Carter v. State

965 So. 2d 705, 2007 WL 1248223
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 1, 2007
Docket2005-KA-01623-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 965 So. 2d 705 (Carter 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
Carter v. State, 965 So. 2d 705, 2007 WL 1248223 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

965 So.2d 705 (2007)

Jason CARTER, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KA-01623-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 1, 2007.
Rehearing Denied September 25, 2007.

*706 Walter E. Wood, Ridgeland, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Deirdre McCrory, attorney for appellee.

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

IRVING, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Jason Carter was convicted by a Madison County jury of three counts of armed robbery, and was sentenced by the Madison County Circuit Court to a total of thirty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.[1] Aggrieved, Carter appeals and asserts the following four errors: that his initial stop by police was unlawful and that the evidence discovered as a result of the stop should not have been admitted at trial, that his inculpatory statement to police should not have been admitted, that the evidence against him is insufficient to support his conviction, and that the court erred in allowing hearsay testimony by one of the police officers involved in the case.

¶ 2. Finding error, we affirm in part and reverse and render in part.

FACTS

¶ 3. On April 28, 2003, Officer Christopher Corley of the Canton Police Department was dispatched to the Westside Trailer Park in Canton. Once there, Officer Corley encountered three visibly distressed individuals of Hispanic descent, two women and one man. Police officers determined the identity of the three individuals, but never testified regarding the identity of the victims at trial. Officer Corley testified that the individuals did not speak much English, but that they were able to relate that they had been robbed at gunpoint by three individuals.[2] The *707 perpetrators were described by the victims as three black males, one large, one skinny, one wearing a black T-shirt, and one wearing a white T-shirt. This description was sent out over the police radio.

¶ 4. Shortly after the description went out, Deputy Alex Slaughter observed three black males, including Jason Carter, who fit the description given by the victims. Evidence indicated that the location where Carter and the other individuals were observed was within a mile of the Westside Trailer Park. At that time, Deputy Slaughter called for backup. After other officers arrived, Carter and the others were patted down, and a pistol was located on Carter's person. The pistol was taken from Carter, and he was placed on the ground and secured with handcuffs. A further search of Carter revealed a receipt with a Hispanic name on it, a twenty-dollar bill, a wrist watch, and a small amount of money. A "piece of gray material" was also discovered.

¶ 5. The next morning, Carter was interviewed at the Madison County Police Department after executing a written waiver of his Miranda rights. Carter confessed that he, Joshua Carter, and Brien Hill had robbed three individuals at the Westside Trailer Park. Carter gave additional details regarding the robbery. Investigator Don Hicks transcribed Carter's confession and then allowed Carter to read the confession. At that time, Carter noted a needed correction, which Investigator Hicks made. Carter initialed the correction.

¶ 6. Thereafter, Carter was tried and convicted by a Madison County jury. Additional facts, as necessary, will be related during our analysis and discussion of the issues.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

1. Suppression of Evidence

¶ 7. In his first and third contentions of error, Carter claims that the trial court erred in refusing to suppress evidence obtained after Carter was stopped by police. Specifically, Carter claims that the stop was made without reasonable suspicion and that the evidence resulting therefrom should therefore have been suppressed.

¶ 8. Carter was initially detained for an investigative stop, and was arrested only after a pistol was discovered on his person. The Mississippi Supreme Court has stated that "[t]he constitutional requirements for an investigative stop and detention are less stringent than those for an arrest. This Court has recognized that `given reasonable circumstances an officer may stop and detain a person to resolve an ambiguous situation without having sufficient knowledge to justify an arrest. . . .'" Wilson v. State, 935 So.2d 945, 950(¶ 18) (Miss.2006) (quoting Floyd v. City of Crystal Springs, 749 So.2d 110, 114(¶ 16) (Miss.1999)). The Court discussed what constitutes reasonable suspicion: "whether, taking into account the totality of the circumstances, the detaining officers had a `particularized and objective basis for suspecting the particular person . . . of criminal activity.'" Id. (quoting Floyd, 749 So.2d at 115(¶ 17)).

¶ 9. Taking into account the totality of the circumstances, the officers had reasonable suspicion to stop Carter. Carter was observed within fifteen to twenty minutes of the robbery, in close proximity to the location of the robbery, and he and the individuals with him fit the general description of the perpetrators given to the police. Therefore, the officers had a "particularized *708 and objective basis for suspecting" Carter of having been involved in criminal activity. This issue is without merit.

2. Suppression of Statement

¶ 10. In his second claim of error, Carter argues that the court erred in refusing to suppress his statement, which Carter alleges was involuntary.

¶ 11. Carter appears to argue that his statement was involuntary, not because he was coerced by officers, but because he did not actually make the statement that was introduced into evidence. However, to date Carter has produced no evidence that the statement was falsified or was not accurate, other than his own assertions that he did not make any statement to the police. No evidence has been offered to show that Carter's signature on the statement was falsified. Therefore, the court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to suppress Carter's inculpatory statement, as no credible evidence was presented to indicate that the statement was anything other than a voluntary statement.

3. Sufficiency of the Evidence

¶ 12. In this assertion of error, Carter claims that the evidence introduced at trial was insufficient to sustain a conviction for armed robbery against the individuals named in the indictment. Specifically, Carter contends that the receipt found in his pocket is the only evidence identifying any of the individuals who were held at gunpoint while the trailer was being searched. That receipt identified only Eva Rivera. As Carter notes, the record is entirely devoid of any evidence identifying Margarita Garcia or Lino DeJesus Garcia, the other individuals identified in the indictment. Although Carter admits in his statement that one of his codefendants held a gun on the victims outside of the trailer, nothing in the statement identifies Margarita or Lino. Further, although Officer Corley talked to three people outside of the trailer and obtained their identity, neither he nor any other officer testified as to their identity during the trial.[3]

¶ 13. Evidence supporting a conviction is insufficient when "evidence of one or more of the elements of the charged offense is such that reasonable and fair-minded jurors could only find the accused not guilty." Wilson v. State, 936 So.2d 357, 363(¶ 16) (Miss.2006) (citing Hawthorne v. State, 835 So.2d 14, 21(¶ 31) (Miss.2003)).

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Bluebook (online)
965 So. 2d 705, 2007 WL 1248223, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carter-v-state-missctapp-2007.