Houston v. State

170 So. 3d 542, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 464, 2014 WL 4290592
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 2, 2014
DocketNo. 2013-KA-00246-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 170 So. 3d 542 (Houston 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
Houston v. State, 170 So. 3d 542, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 464, 2014 WL 4290592 (Mich. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

GRIFFIS, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Carl Anthony Houston was convicted of business burglary under Mississippi [544]*544Code Annotated section 97-17-33(1) (Rev. 2006). On appeal, Houston argues that the circuit court erred when it admitted his confession into evidence and denied his motion for a subpoena duces tecum made during the suppression hearing. We find no error and affirm.

¶ 2. On December 9, 2011, sometime after midnight, Deputy Shane Lang, of the Leake County Sheriffs Department, responded to a call about a break-in at the Prescription Shop in Carthage, Mississippi. The next day, the store’s pharmacist confirmed that $800 worth of prescription drugs had been stolen.

¶ 3. While en route to the call, Deputy Lang noticed an individual wearing dark clothes and a mask, carrying a white bag, and hiding between the Carthage Inn Hotel and Rock South Mini-Storage. The individual was Houston. When Houston saw Deputy Lang’s patrol car, he started to run. Deputy Lang pursued him in his patrol car. Then, he parked his car and pursued Houston on foot. Houston ran with the bag until he jumped a ditch and dropped the bag. The contents of the bag fell out. Deputy Lang eventually took Houston to the ground using his taser and hit him in the back of the head with a flashlight to subdue him. Houston removed the mask. After a brief struggle on the ground with Deputy Lang, an officer with the Carthage Police Department arrived on the scene and placed Houston in handcuffs. Investigator Kevin Cross recovered the bag that Houston had been carrying as well as its contents. The bag contained the items that the store’s pharmacist determined had been stolen.

¶ 4. Investigator Cross attempted to question Houston following his arrest. Houston was advised of his Miranda rights, but Houston did not talk. However, Houston agreed that he understood his rights when they were given. Once Houston said that he did not want to talk, Investigator Cross did not continue and left.

¶ 5. Later, after Houston asked to speak to Investigator Cross, the officers attempted to question Houston a second time. Investigator Cross and Chance Henderson, a Carthage Police Department narcotics investigator, interviewed Houston. Houston acknowledged that he understood his rights, but he refused to sign the Miranda waiver. Investigator Cross then gave both an oral statement of what happened and gave a signed written statement as well.

¶ 6. At trial, Houston filed a motion to suppress the confession. Houston testified that when Investigator Cross initially tried to question him, he did not want to talk and was in need of medical attention. Houston also testified that he never requested that Investigator Cross come back so he could make a statement. Instead, Houston said that he refuspd to make a statement and asked for medical attention again. Houston then claimed that Investigator Cross informed him that if Houston would make an oral or written statement, he would get medical attention. Houston claimed that Investigator Cross and Houston provided most of the details of the statement from their interrogation, and Houston added a motive and an apology of his own. Houston stated that he felt he had no choice but to give the statement. He also claimed that a nurse came and treated the cut he had on his head about fifteen minutes after he gave his statement.

¶ 7. Investigator Cross testified that, while he could not recall whether Houston had any injuries, he remembered that Houston was not bleeding. Investigator Cross denied that Houston asked for medical treatment during his interviews, and he was not sure whether Houston even re[545]*545ceived any medical treatment. Investigator Cross also denied providing Houston with the details of the robbery. Investigator Cross claimed that Houston used his own words for the interview as well as the written statement, and both statements were identical.

¶ 8. During the hearing, Houston’s counsel requested a subpoena duces tecum for the medical records from the jail to determine whether Houston received medical treatment in order to prove his confession was induced. The State countered that the medical records were not relevant, as they would not establish that Houston’s confession was involuntary. The circuit court denied Houston’s request for a subpoena. The court noted that, under the totality of the circumstances, the medical records were unnecessary. The court further ruled that Houston’s confession was made freely, knowingly, and voluntarily in the absence of any undue influence or promise of reward.

¶ 9. The jury subsequently found Houston guilty of business burglary under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-17-33(1). Houston was sentenced to seven years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Houston filed a motion for a new trial, which was denied.

ANALYSIS

1. Whether the court erred in the admission of Houston’s confession.

¶ 10. Houston argues that it was error to admit his confession. Houston claims that his confession was a direct result of the refusal to provide him with medical attention until he gave a statement. Houston also claims that his confession was a result of the investigators providing him with details of the robbery so he could formulate the statement.

¶ 11. The United States Supreme Court declared in Miranda:

There is no requirement that police stop a person who enters a police station and states that he wishes to confess to a crime, or a person who calls the police to offer a confession or any other statement he desires to make. Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment[,] and their admissibility is not affected by our holding today.

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966) (citation omitted).

¶ 12. The voluntariness of a waiver, or of a confession, is a factual inquiry that must be determined by the trial judge from the totality of the circumstances. Gavin v. State, 473 So.2d 952, 954 (Miss.1985) (citations omitted). This Court will not reverse a trial court’s finding that a confession was voluntary and admissible as long as the trial court applied the correct principles of law, and the finding is factually supported by the evidence. Greenlee v. State, 725 So.2d 816, 825 (¶ 21) (Miss.1998) (citing Haymer v. State, 613 So.2d 837, 839 (Miss.1993)). Further, where there is conflicting evidence about a confession’s admissibility, this Court “will not disturb the trial court’s finding unless it appears clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.” Wiley v. State, 465 So.2d 318, 320 (Miss.1985). No one factor is dispositive in the totality-of-circumstances test. Johnson v. State, 511 So.2d 1360, 1365 (Miss.1987). Further, in Morris v. State, 798 So.2d 603, 606 (¶9) (Miss.Ct.App.2001), this Court held:

When a defendant challenges the volun-tariness of his statement, the trial court must hold an evidentiary hearing outside the jury’s presence to determine the admissibility of the confession. Millsap v. [546]*546State, 767 So.2d 286[, 291] (¶ 14) (Miss.Ct.App.2000). The State must prove the voluntariness of the statement beyond a reasonable doubt. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
170 So. 3d 542, 2014 Miss. App. LEXIS 464, 2014 WL 4290592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/houston-v-state-missctapp-2014.