological foundation.
- Daubert-type reliability scrutiny applies to forensic opinions that purport to quantify shooting distance and angles; conclusions resting on unsupported assumptions or unvalidated methods are inadmissible.
- Computer-generated depictions offered as demonstrative evidence must be grounded in reliably established inputs; animations that present speculative assumptions with an appearance of scientific certainty risk misleading the jury and may be excluded as unduly prejudicial.

## Conclusion

The court affirmed that Parvin was not entitled to acquittal under the Weathersby rule, but reversed his murder conviction because unreliable forensic angle-and-distance opinions and a derivative computer-generated depiction were admitted in violation of Rule 702 reliability requirements, materially affecting the verdict and requiring a new trial.


Parvin v. State, 113 So. 3d 1243 (Miss. 2013)