Kerns v. State

923 So. 2d 210, 2005 WL 757591
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedApril 5, 2005
Docket2003-KA-00648-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 923 So. 2d 210 (Kerns 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
Kerns v. State, 923 So. 2d 210, 2005 WL 757591 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

923 So.2d 210 (2005)

Richard Earl KERNS, Jr. and Howard Thomas McKinney, Appellants
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-00648-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

April 5, 2005.
Rehearing Denied June 28, 2005.

*212 Clayton Lockhart, Travis T. Vance, Vicksburg, attorneys for appellants.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

LEE, P.J., for the Court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. On July 24, 2001, after securing a search warrant, officers of the Warren County Sheriff's Department searched and seized the home of Richard Kerns in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Kerns's home was a mobile home on stilts, with blue tarp hanging from the base of the home, surrounding a work area beneath the body of the mobile home.

¶ 2. Upon executing the search warrant, the deputies discovered 288 pseudoephedrine pills, ether, sulfuric acid, and hydrogen chloride gas, all of which are considered precursor chemicals to crystal methamphetamine. The officers also seized quantities of the completed product, along with filters, scales, and plastic bags. The officers further discovered tin foil packets that are used to smoke the methamphetamine, some of which tested positive for the presence of burned methamphetamine, indicating that some of the *213 drug had been consumed on the premises. Kerns and Howard McKinney were both arrested at the scene of the methamphetamine laboratory.

¶ 3. Kerns was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and possession of precursor chemicals with the intent to manufacture a controlled substance. Kerns's sentence under count three of the indictment was subject to enhancement under Mississippi Code Annotated Section 41-29-152 (Rev.2001) for the possession of a firearm. McKinney was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, and possession of precursor chemicals with the intent to manufacture a controlled substance. McKinney's sentence under count three was subject to enhancement under section 41-29-152 because McKinney was found to be in possession of a firearm. Kerns and McKinney were tried jointly, but have filed separate appeals. On appeal, Kerns raises the following two issues: (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress the evidence seized at his residence, and (2) the trial court erred in not suppressing items not mentioned on the original inventory on the return of the search warrant. On appeal, McKinney raises one issue, that the verdict is contrary to established principles of law and is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 4. Finding Kerns's arguments to lack merit, this Court affirms Kerns's conviction but reverses McKinney's conviction.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5. The standard of review regarding a trial judge's ruling at a suppression hearing is whether substantial credible evidence was present to support the trial judge's finding when evaluating the totality of the circumstances. Price v. State, 752 So.2d 1070, 1073(¶ 9) (Miss.Ct. App.1999). As our supreme court succinctly stated in Petti v. State, 666 So.2d 754 (Miss.1995), when reviewing a magistrate's finding of probable cause, an appellate court does not make a de novo determination of probable cause, but only determines if there was a substantial basis for the magistrate's determination of probable cause. Petti, 666 So.2d at 758 (citing Smith v. State, 504 So.2d 1194, 1196 (Miss.1987)). Our standard of review regarding the admission of evidence in a criminal case is abuse of discretion. Harris v. State, 731 So.2d 1125, 1130(¶ 29) (Miss.1999).

DISCUSSION OF ISSUES

KERNS'S APPEAL

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN DENYING KERNS'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS THE EVIDENCE SEIZED AT HIS RESIDENCE?

¶ 6. The Supreme Court has adopted a "totality of the circumstances" test in making a probable cause determination. An issuing magistrate is to make a "practical, common-sense decision whether, given all the circumstances set forth in the affidavit before him, including the `veracity' and `basis of knowledge' of persons supplying hearsay information, there is a fair probability that contraband or evidence of a crime will be found in a particular place." Illinois v. Gates, 462 U.S. 213, 238-9, 103 S.Ct. 2317, 76 L.Ed.2d 527 (1983). The Supreme Court has also determined that "the duty of a reviewing court is simply to ensure that the magistrate had a `substantial basis for . . . conclud[ing]' that probable cause existed." Gates, 462 U.S. at 238, 103 S.Ct. 2317 (citing Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257, 271, 80 S.Ct. 725, 4 L.Ed.2d 697 *214 (1960)). In making our review, this Court looks to the facts and circumstances set forth in the affidavit for search warrant and the sworn oral testimony presented to the issuing magistrate. Williams v. State, 583 So.2d 620, 622 (Miss.1991).

¶ 7. Detectives Crevitt and Traxler presented written account of facts and circumstances to Judge Bradford to secure a warrant to search Kerns's mobile home. Each of the detectives wrote separate facts and circumstances in support of the warrant; however, the two accounts were submitted to Judge Bradford on the same piece of paper. Crevitt's account outlined the following information for the issuing judge: on June 22, 2001, the Warren County Sheriff's Department received a telephone call from a "reliable" confidential informant. This CI informed Crevitt that Kerns was attempting to modify a butane tank for the purpose of storing anhydrous ammonia, which is used in manufacturing methamphetamine. Crevitt's statement also outlined that during the month of May of that year the sheriff's department received a call that Richard Kerns and several other people were involved in distributing methamphetamine and that Kerns was creating the substance at his residence.

¶ 8. Detective Traxler's written account provided Judge Bradford with the following information: he received information that methamphetamine was being produced at Kerns's residence. An informant told Traxler that Kerns was producing the substance in a lab located underneath the mobile home and concealed in a tarp. Traxler's account related that his information was received from a reliable source who had been used in the past for a number of arrests.

¶ 9. No record was kept when Traxler and Crevitt presented their information to Judge Bradford; however, Detectives Traxler and Crevitt, as well as Judge Bradford were called to testify at the hearing on the motion to suppress. Crevitt testified that when he presented the information to Judge Bradford, Judge Bradford asked Crevitt if everything contained in the document was correct and true, and if Crevitt would swear to the effects in the document. To this Crevitt responded, "I do." At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Traxler did not recall if Judge Bradford asked him questions regarding the truthfulness of the information he provided. At the hearing on the motion to suppress, Judge Bradford testified that he did not recall asking the detectives detailed questions about the facts and circumstances in support of the warrant. Judge Bradford did testify that it is his procedure to review the information supplied by the presenting officers.

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Related

Cook v. State
953 So. 2d 271 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Kerns v. State
923 So. 2d 196 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
923 So. 2d 210, 2005 WL 757591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/kerns-v-state-missctapp-2005.