Forrest v. State

876 So. 2d 400, 2003 WL 22333496
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 14, 2003
Docket2002-KA-00683-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 876 So. 2d 400 (Forrest 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
Forrest v. State, 876 So. 2d 400, 2003 WL 22333496 (Mich. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

876 So.2d 400 (2003)

Morris FORREST a/k/a Bookie a/k/a Booke, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2002-KA-00683-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

October 14, 2003.
Rehearing Denied January 20, 2004.

*402 Leslie Jones Martin, Natchez, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

LEE, J., for the Court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. On April 17, 2002, Morris Forrest was convicted of the sale of a controlled substance, cocaine, by a jury in the Montgomery County Circuit Court. Forrest was charged and convicted as a second or subsequent offender under the sentence enhancement provisions of Mississippi Code Annotated Section 41-29-147 (Rev.2001), and received twenty-five years to be served in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Forrest now appeals to this Court asserting the following issues: (1) the lower court erred in failing to enforce rules established by Batson v. Kentucky by allowing the State to use all of its peremptory challenges on prospective black jurors; (2) the lower court erred in allowing the State to introduce evidence of crimes not charged against him; (3) the lower court erred in allowing the testimony of two eyewitnesses when their credibility was sufficiently impeached and when their testimony provided the only basis for the jury's conviction.

FACTS

¶ 2. Forrest was the subject of a controlled buy operation. On May 23, 2001, Forrest picked up Dorris Faye Banks at a store in Winona. They proceeded to the Hitching Post Motel, where they drove to the rear of the building. Steven Solomon, the undercover agent in charge of the controlled buy operation, and Chris Blaylock, the confidential informant, drove in and parked next to Forrest's car. Blaylock left the car, walked over to the driver's side of Forrest's car, introduced Solomon to Forrest and Banks, and then asked Forrest if "he had the stuff." Forrest was seen counting out the "stuff" and pouring it into his own hands. After receiving the cocaine from Forrest, Banks then got out of Forrest's car and handed Solomon fifteen rocks of crack cocaine. Solomon gave Banks $300, which she proceeded to give to Forrest. This transaction was recorded on audiotape and played for the jury.

DISCUSSION OF ISSUES

I. DID A BATSON VIOLATION OCCUR IN ALLOWING THE STATE TO USE ALL OF ITS PEREMPTORY CHALLENGES ON BLACK PROSPECTIVE JURORS?

¶ 3. With his first issue, Forrest, who is a black male, claims that the State used all four of its peremptory challenges to exclude prospective black jurors. Forrest also contends that the race-neutral reasons supplied by the State for excusing these four black jurors was inadequate and no outside proof was offered to substantiate its reasons. Our standard of review requires a reversal only if the factual findings *403 of the trial judge are "clearly erroneous or against the overwhelming weight of the evidence." Tanner v. State, 764 So.2d 385 (¶ 14) (Miss.2000). Any determination made by a trial judge under Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), is accorded great deference because it is "based, in a large part, on credibility." Coleman v. State, 697 So.2d 777, 785 (Miss.1997). The term "great deference" has been defined in the Batson context as meaning an insulation from appellate reversal of any trial findings which are not clearly erroneous. Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346, 1349 (Miss.1987).

¶ 4. The Batson decision provides procedural directives for the trial court to follow in detecting and disallowing the practice of using peremptory challenges to remove members of an identified racial group from jury service based upon nothing more than their racial identification. To successfully assert a Batson claim, the following procedure must occur:

First, the defendant must make a prima facie showing that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges on the basis of race. Second, if the requisite showing has been made, the burden shifts to the prosecutor to articulate a race-neutral explanation for striking the jurors in question. Finally, the trial court must determine whether the defendant has carried his burden of proving purposeful discrimination.

Berry v. State, 728 So.2d 568 (¶ 11) (Miss.1999) (citing Hernandez v. New York, 500 U.S. 352, 358-59, 111 S.Ct. 1859, 114 L.Ed.2d 395 (1991)). "When the prosecution gives race-neutral reasons for its peremptory strikes, the sufficiency of the defendant's prima facie case becomes moot." Manning v. State, 735 So.2d 323 (¶ 28) (Miss.1999). Furthermore, if the defendant offers no rebuttal, the trial court may base its decision solely on those reasons given by the prosecution. Id. at (¶ 29).

¶ 5. As is the proper procedure, Forrest objected to the State's exercising its peremptory challenges against prospective black jurors. The judge noted that all of the State's strikes were against black females and ruled that Forrest had made a prima facie case. The prosecution then proceeded with its racially-neutral reasons for doing so as required by Batson.

¶ 6. The prosecution's first peremptory challenge was exercised against juror number four, Gina Bays. The prosecution stated that when Forrest walked into the courtroom during jury selection, he smiled and waved at Miss Bays and she responded by smiling and waving back at him. Miss Bays admitted that she was related to Forrest, that she sees Forrest regularly, and that she was also the cousin of his girlfriend. The prosecution also stated that it had information that Miss Bays was involved in drug trafficking with Forrest. After hearing these reasons and with no rebuttal by the defendant, the judge found these reasons to be race-neutral. As the Mississippi Supreme Court has held that knowing the defendant is a sufficiently race-neutral reason for challenging potential jurors, we cannot find that the judge was in error in accepting the prosecution's reasons. See Porter v. State, 616 So.2d 899, 907 (Miss.1993); Griffin v. State, 607 So.2d 1197, 1203 (Miss.1992).

¶ 7. The second peremptory challenge was used against juror number five, Miss Robinson. The prosecution stated that Miss Robinson had two outstanding warrants for her arrest at the time of the venire. The prosecution believed the warrants charged Miss Robinson with false pretense. Forrest's rebuttal claimed that being charged with a crime is no reason to exclude a potential juror. The judge then noted that, although this reason would not *404 suffice to excuse Miss Robinson for cause, it was a sufficiently race-neutral reason to survive a Batson challenge. We cannot find that the judge erred in accepting the prosecution's peremptory challenge to Miss Robinson.

¶ 8. The third peremptory challenge was used against juror number twelve, Lisa Woods Herman. The prosecution struck Miss Herman because she was an alderman for the City of Duck Hill. The prosecution stated that it was familiar with Miss Herman's public opinions because she had "been in the paper, been a lot of controversy, a lot of turmoil about the police department, law enforcement." Forrest's only rebuttal was to claim that Batson prohibits the State from challenging black jurors. The judge noted that over the years Batson

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876 So. 2d 400, 2003 WL 22333496, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/forrest-v-state-missctapp-2003.