Haynes v. State

250 So. 3d 1241
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMay 31, 2018
DocketNO. 2016–KA–01747–SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 250 So. 3d 1241 (Haynes v. State) 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
Haynes v. State, 250 So. 3d 1241 (Mich. 2018).

Opinions

CHAMBERLIN, JUSTICE, FOR THE COURT:

¶ 1. After a trial, a jury convicted Darius Parnell Haynes in the Circuit Court of Copiah County of two counts: possession of cocaine while in possession of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon. Because the evidence was legally sufficient to support the conviction of possession of cocaine, we affirm Haynes's conviction for possession and the corresponding sentence. The conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a felon are not *1243affected as Haynes has not requested that we review them.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On March 27, 2016, Haynes and Kimmeisha Harris fought at a friend's house. After the fight, Haynes left with Xavier Brown in Brown's maroon Mercury Marquis, which had broken-out back window. Meanwhile, Harris went to the hospital, where she gave Investigator Wendell Fountain a statement. Harris told Investigator Fountain that, during the fight, she thought she had seen Haynes with a gun and that Haynes had threatened to shoot her. Harris also gave Investigator Fountain a description of the car in which Haynes had left.

¶ 3. After leaving the hospital, Investigator Fountain spotted a maroon Mercury Marquis with a broken-out back window at a nearby gas station. Brown was standing outside the car, pumping gas. Haynes was sitting in the passenger seat. Investigator Fountain approached the vehicle and noticed a small plastic bag containing a white substance, which was identified at trial as 0.34 grams of cocaine. The plastic bag was in plain view, located in the ashtray between the driver and passenger seats. Investigator Fountain asked Haynes "if he knew why he was making contact with him." According to Investigator Fountain, Haynes said, "It's probably because of a little incident that I just had." Investigator Fountain then received consent from Brown to search the car, and he found a gun in the glove box. Brown testified that the gun in the glove box belonged to Haynes and was the same gun from the incident at the friend's house.

¶ 4. Brown also testified concerning State's Exhibit 3, the small plastic bag of cocaine1 that Investigator Fountain had recovered from the ashtray. The following exchange between the State and Brown entered evidence:

State: [D]id you get a chance to snort any of that cocaine that night?
Brown: Yes, sir.
...
State: So when you had that substance, you believed it to be cocaine?
Brown: Yes, sir.
State: And so you said you snorted it.
Brown: Yes, sir.
State: Who else was with you when you snorted that substance believed to be cocaine?
Brown: Darius [Haynes].
State: And did he snort some of that substance that you believed to be cocaine?
Brown: Yes, sir.
State: So when the officer came up, he saw the remainder of the substance; is that right?
Brown: Yes, sir.
State: And the substance that you two were using came out of this content [sic]?
Brown: Yes, sir.

Brown also testified that the cocaine found in the car belonged only to him, not Haynes.

¶ 5. On November 16, 2016, a jury found Haynes guilty of possession of cocaine while in possession of a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon. The trial court sentenced Haynes to three years for the possession offense, which was enhanced due to the firearm possession, and to ten years for being a felon in possession of a firearm.2 Both sentences were to be served concurrently without the benefit of *1244parole. Haynes filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence.3 The trial court denied the motion, and Haynes filed his notice of appeal as to both counts. On appeal, Haynes contests only his conviction on Count I. He argues that the evidence is legally insufficient to support his conviction for possession of cocaine.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 6. This Court reviews de novo a trial court's ruling on the legal sufficiency of the evidence. Brooks v. State , 203 So.3d 1134, 1137 (Miss. 2016). When reviewing a case for sufficiency of the evidence, " '[a]ll credible evidence [that] is consistent with guilt must be accepted as true, and the State is given the benefit of all favorable inferences that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence.' " Burrows v. State , 961 So.2d 701, 705 (Miss. 2007) (quoting Daniels v. State , 742 So.2d 1140, 1142 (Miss. 1999), overruled on other grounds by Wilson v. State , 194 So.3d 855, 867-68 (Miss. 2016) ). We examine the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, while keeping in mind the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt burden of proof standard. Dees v. State , 126 So.3d 21, 26 (Miss. 2013). "Should the facts and inferences ... 'point in favor of the defendant on any element of the offense with sufficient force that reasonable men could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was guilty,' the proper remedy is for the appellate court to reverse and render." Brown v. State , 965 So.2d 1023, 1030 (Miss. 2007). Ultimately, " '[t]he relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.' " Shelton v. State , 214 So.3d 250, 256 (Miss. 2017) (quoting Bush v. State , 895 So.2d 836, 843 (Miss. 2005), overruled on other grounds by Little v. State , 233 So.3d 288, 291 (Miss. 2017) ).

ANALYSIS

Whether the evidence was sufficient to convict Haynes of possession of cocaine.

¶ 7.

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

Related

Zachary Minor v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2025
James Johnson a/k/a Bobo v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2024
Justus Barfield v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2022

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 So. 3d 1241, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/haynes-v-state-miss-2018.