Anderson v. State

23 So. 3d 1087, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 842, 2009 WL 4263560
Procedural entryThis page is a short order in Anderson v. State. Read the opinion of the Court — 2008 Miss. App. LEXIS 543
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided December 1, 2009·No. No. 2008-KA-00697-COA·Published

Opinion

MYERS, P.J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Richard Anderson was indicted by a DeSoto County grand jury on one count of conspiracy to sell a controlled substance and one count of the sale of a controlled substance. A jury subsequently found Anderson guilty of the conspiracy offense and not guilty of the crime of selling a controlled substance. He was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved by his conviction and sentence, Anderson appeals arguing the evidence presented at trial was legally insufficient to support his conspiracy conviction. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On September 14, 2006, officers with the Horn Lake Police Department met with their confidential informant, Harlyn Holt, to arrange for Holt to purchase narcotics from Anderson and his niece, Kristina Anderson. At the “pre-buy” location, the police outfitted Holt with audio and video surveillance equipment. The police also gave Holt marked dollar bills to use in the buy. The police searched Holt’s person and his automobile to ensure that he had no drugs or money other than the money that was provided by the police.

¶ 3. Prior to this meeting, Holt and Kristina had been exchanging text messages regarding Holt’s desire to purchase hydrocodone, in the form of Lortab pills, from Kristina and Anderson. Kristina instructed Holt that the hydrocodone would be available at her house once Anderson got off of work that day at approximately 5:30 p.m. After his “pre-buy” meeting with the police, Holt went to Kristina’s house. He waited approximately one hour before Anderson arrived. When Anderson arrived, he and Kristina went into a back room of the house. Kristina returned with fifteen hydrocodone tablets, and Anderson then walked outside to his truck and returned with another hydrocodone tablet.

¶ 4. Approximately forty minutes after Anderson arrived at Kristina’s house, Holt left the residence and met the officers at a “post-buy” meeting. Holt then turned over the bag of phis to the police. The pills were subsequently turned over to the Mississippi Crime Laboratory and tested. The results revealed that the fifteen “My-lan” pills initially given to Holt were confirmed to be hydrocodone and acetaminophen; the remaining “Watson” pill was [1089]*1089preliminarily tested, but it could not be confirmed and verified to be hydrocodone.

¶ 5. Anderson was arrested and indicted for conspiracy to sell a controlled substance and sale of a controlled substance. A jury found Anderson guilty of the conspiracy to sell a controlled substance and not guilty for the sale of a controlled substance. The trial court sentenced Anderson to five years in the custody of the MDOC. Anderson filed a post-trial motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which the trial court denied.

¶ 6. From that judgment, Anderson timely appeals.

Motion for a Directed Verdict and a Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict

¶ 7. “A motion for a directed verdict ..., as well as a motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, challenges the [legal] sufficiency of the evidence.” Bonner v. State, 962 So.2d 606, 609(¶ 10) (Miss.Ct.App.2006) (citing Wetz v. State, 503 So.2d 803, 807 (Miss.1987)). In Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836, 843(¶ 16) (Miss.2005), our supreme court reiterated the standard of review for legal sufficiency of the evidence, explaining as follows:

[T]he critical inquiry is whether the evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed the act charged, and that he did so under such circumstances that every element of the offense existed; and where the evidence fails to meet this test it is insufficient to support a conviction. However, this inquiry does not require a court to ask itself whether it believes that the evidence at the trial established guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, the relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

(Citations and quotations omitted). “[I]f a review of the evidence reveals that it is of such quality and weight that, having in mind the beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof standard, reasonable fair-minded men in the exercise of impartial judgment might reach different conclusions on every element of the offense, the evidence will be deemed to have been sufficient.” Id. (citations omitted).

¶ 8. Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-1-1 (Rev.2006) makes it unlawful for “two (2) or more persons [to] conspire ... [t]o commit a crime[.]” Our supreme court has defined the act of conspiracy to mean the “combination of two or more persons to accomplish an unlawful purpose or to accomplish a lawful purpose unlawfully, the persons agreeing in order to form the conspiracy. The offense is complete without showing an overt act in furtherance of the conspiracy.” Brown v. State, 796 So.2d 223, 225(¶ 9) (Miss.2001) (quoting Peoples v. State, 501 So.2d 424, 428 (Miss.1987)). The offense is complete upon formation of the agreement. Vickers v. State, 994 So.2d 200, 212(¶ 39) (Miss.Ct.App.2008). “The agreement need not be formal or express, but may be inferred from the circumstances, particularly by declarations, acts and conduct of the alleged conspirators.” Id. (citation omitted). Also, “[conspiracy is a complete crime in itself which does not merge into the completed offense.” Stovall v. State, 873 So.2d 1056, 1058(¶ 12) (Miss.Ct.App.2004) (citing State v. Thomas, 645 So.2d 931, 933 (Miss.1994)).

¶ 9. This Court addressed a similar scenario to the case at bar in Bonner. There, Billy Watson Bonner was convicted of conspiracy to sell methamphetamine and of the sale of methamphetamine. Bonner, 962 So.2d at 608(¶ 1). Bonner appealed [1090]*1090his conviction. He argued that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict “because the State [had] failed to produce sufficient evidence establishing that he and [his co-conspirator] entered into a common plan to sell methamphetamine and that they knowingly intended to further that common purpose.” Id. at (¶ 6). At trial, Bonner’s co-conspirator testified that the two had entered into an agreement to sell methamphetamine, and that he had purchased methamphetamine from Bonner on prior occasions. Id. at 610(¶ 12). This Court held that this testimony established that Bonner knew his co-conspirator would bring potential customers to his house to purchase illegal drugs. Id. In viewing the legal sufficiency of the evidence, this Court found that the jury “could have found the essential element of conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. at (¶ 13).

¶ 10. Similarly, the supreme court affirmed a conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in Temple v. State, 498 So.2d 379 (Miss.1986). There, the supreme court found the testimony of the defendant’s intermediary, who had purchased cocaine from the defendant and then attempted to sell it to an undercover police officer, coupled with testimony from the police officers involved in surveillance of the intermediary, were sufficient to support defendant’s conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Id. at 381.

¶ 11.

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Anderson v. State, 23 So. 3d 1087, 2009 Miss. App. LEXIS 842, 2009 WL 4263560 (Mich. Ct. App. 2009).

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879 So. 2d 1067 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Bonner v. State
962 So. 2d 606 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2006)
Peoples v. State
501 So. 2d 424 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)
State v. Thomas
645 So. 2d 931 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1994)
Vickers v. State
994 So. 2d 200 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Brown v. State
796 So. 2d 223 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001)
Bush v. State
895 So. 2d 836 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)
Vardaman v. State
966 So. 2d 885 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Temple v. State
498 So. 2d 379 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1986)
Stovall v. State
873 So. 2d 1056 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Wetz v. State
503 So. 2d 803 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)