Jerome Clemons v. State of Mississippi

199 So. 3d 670, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 345, 2016 WL 4399723
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 18, 2016
DocketNO. 2015-KA-00742-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 199 So. 3d 670 (Jerome Clemons v. State of Mississippi) 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
Jerome Clemons v. State of Mississippi, 199 So. 3d 670, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 345, 2016 WL 4399723 (Mich. 2016).

Opinion

WALLER, CHIEF JUSTICE,

FOR THE COURT:

¶1. A Kemper County jury found Jerome Clemons guilty of felony driving under the influence (DUI), and he was sentenced to serve five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He now appeals to this Court, arguing that the jury’s verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS & PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶2. On July 5, 2013, at around 10:30 p.m., Officer Louis McDade of the DeKalb Police Department was performing a routine night patrol in Kemper County when he noticed a white vehicle without a car tag traveling south on Highway 39. Officer McDade decided to follow the vehicle. The vehicle came to a stop at the intersection of Highway 39 and Highway 16. The driver initiated the vehicle’s right blinker, indicating a turn to the west, but the vehicle ultimately turned left, heading east on Highway 16. Officer McDade continued to follow the vehicle onto Highway 16 and watched as the vehicle hit the fog line on the road four or five times within a space of one hundred yards. At this point, Officer McDade initiated a traffic stop. The vehicle did not pull all the way off the road.

*672 ¶3. Upon approaching the stopped vehicle, Officer McDade recognized the driver as Jerome Clemons. 1 Officer McDade called Clemons’s license information in to his dispatcher and was informed that Clemons’s license was suspended. At this point, Clemons appeared to be leaning toward the passenger-side of the car, as if to stay away from the open driver-side window. Officer McDade smelled the strong aroma of alcohol coming from Clemons’s vehicle, so he asked Clemons to exit the vehicle. Clemons began to argue with Officer McDade, and Officer McDade noticed that the smell .of alcohol began to get stronger. Officer McDade explained that Clemons had several outstanding traffic violations and asked him again to exit his vehicle. Clemons eventually complied. Upon exiting the vehicle, Clemons exhibited slurred speech and bloodshot eyes, and he was swaying and stumbling in his efforts to stand. Officer McDade again smelled a strong aroma of alcohol on Clemons’s breath. '

¶4. Officer Thomas Justin Thomas arrived as backup to assist Officer McDade during his investigátion of Clemons. Officer Thomas conducted" a pat-down of Clemons. Officer McDade then arrested Clemons for several traffic violations, including driving with a suspended license, and informed Clemons that he was suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol. Officer McDade then took Clemons to the Kemper County Jail to perform a series of sobriety tests, explaining that the jail was a safer environment in which to conduct the tests.

¶5. At the Kemper County Jail, Officer McDade conducted a breath test on Clemons with the Intoxilyzer 8000, but he was unable to obtain a reading. The machine printed two different error codes, the first stating that there was an “ambient fail,” and the second stating “interferent detected.” After these failures, Officer McDade asked Clemons to perform the “one-leg -stand” test and the “walk-and-turn” test. Officer McDade noted at least three indicators for intoxication during each of these tests. At this point, Officer McDade concluded that Clemons had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Because Clemons had two prior DUIs 'on his record, Officer McDade charged him with “DUI— 3rd,” which is a felony. See Miss. Code Ann. § 63 — 11—30(2)(c) (Rev. 2013).

¶6. Clemons’s trial commenced on Janu ary 6, 2015. Clemons proceeded pro se, but the trial court appointed attorney Kathryn McNair to assist him. At trial, Officer McDade testified concerning his interactions with Clemons on the night in question and offered his opinion that Clemons had been driving under the influence of alcohol. Officer Thomas testified that while he was assisting Officer McDade with his investigation, he could not understand Clemons because his speech was so slurred. He' also corroborated Officer McDade’s testimony that Clemons’s breath smelled strongly of alcohol. Officer Thomas stated that Clemons swayed and stumbled as he patted him down, and again when he propped him against his vehicle after the pat-down. Officer Thomas noticed that Clemons’s eyes were droopy and bloodshot. According to Officer Thomas, all of these factors served as evidence that Clemons was driving under the influence of alcohol.

¶7. Wendy Hathcoek, a forensic scientist in the Implied Consent Section of the Mississippi Crime Laboratory, testified regarding the Intoxilyzer tests performed on Clemons. Hatcock explained that her primary responsibility is the Intoxilyzer 8000, and she routinely performs maintenance *673 and calibrations on- these machines. Hath-cock reviewed the records of the-Intoxilyzer machine used on Clemons and located the two error messages that Officer McDade encountered. She' testified that the presence of these error messages meant-that no reading was. taken from Clemons’s breath sample. Hatheock then explained that an “ambient fail” message means that there was a substance in the air, such as alcohol or another chemical, which prevented the machine from taking a clean air sample. Hatheock stated the “interferent detected” error likely meant that a radio or cell-phone signal was interfering with the machine.

¶8. Clemons testified in his own defense. He stated that he was driving through DeKalb, Mississippi, in the area where Highways 16 and 39 intersect, at around 10:30 p.m. on the night in question. He testified that he noticed a police officer parked in the parking lot of a funeral home near this intersection. Clemons was driving to the Brittany Apartments, but he was unable to enter because the apartment complex has a 10:00 p.m. curfew. He then turned around and began driving south on Highway 39. He testified that he was driving to a gas station when he was pulled over by Officer McDade. He claimed that Officer McDade never performed a field sobriety test on him.

¶9. Clemons also called Lieutenant Ellis Smoot, a corrections officer at the Kemper County Jail, as a witness. Smoot booked Clemons on the night of his arrest. He testified that Clemons asked him to look at the results of his first Intoxylizer test, which apparently showed a reading of “0.00 BrAC.” Smoot admitted that he was not very familiar with the Intoxylizer machine, and Officer McDade had explained to him that the test was “irrelevant” because the machine was not working correctly. Smoot also testified that he did not remember seeing Officer McDade perform any field sobriety tests' on Clemons at the jail., However, he clarified that he :is allowed to leave the booking room whenever an officer is present and that it was possible -that he had left the-room while the sobriety tests were being performed.

¶10. At the conclusion of trial, the jury found Clemons' guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol. The trial court sentenced Clemons to five years’ imprisonment and ordered him -to pay $3,893.50 in fines and fees. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a new trial because the jury’s verdict was against the -overwhelming weight of the evidence.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶11.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
199 So. 3d 670, 2016 Miss. LEXIS 345, 2016 WL 4399723, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jerome-clemons-v-state-of-mississippi-miss-2016.