Craig D. Sallie v. State of Mississippi

155 So. 3d 760, 2015 Miss. LEXIS 38, 2015 WL 270041
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 22, 2015
Docket2012-CT-01280-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 155 So. 3d 760 (Craig D. Sallie v. State of Mississippi) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Craig D. Sallie v. State of Mississippi, 155 So. 3d 760, 2015 Miss. LEXIS 38, 2015 WL 270041 (Mich. 2015).

Opinions

KING, Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Craig Sallie was convicted of aggravated assault for shooting Gregory Johnson in the back with a firearm, as well as of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He was sentenced to twenty years for the aggravated assault conviction and ten years for the possession of a firearm conviction, to run concurrently. The trial court also sentenced Sallie to an additional ten years pursuant to the firearm sentence enhancement statute, with that sentence to run consecutively to the other sentences. The Court of Appeals affirmed Sallie’s convictions and sentence, finding that the trial court did not err by limiting Sallie’s cross-examination of Johnson, and that Sallie’s lack of notice of the firearm enhancement did not render the sentence illegal. Sallie moved for rehearing, which the Court of Appeals denied. Sallie then petitioned this Court for certiorari review. We granted Sallie’s petition to address the issue of whether Sallie was entitled to notice of the firearm enhancement to his sentence.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. For the most part, the recitation of relevant facts is taken from the Court of Appeals opinion:

Prior to the incident giving rise to Sallie’s convictions, Sallie accused Johnson of stealing a bottle of whiskey from him. Johnson testified that Sallie had threatened him twice regarding the whiskey. On November 28, 2011, an unarmed Johnson walked past Sallie’s house en route to his own home.[ ] According to Johnson, as he walked past Sallie’s house, Sallie yelled to him, demanding that Johnson come into his yard. Johnson refused and told Sallie to come into the street so that they could settled the dispute like men. Johnson admitted that he called Sallie a coward and a b* * * *.■ He testified that Sallie then pulled out a gun and stated, “Naw, you come in my yard.” When Johnson turned to walk away, Sallie started shooting at him. Sallie shot Johnson five times, with one bullet hitting Johnson in the spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. In his statement to the police, Sallie claimed that Johnson came into his yard acting like he was drunk and “maybe high.” He also stated that Johnson initiated the dialogue and that he was “mumbling” words to Sallie. Sallie added that he “reacted without conscious” and shot Johnson, but that he did not initially intend to get violent with him.
Johnson admitted that he drank whiskey and smoked marijuana on the day of the incident before the shooting occurred. He denied using cocaine that day, but admitted that he had used cocaine in the past....

Sallie v. State, 155 So.3d 872, 873, 2013 WL 6233904, at *1, 2012-KA-01280-COA (Miss.Ct.App. Dec. 3, 2013).

¶ 3. At the close of the trial, the jury was instructed. The jury instruction on aggravated assault required that the jury find beyond a reasonable doubt that Sallie “[d]id purposely, knowingly, feloniously and intentionally cause or attempt to cause bodily injury to Gregory Johnson, a human being, by the use of a deadly weapon or other means likely to produce death or [762]*762serious bodily harm” and that he did so “[b]y shooting Gregory Johnson in the back with a firearm.” Moreover, the jury instruction on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon required that the jury find beyond a reasonable doubt that Sallie “[djid unlawfully, knowingly and felo-niously possess a firearm” when Sallie “had previously been convicted of a felony offense.” After the jury convicted Sallie on both counts, the trial judge scheduled the sentencing hearing and stated that “I also wish to consider the firearm enhancement as provided by 97-37-37(2).” See Miss.Code Ann. § 97-37-37(2) (Rev. 2014) (“any convicted felon who uses or displays a firearm during the commission of any felony shall ... be sentenced to an additional term of imprisonment ... of ten (10) years.... ”).

¶ 4. At the sentencing hearing, Sallie objected to consideration of the Section 97-37-37 firearm enhancement based on a lack of notice from the State and based on the trial court raising the enhancement sua sponte. The trial court sentenced Sallie to twenty years for aggravated assault, ten years for felon in possession of a firearm, and then enhanced his sentence by ten years under Section 97-37-37(2).

¶ 5. Sallie appealed, arguing that the trial court erred by limiting Sallie’s cross-examination of Johnson regarding Johnson’s alleged cocaine use, and arguing that the firearm enhancement to his sentence was illegal given that he did not receive fair, pretrial notice that he might be sentenced under that statute. Sallie argued that the lack of notice, or unfair surprise, regarding the firearm enhancement violated due process. The Court of Appeals affirmed Sallie’s convictions and sentence. It found that the trial court “did not abuse its discretion in sustaining the State’s objection to defense counsel’s line of questioning inferring that Johnson had used cocaine on the day of the incident.” Sallie, 155 So.3d at 874, 2013 WL 6233904, at *2. The Court of Appeals then found that the enhanced portion of Sallie’s sentence was legal. It analyzed Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 466, 120 S.Ct. 2348, 147 L.Ed.2d 435 (2000), and found that all the elements of the firearm enhancement had properly been submitted to the jury and had been found by the jury beyond a reasonable doubt. It concluded that the indictment need not make reference to the enhancement statute, therefore, there was no unfair surprise regarding the firearm enhancement.

¶ 6. Sallie filed a petition for writ of certiorari with this Court, which we granted. We agree that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by limiting Sallie’s cross-examination of Johnson. Therefore, we limit our review to the question of whether Sallie received fair notice of the firearm enhancement. See Guice v. State, 952 So.2d 129, 133 (Miss.2007) (Supreme Court “unquestionably” has the authority to limit the issues on review).

ANALYSIS

¶ 7. Whether a defendant received fair notice of a sentence enhancement is a question of law that we review de novo. See Williams v. State, 131 So.3d 1174, 1176-77 (Miss.2014).

¶ 8. We agree with the Court of Appeals that the jury must find the elements of the firearm enhancement beyond a reasonable doubt under Apprendi before a trial court may apply the enhancement.1 [763]*763We also agree that, given the elements of the crimes as listed in the jury instructions, the jury in this case found the elements of the firearm enhancement beyond a reasonable doubt. That analysis, however, fails to address the crux of Sallie’s argument, that he has a right to fair notice that the sentence enhancement is being sought.2

¶ 9. Sallie’s indictment did not indicate that the State would seek any sentence enhancement. Furthermore, the State in no way indicated pretrial that it would seek the firearm enhancement.3 Only after the jury convicted Sallie did Sallie receive any indication that the trial court might consider the firearm enhancement at sentencing.

¶ 10. The firearm enhancement applied to Sallie’s case applies when a prior convicted felon uses or displays a firearm during the commission of a felony. Miss. Code Ann.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Latoya Brisco v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Quayteace Samarashood Evans v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Cortez Watts v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Craig D. Sallie v. State of Mississippi
237 So. 3d 749 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2018)
Jameil Clark v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017
Zack Cozar v. State of Mississippi
226 So. 3d 574 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2017)
Derrick Dortch v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017
Craig D. Sallie v. State of Mississippi
237 So. 3d 758 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Jeffery Johnson v. State of Mississippi
194 So. 3d 191 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Quincy Clayton v. State of Mississippi
164 So. 3d 522 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
155 So. 3d 760, 2015 Miss. LEXIS 38, 2015 WL 270041, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/craig-d-sallie-v-state-of-mississippi-miss-2015.