Dorsey v. State

986 So. 2d 1080, 2008 WL 2806355
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 22, 2008
Docket2007-KA-00336-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 986 So. 2d 1080 (Dorsey 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
Dorsey v. State, 986 So. 2d 1080, 2008 WL 2806355 (Mich. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

986 So.2d 1080 (2008)

Lakeith DORSEY, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2007-KA-00336-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

July 22, 2008.

*1081 Tommy Wayne Defer, Water Valley, attorney for appellant.

Office of The Attorney General by Laura Hogan Tedder, attorney for appellee.

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

CHANDLER, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. LaKeith Dorsey and others were indicted for the armed robbery of the Isle of Capri Casino in Lula, Mississippi. In January 2004, Dorsey was tried separately for armed robbery in the Circuit Court of Coahoma County. The jury found Dorsey guilty, and the trial court sentenced him to twenty-five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. The trial court granted Dorsey's motion for an out-of-time appeal for good cause shown. Thereupon, Dorsey filed this appeal in which he challenges the weight and sufficiency of the evidence.

¶ 2. We find that the trial court lacked discretion to allow an out-of-time appeal of Dorsey's conviction and sentence. However, we agree with the trial court's finding of good cause shown. Therefore, we suspend *1082 the time for taking an appeal pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Appellate Procedure 2(c) and grant this out-of-time appeal. We find that the evidence was sufficient to support the verdict and that the verdict was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Therefore, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On the morning of September 11, 2003, Barbara Johnson, a cashier, and Tracy Willis, a shift manager, were working inside a cage in the Isle of Capri Casino.[1] The cage was located near a roped-off "pit" area containing card tables. Shortly before 7:00 a.m., two masked men ran into the casino and jumped the ropes into the pit area. Both men wore gloves and wielded guns. The taller man held his gun on the casino patrons seated at the card tables and told them to get down on the floor. The shorter man approached the cage and told Willis to "get over here and get me the money." He passed Willis a white bag, which she filled with money and returned to the man. According to Johnson, Willis appeared to be scared during this transaction. Both men ran out of the casino and got into the back seat of a brown Oldsmobile sedan, which was driven by a third man. The car sped across the nearby bridge to Helena, Arkansas. A total of $64,310 in cash was taken from the casino. One casino employee testified that the shorter man was about five feet, eight inches tall, while another employee testified that the shorter man was about five feet, five inches tall.

¶ 4. Once in Helena, the three men met a fourth man, who was waiting inside a blue Oldsmobile sedan parked behind a deserted gas station. The four men abandoned the brown sedan and drove away in the blue sedan. Several minutes later, officers with the West Helena, Arkansas Police Department, who had been alerted about the robbery, attempted to stop the blue sedan. The blue sedan initially stopped for the police, but then accelerated. The police pursued the blue sedan, which promptly struck a fence and stopped. The sedan's four occupants fled.

¶ 5. The police captured Danyel Richardson at the scene of the crash. A short time later, the police apprehended Tremayne Douglas and Caidree Harris. These three men waived extradition to Mississippi. Dorsey was captured several days later in Tunica, Mississippi. Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson, Jr., testified that Richardson is six feet, two inches tall and that Dorsey is five feet, three inches tall.

¶ 6. A white pillow case containing $64,309 in cash was found lying on the ground outside the rear driver's side door of the blue sedan. A red bandanna, a toboggan hat, and a white baseball cap were found on the ground nearby. Another red bandanna and toboggan hat were found inside the sedan. A nickel-plated 9mm handgun was recovered from the floor of the passenger compartment. Dorsey's Mississippi identification card was located inside the vehicle. Police determined that the blue sedan was registered to Dorsey and that the brown sedan had been stolen in Tunica several hours before the robbery.

¶ 7. Richardson, Douglas, and Dorsey were indicted as principals to the armed robbery, and Harris was indicted as an accessory after the fact. Douglas and Harris testified at Dorsey's trial on behalf of the State. Both denied having made a *1083 deal with the State in exchange for their testimony. Douglas testified that he was the driver of the brown sedan. He stated that he, Dorsey, and Richardson all met in Tunica. Douglas testified that Richardson told him to stop at the casino because Richardson needed to cash a check. Douglas stated that at the casino, Richardson and Dorsey exited the car and returned about ten minutes later. Douglas said he did not see them go inside the casino, but he assumed that they did. When they returned, Richardson yelled at Douglas to drive away, and they traveled to Helena, Arkansas where they switched cars. Douglas testified that he is approximately five feet, eleven inches tall.

¶ 8. Harris testified that he was the driver of the blue sedan. Harris stated that Richardson, Dorsey, and Douglas drove off in the brown car, and they left him waiting with the blue car running at the deserted gas station. Douglas was driving the brown car. Between five to ten minutes later, they returned and got into the blue car; Harris drove the blue car. Harris testified that when the police tried to pull them over, Richardson pulled a gun on him and ordered him to drive away. Harris denied having known of the armed robbery plan. He testified that he is approximately five feet, eight inches tall.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

I. THE TRIAL COURT LACKED THE DISCRETION TO GRANT DORSEY'S MOTION FOR AN OUT-OF-TIME APPEAL.

¶ 9. The order denying Dorsey's motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or a new trial was entered on March 22, 2004. With new counsel, Dorsey filed his motion to appeal out of time on January 16, 2007. In the motion, Dorsey alleged that his trial counsel, Azki Shah, had been disbarred and suspended from the practice of law by orders of the Supreme Court of Mississippi entered on June 23, 2005, and January 4, 2007. Dorsey stated that an appeal of the conviction was never filed by Shah, and he had done nothing to cause his appeal to be untimely filed. On February 1, 2007, the trial court granted the motion for good cause shown, giving Dorsey thirty days from the date of the order in which to perfect his appeal. Accordingly, Dorsey filed his notice of appeal on February 26, 2007. Neither party's brief addresses the timeliness of this appeal.

¶ 10. A trial court has the authority to grant a criminal defendant's motion for an out-of-time appeal if grounds exist and the request is brought under the Mississippi Uniform Post-Conviction Collateral Relief Act (UPCCRA). Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-5(1)(h) (Rev.2007); see Harris v. State, 578 So.2d 617, 619 (Miss.1991). However, the trial court's authority to grant an out-of-time appeal under the UPCCRA was not implicated here. This is because the trial court did not consider Dorsey's motion under the UPCCRA, and Dorsey's motion did not invoke the UPCCRA or make any attempt at compliance with the UPCCRA's pleading requirements. See Miss.Code Ann. § 99-39-9 (Rev.2007).

¶ 11.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
986 So. 2d 1080, 2008 WL 2806355, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dorsey-v-state-missctapp-2008.