Carney v. State

821 So. 2d 853, 2002 WL 85759
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 22, 2002
Docket2000-KA-01638-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 821 So. 2d 853 (Carney 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
Carney v. State, 821 So. 2d 853, 2002 WL 85759 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

821 So.2d 853 (2002)

Charles CARNEY a/k/a Cool Charles, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2000-KA-01638-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

January 22, 2002.
Rehearing Denied April 2, 2002.
Certiorari Denied July 18, 2002.

*854 Glenn Louis White, Petal, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General, by Deirdre McCrory, Attorney for Appellee.

*855 Before McMILLIN, C.J., LEE, and MYERS, JJ.

LEE, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Charles Carney a/k/a Cool Charles was convicted of the sale or transfer of a controlled substance within 1,500 feet of a church as a habitual offender. Since the sale occurred within 1,500 feet of a church and Carney was a habitual offender, the trial judge sentenced him to the maximum sentence of 120 years. Feeling aggrieved, Carney has filed a timely appeal and asserts the following: (1) whether the trial judge improperly allowed the admission of evidence regarding prior bad acts without performing a balancing test and granting a limiting instruction, (2) whether the trial judge abused his discretion when he denied Carney's motion for directed verdict, (3) whether the trial judge's imposition of the 120 year sentence violated Carney's Eighth Amendment right. Finding these issues without merit, we affirm the decision of the trial judge.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the day in question, Officer Robert Cooper was working undercover with the Pearl River Basin Narcotics Task Force. Cooper met with officers to discuss the purchasing of drugs in Marion County. At this meeting, Officer Cooper obtained a twenty dollar bill to purchase drugs. Before Officer Cooper left the meeting the serial number from the twenty dollar bill he had been given was recorded, and he was given a hand held, high-band radio.

¶ 3. Officer Cooper proceeded to Short Owens Road and while traveling on this road a man later identified as Michael Stovall "hollered" and waved Cooper back. Stovall was standing in the roadway near Carney's house. Cooper drove back to where Stovall was standing.

¶ 4. Stovall approached the window of the vehicle and asked Cooper what he wanted. Cooper responded that he wanted a "twenty." This meant he wanted a twenty dollar rock of crack cocaine. Cooper testified that Stovall opened a matchbox and handed him a rock and then he gave Stovall the twenty dollar bill. Once in possession of the cocaine Cooper drove away.

¶ 5. As Cooper was driving away he radioed other officers involved in the drug operation and provided a description of Stovall. Cooper stated that as he drove away he saw officers approach Carney's residence and witnessed Stovall going inside of Carney's house. Cooper guessed that it took the officers approximately twenty to thirty seconds to arrive at Carney's residence. Thereafter, Cooper parked his vehicle and rode back to Carney's residence.

¶ 6. Cooper stated that the drug transaction took place near two churches. Greater Faith Ministry Church was 812 feet from where the sale occurred, and Greater Temple Church of Christ was 119 feet away from the location of the sale.

¶ 7. As a result of the search performed on Stovall, a homemade bong was found; however, no drugs or money were found on Stovall. Eventually, officers asked Carney for permission to search his residence.

¶ 8. Cooper testified that Carney gave verbal permission for the search to be conducted; nonetheless, before the search occurred Cooper discovered the twenty dollar bill he had given to Stovall to purchase the cocaine balled up tightly in Carney's fist. Cooper said that once he took the money out of Carney's hand, Carney told him that he had gotten the money as change for groceries he had purchased at the Piggly Wiggly earlier that day.

*856 ¶ 9. No cocaine was recovered.

¶ 10. Julie Nibert, one of the officers on patrol, who aided in arresting Stovall, stated that Stovall was standing in Carney's doorway at the time she and other officers approached Carney's house. Nibert confirmed that a bong was found on Stovall; however, no drugs were recovered. Nibert estimated that less than a minute had passed from the time she saw Stovall in the door until she was removing Stovall from the doorway.

¶ 11. Stovall testified that on the day in question he was at Carney's house. Stovall stated that typically before he went out he would go by Carney's house and Carney would give him drugs to sell. However, on the day in question Stovall did not stay at Carney's to sell the drugs he had received. Instead, Stovall went elsewhere and returned later that night to give Carney the money for the drugs he had sold. While Stovall was there to give Carney the money from the sale of the drugs a truck passed Carney's house. Carney essentially asked Stovall if he could "catch" the truck and he did. This resulted in the sale of crack cocaine Stovall made to Officer Cooper.

¶ 12. Stovall explained that once he received the twenty dollar bill from Cooper he gave it to Carney, because that was what he always did. Stovall contended that when he gave Carney the twenty dollar bill he also gave Carney cocaine. Stovall explained that he and Carney were standing in the kitchen and about ten minutes later the police arrived. Stovall stated that he went to the door carrying a pill bottle containing cocaine; however, upon opening the door he saw the police officer. Thereafter, he shut the door. Stovall then threw the pill bottle behind him to Carney and re-opened the door and let the officer take him outside.

¶ 13. On cross-examination, counsel for Carney questioned Stovall about whether he had informed his girlfriend Linda Ellis that he had gotten the cocaine from a Jeffery Brown. Stovall denied making this statement, and contended that Linda Ellis was there when Carney gave him the drugs.

¶ 14. Beverly Hall testified on behalf of Carney. Hall asserted that Stovall did not sell drugs for Carney. Hall explained that on the day in question, Stovall had arrived at the house asking for change for a twenty dollar bill. Hall stated that she took the twenty dollar bill and placed it on the kitchen table where Carney was eating. However, Stovall changed his mind and told Carney to keep the twenty dollar bill because he might need Carney to bail him out of jail later due to potential domestic problems with Linda Ellis.

¶ 15. Linda Ellis testified that Stovall had told her that he received the cocaine from Jeffery Brown. However, she did not see Jeffery Brown give Stovall the drugs. Additionally, Ellis denied that Stovall was selling drugs for Carney. However, Ellis stated that she had observed Stovall go into Carney's apartment twice that day.

¶ 16. Ricky Fulgham testified that he was in jail on a trespassing charge at the time it was rumored that Stovall and Carney had been arrested. Fulgham contended that later that same night Stovall was put in his cell block and was talking about how he had sold drugs to an undercover cop and had given the twenty dollar bill to Beverly Hall who was residing with Carney at the time.

¶ 17. Carney testified that on the day in question he did not have the opportunity to see Stovall until between 11:30 and 12:00 p.m. Carney repeated the version of events told by Hall. Carney also denied that he had given any controlled substances *857 to Stovall, or that he was even in possession of any controlled substances.

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL JUDGE IMPROPERLY ALLOWED THE ADMISSION OF EVIDENCE REGARDING PRIOR BAD ACTS WITHOUT PERFORMING A BALANCING TEST AND GRANTING A LIMITING INSTRUCTION.

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Related

Forkner v. State
902 So. 2d 615 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2004)

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Bluebook (online)
821 So. 2d 853, 2002 WL 85759, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carney-v-state-missctapp-2002.