Latiker v. State

918 So. 2d 68, 2005 WL 2787830
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 27, 2005
Docket2004-KA-00285-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by45 cases

This text of 918 So. 2d 68 (Latiker 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
Latiker v. State, 918 So. 2d 68, 2005 WL 2787830 (Mich. 2005).

Opinion

918 So.2d 68 (2005)

Percy LATIKER a/k/a Percell Latiker
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2004-KA-00285-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

October 27, 2005.
Rehearing Denied January 19, 2006.

*70 William C. Stennett, Tupelo, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Daniel Hinchcliff, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

COBB, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Percy Latiker is before the Court on appeal of his conviction in the Leake County Circuit Court where he was convicted of the sale of crack cocaine and sentenced to twelve years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Latiker presents four issues, stating that the trial court erred by: denying his motion for a directed verdict at the close of the case and rejecting his argument that the jury's verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence; allowing him to be prejudicially identified in court as an alleged suspect when this identification was improper; sustaining the State's hearsay objection to the introduction of documentary evidence supporting his alibi defense; and imposing a sentence based on flawed information and unfounded grounds. Concluding that Latiker's arguments are without merit, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

FACTS

¶ 2. On December 12, 2002, undercover agent James Ragan of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics bought $100 worth of crack cocaine at a residence at 930 Damascus Road in Leake County, Mississippi. Agent Ragan and a confidential informant (CI) went to the residence, as a result of information given to Ragan by that same CI.

¶ 3. The CI had previously told Ragan that the residence was the home of Percy Waylon, a man the CI claimed to have known all his life. On March 13, 2003, law enforcement officials arrested Percy Latiker at the same address for the sale of cocaine to Ragan. Prior to Latiker's arrest, law enforcement officials had determined that the person who sold the crack cocaine to Ragan was not Percy Waylon, but was, in fact, Latiker.

¶ 4. In his report, Ragan described the man from whom he bought the crack cocaine as partially bald, approximately five feet, seven inches tall and between forty and forty-five years of age with a gray beard. At trial, he identified Latiker as the person from whom he bought the cocaine and described Latiker as five feet, seven inches to six feet tall and between forty and fifty years-old with a "salt and pepper" beard. In Latiker's direct testimony, he described himself as six feet tall, fifty-five years of age, and completely bald. On cross-examination the State did not contradict Latiker's description of himself. Ragan testified that he had been within two feet of the person from whom he bought the crack cocaine when it was handed to him and that he had an unobstructed view of the individual's entire body. Agent Ragan's testimony identifying Latiker was the State's only identification evidence. The agents did not order a fingerprint analysis of the wrapper containing *71 the drugs, and the money used to buy the cocaine was not recovered.

¶ 5. Responding to Latiker's misidentification defense, the State called Percy Waylon as a rebuttal witness. Waylon testified that he was not in Leake County on December 12, 2002, and had never been approached by persons seeking to buy crack cocaine. Furthermore, Waylon testified that he was not bald and did not use a toupee or hairpiece. In addition, Waylon testified that he did not know the CI, but that he had been involved in a lawsuit with Latiker in the past.

¶ 6. As a defense, Latiker testified that on December 12, 2002, he was not in Leake County, Mississippi, but instead was in Illinois with his son doing volunteer and community service work for the Salvation Army. Latiker testified that he lived in Chicago Heights, Illinois, and came down to Mississippi three or four times a year. Latiker's son, Percy Latiker, Jr., and Latiker's wife, Rodean Latiker, both testified that Percy Latiker was in Chicago doing volunteer work for the Salvation Army on December 12. Latiker's friend from Milwaukee, Dan Terrell, also was called as an alibi witness and recalled being with Latiker "that weekend in Milwaukee" but could not remember what day he was planning to come to Mississippi with Latiker nor what Latiker was doing on December 12 or 13. Latiker did admit on cross-examination that the residence at 930 Damascus Road in Leake County was owned by his parents and that he was arrested there on March 13, 2003. In addition, Latiker admitted that he had met the CI before and knew who he was.

¶ 7. Latiker argued that the trial court erred by prohibiting his testimony regarding the contents of supporting documents, schedules of attendance, affidavits, and a letter written by the Community Service Supervisor of the Chicago Heights Corps Community Center, all being essential evidence to corroborate his alibi defense. However, the record does not reveal that Latiker ever offered the documents into evidence for the trial court to make a ruling on their admissibility. During his testimony, Percy Latiker, Jr., did refer to documents regarding his hours of community service, and the State objected and asked to approach the bench. The trial judge stated, out of the hearing of the jury:

I was presented these documents, which consist of a letter and a three page schedule of attendance prepared by the Salvation Army and written by the Community Service Supervisors. The District Attorney is objecting for he would not have an opportunity to cross-examine the service supervisor if there is testimony regarding the contents of this letter and the supporting documents. This Court is in agreement. The witness can testify from his own knowledge, but I am not going to permit him to refer to these to refresh his recollection, because it is not matters of his own knowledge. It's matters of someone else.

Defense counsel then continued to question Latiker's son regarding the fact that he was required to do community service in Chicago Heights and that his father had given him rides to and from the Chicago Heights Salvation Army because his (Percy Jr.'s) automobile was in need of repairs and because he did not have a driver's license. There was no further mention made of any records.

¶ 8. During deliberations, the jury sent the judge a question asking whether there was a document that showed where Latiker was working on December 12 and 13, 2002. The trial judge replied: "You have heard all of the testimony and received all the documents permitted in this case. *72 Your decision must be based upon the law and the evidence that you have received during the trial of this case."

DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING LATIKER'S MOTION FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT AND WHETHER THE JURY'S VERDICT WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.

¶ 9. Our standard of review for a post-trial motion is abuse of discretion. Withers v. State, 907 So.2d 342, 352 (Miss. 2005). When reviewing the trial court's denial of a motion for directed verdict, we consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the State and give the State the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. Seeling v. State, 844 So.2d 439, 443 (Miss.2003). In the recent case of Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836 (Miss.2005), we clarified the distinction between the weight and the sufficiency of the evidence and reviewed numerous cases where the lines between the two have been blurred.

¶ 10.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
918 So. 2d 68, 2005 WL 2787830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/latiker-v-state-miss-2005.