Bracey v. State

724 So. 2d 1028, 1998 WL 881764
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 18, 1998
Docket96-KA-01391 COA
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 724 So. 2d 1028 (Bracey v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bracey v. State, 724 So. 2d 1028, 1998 WL 881764 (Mich. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

724 So.2d 1028 (1998)

Terrell BRACEY, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 96-KA-01391 COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 18, 1998.

*1030 G. Garland Lyell, III, Jackson, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey Klingfuss, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE BRIDGES, C.J., HINKEBEIN, AND KING, JJ.

HINKEBEIN, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Terrell Bracey appeals from his conviction in the Circuit Court of Hinds County of sale of cocaine in violation of Miss.Code Ann. § 41-29-139 (Rev.1993). The trial court sentenced Bracey to serve twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. On appeal he raises the following issues:

ISSUE ONE:
THE APPELLANT FAILED TO RECEIVE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AS REQUIRED BY THE UNITED STATES AND MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTIONS.
ISSUE TWO:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN NOT REQUIRING THE STATE'S WITNESS TO REVEAL THE IDENTITY OF THE CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANT.
ISSUE THREE:
THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY NOT INQUIRING, ON THE RECORD, WHETHER OR NOT THE APPELLANT DESIRED TO TESTIFY IN HIS OWN DEFENSE.

¶ 2. We find no error and affirm the conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 3. On March 10, 1994, Chris McMillin, an undercover agent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, was attempting to buy illegal drugs from street level dealers in the Jackson, Mississippi area. Agent McMillin called the pager number given him by a confidential informant. The call was returned and a meeting was planned with "Shorty". The meeting took place in the parking lot of the Wendy's restaurant on Woodrow Wilson Boulevard near North State Street.

¶ 4. Agent McMillin and the confidential informant met the individual known as "Shorty" and purchased 2.4 grams of crack cocaine in the form of fourteen rocks for $200. A tape recording was made of the transaction. Agent Scott Biggers of the Bureau of Narcotics was observing from a nearby location. At trial, Agent McMillin testified that he later learned that the person known as "Shorty" and from whom he purchased the drugs was Terrell Bracey.

¶ 5. Joe Lee Williams of the Mississippi Crime Lab testified at trial that the substance in question was cocaine.

DISCUSSION

DID THE APPELLANT RECEIVE EFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AS REQUIRED BY THE UNITED STATES AND MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTIONS?

*1031 ¶ 6. In his argument that his trial counsel was ineffective, Bracey alleges nine specific deficiencies of counsel:

1. Failure to compel discovery of the name of the confidential informant;
2. Failure to make a speedy trial claim based on pre-indictment delay;
3. Failure to make a Batson challenge to the selection of the jury;
4. Failure to request that the trial judge advise him of his right to testify;
5. Failure to file a motion for new trial or JNOV;
6. Failure to interview, subpoena or call any witnesses;
7. Failure to include voir dire, opening, and closing statements in the record on appeal;
8. Failure to object to hearsay testimony;
9. Failure to request a pre-sentence investigation or sentencing hearing.

¶ 7. Our standard of review in determining ineffective assistance of counsel claims is set forth in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). As our supreme court stated in Schmitt v. State, 560 So.2d 148, 154 (Miss. 1990):

Before counsel can be deemed to have been ineffective, it must be shown (1) that counsel's performance was deficient, and (2) that the defendant was prejudiced by his counsel's mistakes ... Under Strickland, there is a strong presumption that counsel's performance falls within the range of reasonable professional assistance. To overcome this presumption, "the defendant must show that there is a reasonable probability that, but for the counsel's unprofessional errors, the result would have been different. A reasonable probability is sufficient to undermine confidence in the outcome." Strickland, 466 U.S. at 684, 104 S.Ct. at 2068.

In Lambert v. State, 462 So.2d 308, 316 (Miss.1984), the court stated:

Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential. It is all too tempting to second guess counsel's assistance after conviction or adverse sentence, and it is all too easy for a court, examining counsel's defense after it has proved unsuccessful, to conclude that a particular act or omission of counsel was unreasonable. A fair assessment of attorney performance requires that every effort be made to eliminate the distorting effects of hindsight, to reconstruct the circumstances of counsel's challenged conduct, and to evaluate the conduct from counsel's perception at the time.

(citations omitted).

¶ 8. As is raised in a separate assignment of error, defense counsel, during the cross-examination of Agent McMillin, asked the name of the confidential informant and the court sustained the objection of the State to disclosure of this information. Although defense counsel was not successful in having the name of the informant introduced at trial, the record does not definitively show that counsel or Bracey were not aware of the identity of the informant. Neither discovery requests nor responses are a part of the record in this case.

¶ 9. Even if the identity of the confidential informant was not known, the appellant does not show how this would result in prejudice to him. Based on the testimony of the officers present at the buy, it is difficult to imagine that the confidential informant would have information which would be beneficial to the appellant.

¶ 10. In this case there was a twenty-one month delay between the date of the offense and the date of the indictment with an additional two month delay until Bracey was arrested. The purchase of drugs occurred on March 10, 1994, but the facts were not presented to the grand jury until December 1995. The indictment was returned on December 18, 1995.

¶ 11. In order to prevail on a delay in bringing the indictment, the defendant must prove that the government's delay in bringing the indictment was a deliberate device to gain a tactical advantage at trial and that it caused actual prejudice. Hooker v. State, 516 So.2d 1349, 1354 (Miss.1987). See also U.S. v. Gouveia, 467 U.S. 180, 184, 104 S.Ct. 2292, 81 L.Ed.2d 146 (1984). There is no *1032 suggestion that Bracey would have been successful in raising such a claim and we cannot fault counsel for failing to raise the issue.

¶ 12. As counsel duly notes: "The record is void of any Batson information." Attached to appellant's brief is a copy of the circuit court jury panels in this case. There it is indicated that the State exercised five challenges and that four of these were to challenge black persons. Since this was not made part of the record this Court cannot consider it. Ross v. State, 603 So.2d 857, 861 (Miss.1992).

¶ 13. Under Batson v. Kentucky,

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Bluebook (online)
724 So. 2d 1028, 1998 WL 881764, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bracey-v-state-missctapp-1998.