Lewis v. State

748 So. 2d 848, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 545, 1999 WL 640037
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 24, 1999
DocketNo. 98-KA-00009-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 748 So. 2d 848 (Lewis 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
Lewis v. State, 748 So. 2d 848, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 545, 1999 WL 640037 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

THOMAS, J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. Terrill Lewis appeals his conviction of delivery of cocaine, raising the following issue as error:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING INTO EVIDENCE THE CRACK COCAINE WHEN A PROPER CHAIN OF CUSTODY HAD NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED.
¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

[849]*849FACTS

¶ 3. On January 17, 1995, Colleen Patterson, an undercover agent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, along with Charles Wash, a confidential informant, went to an apartment complex in Clarke County and there purchased $40 worth of crack cocaine from Terrill Lewis and Carl Hicks. Lewis and Hicks were indicted for delivery of a schedule II controlled substance. Hicks pled guilty to the charge, and Lewis pled not guilty. Trial of this matter was commenced on October 27, 1997. After deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of guilty against Lewis. Aggrieved, Lewis perfected this appeal.

ANALYSIS

I.

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING INTO EVIDENCE THE CRACK COCAINE WHEN A PROPER CHAIN OF CUSTODY HAD NOT BEEN ESTABLISHED.

¶ 4. Special Agent Joey Waller testified at trial that at the post-buy meeting Patterson handed the crack cocaine to Shug Cranford, the case agent. Waller testified further that Cranford sealed the drugs in an evidence bag, and that the drugs were then passed to him. Waller testified that he placed the drugs in the evidence vault where they remained until the next day, when he took the drugs and delivered them to the Mississippi Crime Lab in Meridian. The drugs remained there until Waller picked them up and returned them to the evidence vault. Waller testified that according to the evidence submission form of the Mississippi Crime Lab there were two pieces of crack cocaine, although he subsequently testified that only one piece of crack cocaine was purchased, but “[i]t could have been one large rock or two smaller rocks.” Patterson testified that she purchased two rocks of crack cocaine. Patterson testified that she placed the crack cocaine in an evidence bag, initialed it, and handed it to Cranford. Cranford testified that he received the crack cocaine from Patterson, and that he placed the drugs in the evidence bag. Cranford further testified that he took the drugs and handed them over to Waller by placing them in the evidence locker. Cranford testified that there was only one piece of crack cocaine purchased, but that a sliver had broken off.

¶ 5. The crack cocaine, marked as State Exhibit 4, was introduced in the following exchange:

Q. [Mrs. Howell, prosecutor] I am going to ask you to look at what has been marked for identification purposes only as Exhibit 4. Can you tell me what that is?
A. [Grady Downey, forensic scientist with the Mississippi Crime Laboratory] Yes, I can identify it.
[[Image here]]
Q. And what was the result of your testing?
A. That the contents of State’s Exhibit 4 for ID only contains cocaine.
Q. All right. But you don’t know where this cocaine came from; I mean, you have no personal knowledge of that before it came to the laboratory?
A. No, I do not know.
BY MRS. HOWELL: Your Honor, at this time, we would like to have this evidence moved into evidence, Exhibit number 4.
BY THE COURT: Any objection?
BY MR. POTUK [defense counsel]: Yes, Your Honor. There’s not been a proper chain of custody demonstrated for this evidence. I notice that on this bag that has been presented that there are initials “PB” which are on the bag which indicates that this evidence has been in the hand of some other individual. And I am not sure how these drugs got into the hands of the crime lab. I believe it was presented to them by Joey Waller. And unless “PB” is Mr. Downey’s initials [850]*850that he normally places on the bag when it is received into the crime lab, I mean, I can’t say that, you know, there has been an adequate chain of custody demonstrated for this evidence. Plus, there has been verbal evidence presented to this Court that we had either 1 piece of cocaine or 2 pieces of cocaine that were presented to — .
BY MR. ANGERO [prosecutor]: Judge, if it please the Court, I object to this sort of, this speech. That’s not an objection. That’s not a concise statement of the law.
BY THE COURT: Well, your objection is noted. I thought Mr. Dow-ney, he may not have testified [i]f his initials are on there.
BY MR. ANGERO: Your Honor, the evidence shows that it was delivered from Colleen Patterson to—
BY THE COURT: I am satisfied with the chain of custody.
BY MRS. HOWELL: I will ask him that question, Your Honor.
BY THE COURT: All right.
Q. Are your initials on that bag?
A. They are.
Q. At what point did you put the initials on the bag?
A. When I opened the exhibit to conduct my analysis on the date of my examination is when I placed my initials on there.
BY THE COURT: All right. Your objection is noted. Let what has been previously marked as Exhibit 4 for Identification only now be marked into evidence as Exhibit 4.
(THE ABOVE-MENTIONED EXHIBIT 4 FOR IDENTIFICATION ONLY WAS RECEIVED INTO EVIDENCE AND MARKED AS EXHIBIT 4.)
Q. Downey, Mr. Potuk mentioned a “PB” initials being on the bag. Who would “PB” be?
A. That would be Pat Barnes. Pat Barnes at this time was a forensic scientist working with the Mississippi Crime Lab. She is the one who actually received the evidence into the crime lab from Joey Waller. And Pat has since gone to work with the Jackson Police Department Crime Lab.
Q. Okay. And is that the procedure for the crime lab, that anyone that touches this evidence has to initial?
A. Yes. When evidence is received into the crime lab, the person receiving the evidence will place the crime lab number on the evidence, also the date and time that they receive it. And that information is also placed on the laboratory submission sheet. When the person bringing the evidence into the lab delivers the evidence, he will place his name, title, date and time on the laboratory submission sheet, and the person receiving the evidence will also do the same.
BY MRS. HOWELL: I tender the witness, Your Honor.
BY THE COURT: All right. Cross-examination.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. PO-TUK:
Q. Mr. Downey, when the evidence is submitted to the crime lab, what is used to receive the evidence into the crime lab?
A. I am not sure that I understand.
Q.

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Bluebook (online)
748 So. 2d 848, 1999 Miss. App. LEXIS 545, 1999 WL 640037, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lewis-v-state-missctapp-1999.