Armstead v. State

978 So. 2d 642, 2008 WL 879977
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 3, 2008
Docket2007-KA-00238-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 978 So. 2d 642 (Armstead v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Armstead v. State, 978 So. 2d 642, 2008 WL 879977 (Mich. 2008).

Opinion

978 So.2d 642 (2008)

Perry ARMSTEAD
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2007-KA-00238-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 3, 2008.

*644 Office of Indigent Appeals by Brenda Jackson Patterson, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by John R. Henry, Attorney for Appellee.

Before WALLER, P.J., CARLSON and LAMAR, JJ.

WALLER, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Perry Armstead was tried and convicted in the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court on one count of sale or transfer of cocaine and one count of possession of cocaine. Armstead was sentenced to fourteen years for the sale of cocaine and three years for possession of cocaine, with the sentences to run consecutively. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the morning of March 16, 2006, Tretis Anderson, an agent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN), and Maurice Johnson, a sergeant with the Starkville Police Department, solicited Cynthia Hamilton, a confidential informant, to purchase forty dollars' worth of crack cocaine from Armstead. At the pre-buy meeting at Hamilton's home, Agent Anderson and Officer Johnson searched Hamilton's person; wired her with a camera and tape recorder; gave her forty dollars;[1] and listed the serial numbers on each of the bills.

¶ 3. Hamilton called Armstead and told him that she wanted to buy forty dollars' worth of crack cocaine. Hamilton and Officer Johnson recognized Armstead's voice on the phone based on their prior encounters with him. Agent Anderson and Officer Johnson then drove Hamilton down the street and dropped her off so that she could walk to Armstead's home.[2] As Hamilton approached Armstead's door, a voice over the home's intercom system[3] told her to "hold on." Hamilton and Officer Johnson identified the voice as Armstead's. Shortly thereafter, Jaquette Miller[4] came to the door, handed Hamilton the cocaine, and took the forty dollars. Hamilton returned to the vehicle and told Agent Anderson and Officer Johnson that Armstead was not there yet. At trial, Hamilton explained her statement to mean that Armstead, himself, had not served her.

*645 ¶ 4. Following the sale, Agent Anderson, Officer Johnson, and Hamilton returned to Hamilton's home. Hamilton called Armstead's cell phone, but no one answered. When Armstead called back, Hamilton told him "that's how I like being served," and said that she would be back for more.

¶ 5. Agent Anderson and Officer Johnson used the sale as a basis for obtaining a search warrant for Armstead's home. At about 7:30 p.m. that same evening, MBN, the Starkville Police Department, and the Okitibbeha County Sheriff's Department executed the search warrant. Officers located Armstead in his bedroom, just as he was walking out of an adjacent bathroom. In this bathroom, officers found twenty-three dollars (a twenty and three ones), the serial numbers of which matched the bills used in the earlier sale to Hamilton.[5] Narcotics were also found in the home, including a small amount of cocaine in a black film canister in the kitchen cabinet.

¶ 6. After the home was secured, the males were taken to the carport area and the females were taken into the living room.[6] Armstead gave a statement that the drugs belonged to him.

¶ 7. Armstead was indicted on nine counts. The State agreed to sever all the counts and prosecute Armstead only on count seven, the sale or transfer of cocaine, and count eight, possession of cocaine.[7] Armstead filed a motion to sever counts seven and eight as well, which the trial court denied. For trial purposes, counts seven and eight were styled as counts A and B, respectively.

¶ 8. The jury found Armstead guilty on counts A and B. For the sale of cocaine in count A, Armstead was sentenced to fourteen years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and fined $5,000. For possession of cocaine in count B, Armstead was sentenced to three years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, to be served consecutively with the sentence in count A.

¶ 9. Armstead filed a motion for new trial or, in the alternative, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which the trial court denied on February 2, 2007.

¶ 10. On appeal, Armstead raises two issues: (I) whether Armstead was informed of his Miranda rights,[8] and if so, whether he made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of such rights; and (II) whether Armstead's conviction for the sale of cocaine in count A should be reversed due to the prejudice caused by the admission of Armstead's confession in count B.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether Armstead was informed of his Miranda rights, and if so, whether he made a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of such rights.

¶ 11. The State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt all facts prerequisite to the admissibility of a confession. McCarty v. State, 554 So.2d 909, 911 (Miss.1989) *646 (citing Gavin v. State, 473 So.2d 952, 954 (Miss.1985)). As the trier of fact, the trial judge must first determine whether the defendant was advised of his Miranda rights. Chim, 972 So.2d at 603 (citing Baldwin v. State, 757 So.2d 227, 234 (Miss. 2000)). The trial judge must then ascertain, based on the totality of the circumstances, whether "the defendant's statement was freely and voluntarily given, and was not the result of force, threat, or intimidation." Baldwin, 757 So.2d at 235 (citing Smith v. State, 737 So.2d 377, 382 (Miss.Ct.App.1999)). If the statement is admitted, this Court will not reverse so long as the finding is based on appropriate principles of law and supported by substantial evidence. Chim, 972 So.2d at 604 (citing Holland v. State, 587 So.2d 848, 860 (Miss.1991)).

¶ 12. Armstead filed a pre-trial motion to suppress his statement that the drugs in the house belonged to him. At a hearing conducted outside the presence of the jury, testifying officers gave contradictory testimony regarding the circumstances surrounding Armstead's statement.

¶ 13. Eddie Hawkins, an agent with MBN at that time, testified that he read Armstead his rights after Armstead had been brought outside under the carport. Armstead indicated that he understood his rights and had no further questions. According to Agent Hawkins, a short time later, Officer Johnson walked outside and told other officers about the marijuana and cocaine that had been found inside the house. Armstead then made a statement that everything in the house belonged to him and that no one else at the house, including his wife, had anything do with it. Agent Hawkins said that Officer Johnson did not specifically question Armstead, but that Armstead responded spontaneously to Officer Johnson's general statement about drugs being found in the house.

¶ 14. Officer Johnson testified that he heard Agent Hawkins advise Armstead of his rights. Officer Johnson stated that, "I asked [Armstead] whether or not his wife had anything to do with anything inside the house, and that's when [Armstead] made the comment about the house being in his name and that it was his house and everything in the house belonged to him." Officer Johnson said that neither he nor any other officer threatened to arrest anyone, and that Armstead never requested an attorney or expressed a desire to remain silent.

¶ 15. Clay Moore with the Starkville Police Department testified that he had been going back and forth from the carport area and could not recall having heard anyone read Armstead his rights.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
978 So. 2d 642, 2008 WL 879977, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/armstead-v-state-miss-2008.