Foster v. State

928 So. 2d 873, 2005 WL 2496116
Court of Appeals of Mississippi·Decided October 11, 2005·No. 2004-KA-01470-COA·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

928 So.2d 873 (2005)

James Stanley FOSTER, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-KA-01470-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

October 11, 2005.
Rehearing Denied February 14, 2006.

*877 Thomas H. Comer, Booneville, attorney for appellant.

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

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

BRIDGES, P.J., for the Court.

¶ 1. James Stanley Foster's appeal follows his conviction in the Prentiss County Circuit Court. A jury found Foster guilty of possession of 73.7 grams of marijuana with intent to distribute. Due to Foster's proximity to a public park, his conviction carried an enhanced sentence pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 41-29-142(1)(Rev.2001). Additionally, the circuit court sentenced Foster as a habitual offender under Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-81(Rev.2000).

¶ 2. After Foster filed an unsuccessful motion for a new trial or judgment notwithstanding the verdict, the circuit court sentenced Foster to a forty-year term in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections without the benefit of probation or parole and gave him a $60,000 fine. Aggrieved, Foster appeals and raises seven issues:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE USE OVER [FOSTER'S] OBJECTION OF EVIDENCE NOT DISCLOSED UNDER URCCCP 9.04.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENSE MOTION FOR DIRECTED VERDICT ON ENHANCED POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE CHARGE BECAUSE THE STATE FAILED TO PROVE THE PARK WAS A PUBLIC PARK.
III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE INTRODUCTION OVER [FOSTER'S] OBJECTION CONCERNING MEASUREMENTS FROM THE ALLEGED CRIME TO THE ALLEGED PARK.
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENSE MOTION FOR MISTRIAL AFTER THE PROSECUTION REPEATEDLY REFERRED TO CERTAIN EVIDENCE AS MARIJUANA WHEN IT HADN'T BEEN ESTABLISHED WHAT THE SUBSTANCE WAS.
V. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING [FOSTER'S] MOTION TO SUPPRESS THE DEFENDANT'S STATEMENT.
*878 VI. THE STATE FAILED TO PROVE ITS CASE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.
VII. THE SENTENCE IMPOSED WAS UNCONSTITUTIONAL.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On November 25, 2003, Sergeant Byron Parker of the Booneville, Mississippi Police Department observed Foster driving forty-six miles-per-hour in a thirty mile-per-hour zone. Sergeant Parker attempted to stop Foster but Foster did not stop his car. Foster kept driving until he got to his house. Sergeant Parker followed Foster into the driveway of Foster's home. Foster got out of his car. Sergeant Parker arrested Foster for speeding and driving without a license.

¶ 4. When Sergeant Parker attempted to put Foster in handcuffs, Foster escaped and fled. Foster's escape ended abruptly when Foster tripped over a curb and fell. Sergeant Parker caught Foster and successfully handcuffed Foster. When Sergeant Parker searched Foster, Sergeant Parker found a large amount of marijuana in Foster's pocket.

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING THE USE OVER [FOSTER'S] OBJECTION OF EVIDENCE NOT DISCLOSED UNDER URCCCP 9.04.

¶ 5. First, Foster claims the State failed to provide him with (1) "documents and statements of prosecution witnesses concerning the arrest;" (2) "discovery in connection with the physical evidence [the State] claimed to have found in the inventory search;" and (3) "witness reports concerning measurements" until noon of the day before trial. Foster reasons that the State failed to follow Rule 9.04(A) of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court. Rule 9.04(A) says "the prosecution must disclose to each defendant ... and permit the defendant ... to inspect, copy, test, and photograph upon written request" certain evidence listed in the rule.

¶ 6. Applying the language of the rule, Foster was not entitled to discovery. The record contains no mention of Foster's written discovery request to the State. The State is only obligated to provide discovery upon a defendant's written request. Id. Foster never gave the State a written discovery request, so the State was never obligated to tender discovery. The trial judge correctly decided to overrule Foster's objection to the State's use of the evidence mentioned above. We affirm the trial judge's decision.

II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING THE DEFENSE MOTION FOR DIRECTED VERDICT ON ENHANCED POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE CHARGE BECAUSE THE STATE FAILED TO PROVE THE PARK WAS A PUBLIC PARK.

¶ 7. In this issue, Foster attacks his sentence enhancement based on his proximity to a public park. According to Foster, the circuit court should have granted his motion for directed verdict because the State presented insufficient evidence that the park was a "public park." Foster claims that the State presented no evidence from anyone with personal knowledge that the park was a "public park." Before addressing the merits of Foster's claim, we address the State's assertion that Foster failed to preserve this issue for appeal.

A. Did Foster waive this issue?

¶ 8. The State claims that Foster waived his appeal of the motion for a directed verdict, made at the close of the State's case-in-chief, when Foster testified *879 on his own behalf. When a defendant proceeds with his case after the State rests and the court overrules the defendant's motion for a directed verdict, the defendant waives the appeal of the directed verdict. Holland v. State, 656 So.2d 1192, 1197 (Miss.1995).

¶ 9. This is not an issue of first impression. In Davis v. State, 866 So.2d 1107(¶ 19) (Miss.Ct.App.2003), the State claimed that the appellant was procedurally barred from arguing insufficiency of evidence because he failed to file a written motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and failed to request a peremptory instruction. Id. This Court noted that if an appellant files a motion for directed verdict at the conclusion of the State's evidence, and the trial court overrules that motion, the appellant waives that issue on appeal if he proceeds to introduce evidence on his own behalf. Id. However, an appellant may preserve the issue if he renews his motion for directed verdict at the conclusion of all the evidence. Id. (citing Harris v. State, 413 So.2d 1016, 1018 (Miss.1982)). In Davis, the appellant renewed his motion for directed verdict at the conclusion of all the evidence. Therefore, this Court held that the appellant in Davis preserved the issue of insufficiency of the evidence. Id.

¶ 10. In Hodges v. State, 743 So.2d 319(¶ 37) (Miss.1999), the defendant moved for a directed verdict at the close of the prosecution's case-in-chief, but the circuit court denied his motion. Afterwards, the defendant proceeded to put on his own defense. Id. Consequently, the Mississippi Supreme Court held that the defendant was "procedurally barred from seeking review of the legal sufficiency of the State's evidence at the time his motion for directed verdict was considered (i.e., at the close of the prosecut

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