Brownlee v. State

972 So. 2d 31, 2008 WL 73222
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 8, 2008
Docket2006-KA-01399-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 972 So. 2d 31 (Brownlee 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
Brownlee v. State, 972 So. 2d 31, 2008 WL 73222 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

972 So.2d 31 (2008)

James BROWNLEE, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2006-KA-01399-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

January 8, 2008.

*33 Richard B. Lewis, Clarksdale, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, attorney for appellee.

Before LEE, P.J., IRVING and ROBERTS, JJ.

ROBERTS, J., for the Court.

SUMMARY OF THE CASE

¶ 1. On July 25, 2006, a jury sitting before the Coahoma County Circuit Court found James Brownlee guilty of two counts of armed robbery. The jury did not recommend a life sentence. Accordingly, the circuit court sentenced Brownlee to two concurrent sentences of fifteen years with eight years suspended and seven years to serve. Following unsuccessful posttrial motions for JNOV and a new trial, Brownlee now appeals. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. Brownlee's conviction is the result of events that transpired at the Isle of Capri Casino in Coahoma County, Mississippi on March 2, 2006. Twenty-two-year-old Jesse Green had $4,400 in income tax return proceeds and he was interested in buying a car. His brother, Eric, told him about a black Camaro Z28 that was for sale and gave him a contact number. Green spoke to a man named Ricky in Arkansas. They arranged to meet in the parking lot of the Isle of Capri Casino.

¶ 3. Green, his brother Jerryco, and Roger Leslie drove to the parking lot and waited for the black Camaro. When it did not appear, Jerryco went inside the casino to telephone Ricky. While Jerryco was inside the casino, a white Cadillac pulled up behind Green's red truck. By Green's description, one man suddenly appeared at his window and another man appeared at the driver's side window where Leslie was sitting. Both men were armed with pistols. One robber took $400 from Green's pocket, and then he "kind of butted" Green in the head with the pistol and said, "That's not all you got. You don't think I'll kill you?" He took the remaining $4,000. As one armed man attempted to flee the scene, the other armed man demanded that Leslie give him the keys to Green's truck. Once they retrieved the keys, ensuring they could not be followed, the robbers sped away from the casino against the flow of traffic and headed toward Arkansas. Several other individuals testified that they witnessed a white Cadillac speeding out of the casino parking lot heading toward Arkansas. Following the robbery, Green and Leslie reported the incident to a casino security officer who contacted the police.

¶ 4. When Coahoma County Investigator Fernando Bee arrived at the casino he interviewed Green and Leslie, and the two victims gave Bee descriptions of the robbers and of the white four-door Cadillac they were driving. They also gave Bee a partial license plate number of the vehicle; however, he was unable to match the number. The individual who robbed Green was described as having a stocky build, a dark complexion, braids or dreads, a partial gold tooth, and, according to Green, a chubby face. A day or two after the robbery, Bee received a call from Chief Deputy David Lawman in Phillips County, Arkansas. Bee met with Lawman in Arkansas and obtained photos of possible suspects, one of which was Brownlee. After returning to Mississippi, Bee developed a photo lineup consisting of photos of Brownlee and five other individuals. The following day Green came to the station to view the lineup and identified Brownlee as the person who robbed him. The next day, Leslie viewed the same lineup and also identified Brownlee as the robber. Green and Leslie then *34 signed affidavits against Brownlee and he was arrested in Arkansas soon after. However, Bee never discovered the white Cadillac, the gun used in the robbery, or any removable gold teeth.

¶ 5. At trial, Brownlee took the stand in his defense. He unequivocally stated that he did not rob Green or anyone else. He claimed he was helping his paraplegic nephew at a gym in Helena, Arkansas when the robbery occurred. He testified that his family owned a white Cadillac which he drove, but claimed the white Cadillac on the surveillance video was not his because his car had dark tinted windows and a dent on the left side and the car in the video did not.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 6. The Coahoma County grand jury returned an indictment against Brownlee on May 30, 2006. Brownlee pleaded not guilty, and a two-day trial began on July 24, 2006. The jury found Brownlee guilty of both counts of armed robbery, but was not able to fix a penalty. After a sentencing hearing on August 14, 2006, the circuit court sentenced Brownlee to two concurrent fifteen-year sentences with seven years to serve and eight years suspended. Posttrial, Brownlee filed unsuccessful motions for JNOV and, alternatively, for a new trial. Aggrieved, Brownlee appeals and raises the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR DIRECTED VERDICT AND MOTION FOR JNOV.

II. WHETHER APPELLANT'S COUNSEL RENDERED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL.

Finding no error, we affirm.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING APPELLANT'S MOTION FOR DIRECTED VERDICT AND MOTION FOR JNOV, OR IN THE ALTERNATIVE, A MOTION FOR NEW TRIAL.

¶ 7. The standard of review we must employ upon our review of a denial of a motion for directed verdict or motion for JNOV has been aptly stated as such:

We must, with respect to each element of the offense, consider all of the evidence — not just the evidence which supports the case for the prosecution — in the light most favorable to the verdict. The credible evidence which is consistent with the guilt must be accepted as true. The prosecution must be given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. Matters regarding the weight and credibility to be accorded the evidence are to be resolved by the jury. We may reverse only where, with respect to one or more of the elements of the offense charged, the evidence so considered is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty.

Le v. State, 913 So.2d 913 (¶ 163) (Miss. 2005) (quoting Wetz v. State, 503 So.2d 803, 807 (Miss.1987)). Such is a high standard for any defendant to overcome, and one which Brownlee fails to do so here.

¶ 8. Brownlee was tried and convicted by a jury on two counts of violating Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-79 (Rev. 2006) which states:

Every person who shall feloniously take or attempt to take from the person or from the presence the personal property of another and against his will by violence to his person or by putting such person in fear of immediate injury to his *35 person by the exhibition of a deadly weapon shall be guilty of robbery and, upon conviction, shall be imprisoned for life in the state penitentiary if the penalty is so fixed by the jury; and in cases where the jury fails to fix the penalty at imprisonment for life in the state penitentiary the court shall fix the penalty at imprisonment in the state penitentiary for any term not less than three (3) years.

¶ 9. The testimony and evidence before the jury, as laid out above, shows that two witnesses identified Brownlee out of court from a photo array and also made in-court identifications of Brownlee as the culprit who robbed Green at gunpoint of $4,400. As to this, Brownlee argues that the photo lineup was "impermissibly suggestive" because he was the only individual who had dread locks and cites Dennis v. State,

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Related

Neil v. Biggers
409 U.S. 188 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Read v. State
430 So. 2d 832 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1983)
Houston v. State
887 So. 2d 808 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Nicholson v. State
523 So. 2d 68 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1988)
Smith v. State
821 So. 2d 908 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)
Le v. State
913 So. 2d 913 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)
McNeal v. State
405 So. 2d 90 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1981)
Dennis v. State
904 So. 2d 1134 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)
Wetz v. State
503 So. 2d 803 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
972 So. 2d 31, 2008 WL 73222, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brownlee-v-state-missctapp-2008.