Cook v. State

953 So. 2d 271, 2007 Miss. App. LEXIS 143, 2007 WL 738728
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMarch 13, 2007
DocketNo. 2005-KA-02138-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 953 So. 2d 271 (Cook 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
Cook v. State, 953 So. 2d 271, 2007 Miss. App. LEXIS 143, 2007 WL 738728 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

ROBERTS, J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. On October 11, 2005, Donnie Richard Cook was convicted of willfully, unlawfully and feloniously having in his possession two or more precursor chemicals with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, a controlled substance, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 41-29 — 313(l)(a)(I) (Rev.2005). Cook was subsequently sentenced as a habitual offender to a term of thirty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, without the benefit of parole, suspension or reduction of sentence. Cook now appeals and raises the following issues,

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN PERMITTING THE STATE’S EXPERT TO TESTIFY THAT EPHEDRINE AND PSEU-DOEPHEDRINE ARE USED TO MANUFACTURE METHAMPHETAMINE.

II. WHETHER THE VERDICT WAS CONTRARY TO THE LAW AND AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

III. WHETHER THE COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING THE DEFENDANT’S OBJECTION TO LEADING.

IV. WHETHER THE COURT ERRED IN SUSTAINING THE STATE’S OBJECTION DURING COOK’S CROSS-EXAMINATION OF DEPUTY REN-FROE.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On the night of December 15, 2004, Deputies Chris Renfroe, Randy Johnson and Marcus Lingle with the Scott County Sheriffs Office prepared to serve an arrest warrant on Jared Cook, the Defendant’s son, at the home of Bernie Cook, Jared Cook’s grandmother. Lingle and Johnson waited at the front of the house while Renfroe went around to the back of Bernie Cook’s home in an attempt to close off Jared Cook’s escape route in the event he tried to evade capture. Once positioned in the backyard, Renfroe testified he noticed smoke coming from an open window of the [274]*274house. Approaching the window to investigate, he was initially taken aback by the smell emanating from the window, which he later identified as a typical smell surrounding a methamphetamine lab. After recovering, Renfroe looked through the window and saw Jared Cook, Shelia Matthews and Cook in the room. Renfroe testified that he saw all three individuals leave the room, but added that before Cook ran out he “picked up what [Renfroe] perceived to be a meth lab.” Renfroe described the “meth lab” in further detail, explaining that “it was a plastic container with a tube run[ning] out of it into a glass jar.”

¶ 3. After seeing the three individuals leave the room, Renfroe circled back around to the front of the house where he discovered that Jared Cook had already been arrested. Renfroe informed the other deputies of what he witnessed resulting in the arrest of Matthews and Cook. Following the trio’s arrest, the deputies searched the house. They found a coffee filter in the smoke filled room with an unknown substance on it that would later be identified by the State’s expert, Keith McMahon, as ephedrine pseudoephedrine, as well as other coffee filters with traces of methamphetamine and ephedrine pseu-doephedrine. The deputies then discovered the “meth lab” in the living room. McMahon testified that the plastic bottle contained traces of ephedrine pseu-doephedrine and that liquid from the glass jar was composed of ethyl ether, ethynes and hexanes.

¶4. Matthews, Jared Cook and Cook were indicted on August 1, 2005, for violation of section 41 — 29—313(l)(a)(i), and Matthews and Jared Cook would subsequently plead guilty. Cook’s trial was held on October 11, 2005. He was found to be guilty as charged, and was sentenced on October 13, 2005 as a habitual offender, in accordance with Mississippi Code Annotated Section 99-19-81 (Rev.2000), to a term of thirty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, without the benefit of parole, suspension or reduction of sentence. Following the lower court’s denial of Cook’s motion for a new trial, he perfected his appeal to this Court.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN PERMITTING THE STATE’S EXPERT TO TESTIFY THAT EPHEDRINE AND PSEU-DOEPHEDRINE ARE USED TO MANUFACTURE METHAMPHETAMINE.

¶ 5. Rule 702 of the Mississippi Rules of Evidence states, “If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, expertise, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.” M.R.E. 702. Decisions of the trial court to admit or deny expert testimony are reviewed under the clearly erroneous standard. Winters v. State, 773 So.2d 973(¶ 5) (Miss.Ct.App.2000).

¶ 6. Cook argues that the trial court erred in allowing the State’s expert witness, McMahon, to testify as to what ephedrine and pseudoephedrine were used for in the realm of drug manufacturing. Specifically, Cook’s trial counsel, Jason Mangum, made objections during the following colloquies,

Q. Now can you tell us in the drug manufacturing area what is ephedrine and pseudoephedrine used for?
[275]*275BY MR. MANGUM: Your Honor, I believe that he hasn’t been qualified as an expert in this area.
BY THE COURT: Well a person can be an expert in more than one area and I think the witness is qualified to give expert opinion regarding the question that’s been asked of him. Overruled.
[[Image here]]
Q. Can you tell us what the substance in there is and how much of it is there?
A. It was ephedrine pseudoephedrine in the amount of 0.14 grams.
Q. And that substance is used by — that part of the substance is used to manufacture what clandestine operation?
A. To make amphetamine.
BY MR. MANGUM: Your Honor, same objection.
BY THE COURT: Overruled.

¶ 7. In support of his argument, Cook cites Sample v. State, 643 So.2d 524 (Miss.1994) and Walker v. State, 740 So.2d 873 (Miss.1999). However, in both Sample and Walker the testimony of the witnesses in issue was so specialized as to bring it under the category of expert opinion but in neither case were the witnesses qualified as experts. Sample, 643 So.2d at 530; Walker, 740 So.2d at (¶ 34). In contrast, McMahon was offered and accepted, without objection, as an expert in drug analysis and identification. During the voir dire of McMahon, he listed his various qualifications, experience and education pertaining to drug analysis and identification. One such qualification was the successful completion of a training program offered by the Mississippi Crime Laboratory. McMahon stated that the “training included specific reading assignments, one-on-one discussions and the supervising of drugs. Topics covered included instrumentation operation and usage and the physical and chemical properties of various controlled substances.” McMahon’s testimony concerning the knowledge gained through this training.is exactly what was objected to at trial and what is being appealed in the case sub judice. In light of McMahon’s direct testimony on his training of the “chemical properties of various controlled substances,” it was not clearly erroneous for the trial court to allow an expert in the fields of drug analysis and identification to testify as to the chemical make up of methamphetamine. This issue is without merit.

II.

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Curry v. State
249 So. 2d 414 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1971)
Sample v. State
643 So. 2d 524 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1994)
Kerns v. State
923 So. 2d 210 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Kerns v. State
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Bluebook (online)
953 So. 2d 271, 2007 Miss. App. LEXIS 143, 2007 WL 738728, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cook-v-state-missctapp-2007.