Brunson v. State

944 So. 2d 922, 2006 WL 3593390
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 12, 2006
Docket2005-KA-00903-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 944 So. 2d 922 (Brunson 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
Brunson v. State, 944 So. 2d 922, 2006 WL 3593390 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

944 So.2d 922 (2006)

Jerry Ross BRUNSON, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KA-00903-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 12, 2006.

*923 Michael Duane Mitchell, attorney for appellant.

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

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

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Following a jury trial, Jerry Ross Brunson was convicted of selling cocaine to *924 an informant. Brunson was sentenced by the Jones County Circuit Court as a habitual offender to a term of sixty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved, Brunson appeals and asserts that the trial court erred in failing to dismiss the indictment for violation of the statutory 270-day rule, that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to support the jury's guilty verdict, and that the jury's verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On December 21, 2002, Yvonne Gandy, a confidential informant, and her husband, Curtis Chambers, went to the Laurel, Mississippi narcotics office, where they were searched and wired with electronic surveillance equipment. Immediately after leaving the narcotics office, the couple went to Brunson's residence, located at 811 Beacon Street, to purchase forty dollars worth of cocaine. Brunson informed Gandy that he had only fifteen dollars worth of cocaine, but he made a call in an attempt to obtain more.

¶ 4. Gandy recorded the sale using the video and audio equipment provided by the narcotics division. The video shows Brunson going upstairs and then returning to Gandy. The narcotics agents listened as the sale took place, and the audio recording was later transcribed. On January 4, 2003, after viewing the videotape, agents returned to Brunson's residence and arrested him. He later made bond and was released.

¶ 5. Brunson was arraigned on April 15, 2004, and his case was set for trial on August 17, 2004. Following arraignment, Brunson changed attorneys, and the court set a new trial date of September 30, 2004. On September 15, 2004, Brunson signed a petition to plead guilty. He was supposed to enter the plea on October 8, but he failed to appear. A bench warrant was issued on October 13, and Brunson was rearrested on November 22, 2004.

¶ 6. At trial, Gandy testified that she had not met Brunson prior to December 21, 2002, and she did not know his real name at the time of the sale. However, Gandy identified Brunson in court as the man from whom she had purchased cocaine. She also stated that she knew Brunson only by his "street" name. In contrast, Brunson testified that Gandy knew who he was because they had previously been involved in a sexual relationship and had smoked crack cocaine together on a prior occasion.

¶ 7. The jury was presented a copy of the transcript of the audiotaped recording of the sale. The arrest warrant, as well as the transcript, listed the person selling the drugs as Jerry Ross, and not as Jerry Ross Brunson. The narcotics officers did not learn Brunson's full name until after he was brought to the station. On January 5, 2003, the officers completed a second arrest warrant with Brunson's full name.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

¶ 8. Brunson contends that his statutory and constitutional rights to a speedy trial were violated.[1] Allegations that a defendant's right to a speedy trial have been violated are fact specific and are examined and determined on a case-by-case basis. Brengettcy v. State, 794 So.2d 987, 991 (¶ 7) (Miss.2001) (citing Sharp v. *925 State, 786 So.2d 372, 377 (¶ 4) (Miss.2001)). Criminal defendants have a constitutional right to a speedy trial, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 3, Section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution. Id. In addition, Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-17-1 (Rev.2000) provides, "[u]nless good cause be shown, and a continuance duly granted by the court, all offenses for which indictments are presented to the court shall be tried no later than two hundred seventy (270) days after the accused has been arraigned." We discuss the speedy trial issues in turn, first the statutory right and then the constitutional right.

1. Statutory Right to a Speedy Trial

¶ 9. For purposes of the 270-day rule, time commences to run at arraignment. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-17-1 (Rev. 2000). As noted in our statement of facts, Brunson was arraigned on April 15, 2004, and was initially set for trial on August 17. The trial date was changed to September 30 after Brunson changed lawyers. On September 15, 2004, Brunson signed a petition to plead guilty but failed to appear on October 8 to enter his plea. Brunson was tried on April 21, 2005, after being rearrested on November 22, 2004. A total of 371 days transpired between the date of Brunson's arraignment and the date of his trial.

¶ 10. As we have already noted, Brunson's case was first set for trial on August 17, 2004. He changed lawyers, and the trial date was changed to September 30. The record does not contain a motion seeking, or an order changing, the new date. However, a reasonable assumption is that new counsel sought the change. The trial judge did not address the time period between August 17 and September 30. However, he found that the prosecution was prepared to proceed to trial on September 30, 2004, the date of the second trial setting. Apparently no trial occurred on this date because two weeks earlier Brunson had executed a plea petition and was supposed to plead on October 8. On these facts, we find that the entire period of time between the initial trial date of August 17 and the trial date should be charged against Brunson. Therefore, of the 371 days elapsing between the date of Brunson's arraignment and the date of his trial, 247 days are chargeable to Brunson, leaving only 124 days chargeable to the State. We agree with the trial judge that, but for Brunson's own actions, Brunson would have been tried on September 30, 2004. In fact, had he not changed lawyers, he likely would have been tried on August 17, 2004. In any event, a trial on either date would have been within 270 days of Brunson's arraignment. Because there was no statutory violation, it is not necessary to address the State's responsibility to establish good cause for the delay in bringing Brunson to trial. "Delays attributable to the defendant toll the running of time." Spencer v. State, 592 So.2d 1382, 1387 (Miss.1991) (citing Vickery v. State, 535 So.2d 1371, 1375 (Miss.1988)).

2. Constitutional Right to a Speedy Trial

¶ 11. This Court applies the four-part test delineated in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972) in speedy trial analyses to determine whether the defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial has been impinged upon. Fulgham v. State, 770 So.2d 1021, 1023 (¶ 6) (Miss.Ct.App.2000). The four factors are: "(1) length of delay, (2) reason for delay, (3) defendant's assertion of his right to a speedy trial, and (4) the prejudice to the defendant." Barker, 407 U.S. at 533, 92 S.Ct. 2182.

*926 ¶ 12. In Spencer,

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