Dora v. State

986 So. 2d 965, 2007 WL 1413053
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 15, 2007
Docket2005-KP-00487-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 986 So. 2d 965 (Dora 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
Dora v. State, 986 So. 2d 965, 2007 WL 1413053 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

986 So.2d 965 (2007)

Terry DORA, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2005-KP-00487-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 15, 2007.
Rehearing Denied October 2, 2007.

*968 Terry Dora, Appellant, pro se.

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

Before MYERS, P.J., CHANDLER and GRIFFIS, JJ.

GRIFFIS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Terry Dora ("Dora") was convicted of possession of more than thirty grams of cocaine. He was sentenced, as an habitual offender, to serve a term of sixty years, without probation, parole, reduction, or suspension in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The trial court also fined Dora the sum of $2,000,000. On appeal, Dora argues that: (1) the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, (2) prosecutorial misconduct warranted a mistrial, (3) the court erred in denying jury instructions D-12 and 13, (4) one of the State's jury instructions misstated the law, (5) the indictment should have been quashed, (6) the indictment should not have been amended, (7) he was denied a speedy trial, (8) the trial court should have suppressed evidence seized pursuant to a warrant, (9) the trial court should have suppressed Rebecca Dora's statement due to State discovery violation, (10) there is newly discovered evidence, (11) instruction D-16 should have been granted, (12) Dora received ineffective assistance of counsel, and (13) the cumulative effect of these errors deprived Dora of a fair trial. We find error and reverse and remand for a new trial.

FACTS

¶ 2. On August 3, 2001, at about 12:30 p.m., the Columbus Police Department executed a search warrant for a home where suspected drug sales had occurred. The home was owned and occupied by Rebecca Dora, Dora's aunt. When the warrant was executed, Rebecca and her seventeen-year-old daughter were found in the living room on the couch. Officer Oscar Lewis testified he found Dora exiting the bathroom. Lewis ordered Dora on the ground. Lewis found 35.6 grams of crack cocaine hidden underneath tissue paper in the bathroom garbage can. He also found $1,050 hidden under towels in the bathroom shelves. A plastic bag of coffee grounds were in Dora's pockets. A set of digital scales was found on the table in the adjoining kitchen. Two grams of cocaine, some marijuana and $2,500 in cash were also found in Rebecca's bedroom. A mirror with suspected cocaine residue was found in the living room.

¶ 3. Dora, Rebecca and her daughter were all arrested for possession. The charges against Rebecca's daughter were soon dropped. Initially, Rebecca took responsibility for all the drugs found. At trial, she only took responsibility for what was found in her bedroom. She said that Dora had offered her $5,000 to "take the rap" for the cocaine. She said she did not know anything about the cash in the bathroom, but the $2,500 in her bedroom was Dora's money that he had asked her to hold for him.

¶ 4. Dora was indicted on November 7, 2001, for possession of cocaine more than thirty grams. After trial, the jury found Dora guilty. His appeal has been deflected to this Court for review.

ANALYSIS

I. Did the prosecutor's comment on Dora's failure to testify warrant a mistrial?

¶ 5. Of the thirteen issues argued by Dora, we find merit in Dora's argument that the prosecutor's comment on his failure to testify warranted a mistrial. Dora argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for mistrial. The State *969 argues that these comments were not about Dora's failure to testify.

¶ 6. The standard of review for denial of a motion for mistrial is abuse of discretion. Caston v. State, 823 So.2d 473, 492(¶ 54) (Miss.2002). "A mistrial is reserved for those instances where the trial court cannot take any action which would correct improper occurrences." Easter v. State, 878 So.2d 10, 21(¶ 34) (Miss.2004).

¶ 7. The determination appellate courts must apply to lawyer misconduct during opening statements or closing arguments is whether the natural and probable effect of the improper argument is to create unjust prejudice against the accused so as to result in a decision influenced by that prejudice. Caston, 823 So.2d at 495(¶ 71). During closing, a lawyer is entitled to argue her case, drawing all rational inferences which come from the evidence presented in the courtroom. Id. at 495-96(¶ 72). Attorneys are allowed wide latitude in arguing cases to the jury; however, prosecutors are not permitted to use tactics which are inflammatory, highly prejudicial, or reasonably calculated to unduly influence the jury. Sheppard v. State, 777 So.2d 659, 661(¶ 7) (Miss.2000).

¶ 8. The right not to testify against one's self is secured by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as in Article 3, section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution. This includes the right not to have the State comment on the exercise of this right. Whigham v. State, 611 So.2d 988, 995 (Miss.1992). "The right would be eviscerated if the government were free to make invidious reference when an accused chose not to testify." Id. The prosecutor is prohibited from making both direct comments and those "which could be reasonably construed by a jury as a comment on the defendant's failure to testify." Griffin v. State, 557 So.2d 542, 556 (Miss.1990). "[O]nce such improper comments are made the defendant is entitled to a mistrial. The error is incurable." Livingston v. State, 525 So.2d 1300, 1307 (Miss.1988). This is regardless of the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Id. at 1306.

¶ 9. For example, in Whigham, it was reversible error for the prosecutor to comment that the State's witnesses were unrebutted and unopposed, where the only one who could have rebutted the witnesses was the defendant. Whigham, 611 So.2d at 996. Whigham was convicted of sexually assaulting Norma Pratt. Id. at 990. Her brother Stewart was an eyewitness. Id. Both testified that Whigham had fondled her breasts. Id. at 990-92. The court held:

when the defendant is the only person who can rebut the testimony of a State witness, the prosecuting attorney is not free in his argument to also inform the jury that if what the State's witness said was not true, the defendant would, or could have taken the stand and defied it. . . . [I]t follows that the prosecution is equally prohibited from doing so indirectly or by implication. While the jury. . . may make such a deduction . . . it must have been entirely on its own, unassisted by any affirmative comment whatsoever from the State.

Id. at 995. The court found that Norma, Stewart, and Whigham were the only three eyewitnesses to this assault. Id. "The prosecution knew this, the jury knew it. The only living person capable of denying the positive testimony of Norma and Stewart. . . was Whigham." Id. From the prosecutor's remarks about these witnesses being unopposed, "the jury could reach no other conclusion except that the prosecuting attorneys telling them, `Look, if [the State's eyewitnesses] were not telling you the truth, [the defendant] would *970 have taken this witness stand and denied it.'" Id. at 996. The court reversed and remanded the case for a new trial, despite the fact that Whigham did not object to these comments at trial. Id. This was also despite the fact that the court, too, found the evidence undisputed. Id. at 992.

¶ 10.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
986 So. 2d 965, 2007 WL 1413053, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dora-v-state-missctapp-2007.