Bright v. State

894 So. 2d 590, 2004 WL 1878839
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 24, 2004
Docket2002-KP-00960-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 894 So. 2d 590 (Bright 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
Bright v. State, 894 So. 2d 590, 2004 WL 1878839 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

894 So.2d 590 (2004)

Simmie BRIGHT, Jr., Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2002-KP-00960-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 24, 2004.
Rehearing Denied November 16, 2004.
Certiorari Denied February 24, 2005.

*591 Simmie Bright, Jr., appellant, pro se.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., LEE and GRIFFIS, JJ.

GRIFFIS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Simmie Bright, Jr. was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to serve a term of ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with three years suspended. On appeal, Bright asserts that the court erred: (1) in denying his motion for a new trial, (2) in denying his motion for a directed verdict, (3) because he received an improper sentence, (4) because he received ineffective assistance of counsel, (5) because he was improperly charged with embezzlement, (6) in failing to grant a mistrial when the prosecution commented on his failure to call certain witnesses, and (7) because of cumulative errors. Finding no error, we affirm Bright's conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the evening of September 28, 2001, Simmie Bright, Jr. began his shift as a booth cashier at the Grand Casino in Tunica County, Mississippi. His duties consisted of providing coins to the slot machine attendants to fill the slot machines and providing cash to the slot machine attendants to pay guests. On the *592 particular evening in question, Bright relieved Camilla Taylor at booth five.

¶ 3. At the end of Taylor's shift and at the beginning of Bright's shift, the contents of the cash drawer at booth five revealed that it contained $150,000. The contents consisted of cash, coins, tokens, and one credit slip in the amount of $37,000. Taylor and other Grand Casino employees testified that Bright was present during this count. Bright testified that Taylor had performed the count before he arrived and that he just signed the count sheet.

¶ 4. Early in the morning on September 29, 2001, Bright was reported missing for work without leave. Upon opening Bright's cash drawer and examining the contents, casino employees discovered a shortage of $80,000.

¶ 5. Grand Casino employees contacted the Tunica County Sheriff's Department, and officers were dispatched to Bright's home. While waiting for a search warrant, Officer Melvin Wilson spoke with Bright on the telephone. Officer Wilson testified that, in that conversation, Bright admitted that the money was in his safe at his house and that the money was from the Grand Casino. After receiving the search warrant, the officers seized the safe and took it to the sheriff's department. Upon opening the safe, the investigating officers found six bundles of one hundred dollar bills, each containing $10,000. Each bundle was wrapped in a Grand Casino strap.

¶ 6. Bright was arrested and charged with embezzlement. After trial, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Bright now appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. Whether the court erred in denying Bright's motion for a new trial.

¶ 7. Bright asserts that he is entitled to a new trial because the evidence was insufficient to convict him. He notes that the casino cameras failed to show that he left the casino with any money, that none of the casino employees actually saw him remove the money from the casino, and that the money found in his safe was less than the amount that was short from the casino. Bright argues that the money in his safe was not proven to be from the casino.

¶ 8. In determining whether a jury verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, this Court must accept as true the evidence which supports the verdict and will reverse only when convinced that the circuit court has abused its discretion in failing to grant a new trial. Dudley v. State, 719 So.2d 180, 182(¶ 8) (Miss.1998). For this Court to disturb the verdict on appeal, it must be so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice. Id.

¶ 9. At trial, casino employees testified that Bright began his shift with $150,000 in his drawer, that he left his station with six or seven bundles of one hundred dollar bills, that he entered the restroom near his station with the money in a plastic bag inside a black casino bag, that he exited the restroom and then exited the casino, that the black bag was found in the restroom, and that a shortage of $80,000 was discovered when his cash drawer was subsequently opened.

¶ 10. Aubrey Cruther, a casino employee, testified that she gave Bright $77,000 in exchange for a credit slip. The $77,000 was made up of $8,500 in coins and $68,500 in cash. Cruther testified that the $68,500 cash included six straps of one hundred dollar bills, with each strap containing ten thousand dollars.

*593 ¶ 11. Tunica County Sheriff Department officers testified that they found $60,000 in Bright's safe within his home. The money was wrapped in Grand Casino money straps. One of the officers testified that he spoke with Bright on the phone, while he was awaiting a search warrant. The officer testified that, when he asked Bright about the safe, Bright told him "you might as well bring it with you" and that it contained "the money from the Grand Casino."

¶ 12. Bright denied being present when his cash drawer was counted. Bright testified that he found a credit slip for $77,000 in his drawer and exchanged the credit slip for money during his shift. He testified that he began feeling ill during his shift and left work. He claimed that, before leaving, he left $80,000 unattended at the secured casino bank. Bright admitted the casino wrappers in his safe were from the Grand Casino, but claimed he received the money for work he did for farmers in Arkansas.

¶ 13. After reviewing the testimony and the appropriate standard of review, we find that the evidence presented supported the jury's verdict of embezzlement. Accepting as true the evidence which supports the verdict, we find the circuit court did not abuse its discretion in denying a new trial. Accordingly, we conclude that allowing the verdict to stand does not constitute an unconscionable injustice. Therefore, this Court will not disturb the jury's verdict on appeal.

II. Whether the court erred in denying Bright's motion for a directed verdict.

¶ 14. Bright argues that the case against him was built entirely on circumstantial, non-eyewitness evidence. He asserts that the circumstantial evidence presented did not prove that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

¶ 15. Motions for directed verdict and motions for judgments not withstanding the verdict are for the purpose of challenging the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Noe v. State, 616 So.2d 298, 302 (Miss.1993); Strong v. State, 600 So.2d 199, 201 (Miss.1992). In reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence questions, this Court is required to view the evidence in the light favorable to the State, giving it the benefit of all reasonable inferences which may be drawn from the evidence, and accepting as true that evidence which supports guilt. McClain v. State, 625 So.2d 774, 778 (Miss.1993). This Court must not weigh the evidence or its credibility as that is the province of the jury. Id. We, as an appellate court, may only reverse if the evidence is such that fair-minded jurors could only find the defendant not guilty. Id.

¶ 16.

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Bluebook (online)
894 So. 2d 590, 2004 WL 1878839, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bright-v-state-missctapp-2004.