Logan v. State

773 So. 2d 338, 2000 WL 1864478
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 21, 2000
Docket96-CT-01158-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by47 cases

This text of 773 So. 2d 338 (Logan 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
Logan v. State, 773 So. 2d 338, 2000 WL 1864478 (Mich. 2000).

Opinion

773 So.2d 338 (2000)

Marvin "Butch" LOGAN a/k/a Marvin O. Logan
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 96-CT-01158-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 21, 2000.

*341 Albert Lionel Necaise, William Ross Capps, Gulfport, Robert Warren Moak, Bogue Chitto, Attorneys for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, Dunn Lampton, Attorneys for Appellee.

EN BANC.

ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

PRATHER, Chief Justice, for the Court:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1. The motion for rehearing is denied. The original opinion is withdrawn, and this opinion is substituted therefor.

¶ 2. Marvin "Butch" Logan was convicted in the Lincoln County Circuit Court of seven counts of defrauding the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Tax Commission, under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-7-10 (1994), and five counts of uttering forgery, under Miss.Code Ann. § 97-21-59 (1994). The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for a new trial. This Court granted certiorari to address evidentiary issues regarding consent searches, business records, and expert testimony.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

¶ 3. Marvin Logan, an oil field service worker by trade, also operated a business rebuilding salvaged Chevrolet and GMC pick-up trucks in his spare time. The business consisted of a small mechanic's shop located behind his residence in Brookhaven, Mississippi. Logan purchased numerous trucks at salvage auctions conducted statewide by different insurance companies. Over several years, Logan rebuilt over seventy vehicles.

¶ 4. After Logan rebuilt a wrecked truck, he was required by Miss.Code Ann. § 63-21-15(5) (Supp.1999) to have it inspected by the State Highway Patrol so that a salvage certificate of title could be requested. After the inspection approval, per Miss.Code Ann. § 63-21-39 (1996), the application for title was made to the Mississippi State Tax Commission who in turn issued a salvage certificate of title.

¶ 5. Several other individuals also used Logan's shop to rebuild vehicles. In October of 1995, Johnny Joe Gunnell, an individual *342 who used Logan's shop, was stopped by the Brookhaven police for a traffic violation. Gunnell was driving a stolen vehicle. Several more vehicles at Gunnell's house were found to be stolen, and Gunnell directed authorities to Logan and his repair shop. Investigating officers made three visits to the Logan work shop which visits are the subject of the first assignment of error and will be detailed in that discussion. The third of these inspections occurred on February 14, 1996, when the police executed a search warrant on Logan's residence. Upon searching his residence, the police seized four boxes of files containing documents which were organized into separate folders for the various vehicles that Logan had rebuilt over the years. On April 17, 1996, Logan was indicted by the Lincoln County grand jury on seven counts of defrauding the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and the Mississippi Tax Commission, and six counts of uttering forgery to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety when he submitted documents to that Department for retitling seven automobiles that he had rebuilt.

¶ 6. On July 19, 1996, Logan filed a combined motion to suppress the evidence challenging the searches of his home and shop and the requirement by the Highway Patrol that he bring them all vehicles in his possession that he had rebuilt. At a hearing on July 19, 1996, the circuit court denied the motion to suppress.

¶ 7. At trial, the jury found Logan guilty of twelve of the thirteen counts in the indictment. He was subsequently sentenced to three years on each count to run consecutively, with the sentences in the last five counts to run concurrent to the sentences in the first five counts. He was also fined $28,000 and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $37,500. On October 9, 1996, Logan filed a motion for a new trial which the trial court denied. Being aggrieved, Logan perfected an appeal, which was assigned to the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

¶ 8. Upon review of the decision reached in the trial court, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, reversed and remanded for a new trial. Logan v. State, No. 96-KA-01158-COA (Miss.Ct.App. Apr.20, 1999). A majority of the Court of Appeals found, among other things, that:

(1) There was no valid consent to the initial warrantless searches of Logan's business and property;
(2) An investigator was improperly allowed to authenticate documents from individual insurance companies;
(3) An investigator was improperly allowed to testify concerning car repairs and metallurgy without being qualified as an expert in either field, and;
(4) The prosecutor made improper comments during closing arguments which prejudiced the jury.

¶ 9. Four members of the Court of Appeals concurred in part and dissented in part, agreeing with a reversal and remand for new trial but concluding that the evidence gathered in the searches of Logan's premises was admissible.

¶ 10. Aggrieved by the judgment of the Court of Appeals, the State filed its petition for a writ of certiorari, which was granted by this Court. An amicus curiae brief was received from the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) on certiorari.

ISSUES

I. Did the trial court err in allowing the introduction of evidence seized during searches of Logan's home and shop?

¶ 11. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." U.S. Const. amend. IV. "The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, and possessions, from unreasonable seizure or search." Miss. Const. art. 3, § 23 (1890).

*343 ¶ 12. In Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U.S. 218, 93 S.Ct. 2041, 36 L.Ed.2d 854 (1973), the United States Supreme Court held that when determining whether consent to a warrantless search was given voluntarily, the totality of the circumstances must be examined. In Jackson v. State, 418 So.2d 827, 830 (Miss. 1982), this Court adopted that federal standard. "As a consequence of adopting the voluntariness test for consent searches, the [United States Supreme] Court concluded that `while the subject's knowledge of a right to refuse is a factor to be taken into account, the prosecution is not required to demonstrate such knowledge as a prerequisite to establishing a voluntary consent.' That is, consent may be established without a showing that the police warned the consenting party of his Fourth Amendment rights or that he was otherwise aware of those rights." Jones v. State ex rel. Miss. Dep't of Pub. Safety, 607 So.2d 23, 27 (Miss.1991) (citing Schneckloth, 412 U.S. at 249, 93 S.Ct. at 2059, 36 L.Ed.2d at 875); see also Graves v. State, 708 So.2d 858, 863-64 (Miss.1997).

¶ 13.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
773 So. 2d 338, 2000 WL 1864478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/logan-v-state-miss-2000.