Malone v. State

829 So. 2d 1253, 2002 WL 31043276
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 10, 2002
Docket2001-KA-00270-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by19 cases

This text of 829 So. 2d 1253 (Malone 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
Malone v. State, 829 So. 2d 1253, 2002 WL 31043276 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

829 So.2d 1253 (2002)

Gregory Anthony MALONE a/k/a Ant, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2001-KA-00270-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

September 10, 2002.
Rehearing Denied November 5, 2002.

*1254 Dan W. Duggan, Jr., Brandon, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General, by Charles W. Maris Jr., attorney for appellee.

Before SOUTHWICK, P.J., LEE, and MYERS, JJ.

LEE, J., for the court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. A Hinds County grand jury indicted Gregory Anthony Malone on a charge of capital murder. In February 2001, a jury convicted him on this charge, and he was sentenced to serve life in prison. Malone's subsequent motion for new trial or in the alternative judgment notwithstanding the verdict was denied, and he appeals to this Court raising the following issues: (1) the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for directed verdict; (2) his right to speedy trial was violated; (3) the trial court erred in failing to suppress his confession; and (4) the trial court erred in allowing evidence to be admitted concerning appellant's criminal history. We review these issues and find no merit; thus, we affirm.

*1255 FACTS

¶ 2. On or about July 2, 1998, appellant Malone, along with Demarcus Kelly and Antonia Harrison, embarked on a plan to rob Dannie Ward. They lured Ward to a house where two other females were present. Once all parties were inside the house, the plan went awry. Malone and Kelly, who were disguised and brandishing handguns, demanded that the others turn over their money. The others accommodated including Harrison who was in on the plan and played along, but Ward chose to fight. Once Malone saw that the plan was not going to work, he attempted to leave. At that point, he saw Kelly hit Ward in the face with his gun, then Ward came at Kelly with a two-by-four board. In return, Kelly shot Ward, a wound which eventually led to Ward's death.

DISCUSSION OF THE ISSUES

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FAILING TO DIRECT A VERDICT IN FAVOR OF THE APPELLANT?

¶ 3. With his first issue, Malone argues that the trial court erred in failing to grant his motion for directed verdict at the close of the State's case-in-chief. Specifically, he argues that since the underlying crime of armed robbery was never proven, he could not have been found guilty of capital murder. Malone claims that the only person actually "robbed" was Harrison, but she was an accomplice and was not in actuality robbed, only pretending to be fearful and turn over her money to her cohorts. To the contrary, Malone claims that the underlying crime was aggravated assault, which is not among those crimes for which a person can be convicted of capital murder, as described in Miss. Code Ann. § 97-3-19(2) (Rev.2000). As relating to the present case, capital murder is defined as follows:

(2) The killing of a human being without the authority of law by any means or in any manner shall be capital murder in the following cases: ... (e) When done with or without any design to effect death, by any person engaged in the commission of the crime of rape, burglary, kidnapping, arson, robbery, sexual battery, unnatural intercourse with any child under the age of twelve (12), or nonconsensual unnatural intercourse with mankind, or in any attempt to commit such felonies ....

Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-19 (Rev.2000). The underlying felony in the present case was armed robbery, which is defined as follows:

Every person who shall feloniously take or attempt to take from the person or from the presence the personal property of another and against his will by violence to his person or by putting such person in fear of immediate injury to his person by the exhibition of a deadly weapon shall be guilty of robbery ....

Miss.Code Ann. § 97-3-79 (Rev.2000) (emphasis added). The supreme court has found that property need not have been taken in order for an attempted robbery to serve as the underlying felony for capital murder. See Spann v. State, 771 So.2d 883 (¶ 20) (Miss.2000); Harris v. State, 445 So.2d 1369, 1370 (Miss.1984).

¶ 4. Although Ward never turned over any money or property to his robbers, the jurors were left to weigh all the evidence to determine whether the actions of Malone and Kelly were sufficient to meet the definition of armed robbery, as described in the above statute.

Our standard for reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence requires us to view the credible evidence consistent with the verdict as true. On appeal all reasonable inferences are given to the prosecution once the jury has reached the guilty verdict. We may reverse only if the evidence considered in *1256 the light most favorable to the verdict simply would not convince reasonable and fair-minded jurors of guilt.

Starks v. State, 798 So.2d 562 (¶ 17) (Miss. Ct.App.2001). Considering the evidence in a light favorable to the verdict, we find the evidence sufficient to support the jury's finding; consequently, Malone's argument that sufficient evidence was not provided to support a charge of armed robbery is without merit.

II. WAS MALONE'S RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL VIOLATED?

¶ 5. Malone's motion to dismiss for violation of his constitutional right to a speedy trial was denied, and he now cites to the factors from Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), in support of his argument that the denial was erroneous.

The United States Supreme Court in Barker v. Wingo, employed a four pronged balancing test in determining whether a defendant had been deprived of his right to a fair trial. The four prongs are: (1) length of delay, (2) the reason for the delay, (3) the defendant's assertion of his right, and (4) prejudice to the defendant.

Arthur v. State, 735 So.2d 213 (¶ 11) (Miss. 1999). We look to these factors as they apply to Malone's case.

a. length of delay

¶ 6. Regarding the length of delay, Malone was arrested on August 5, 1998, and his trial began on February 5, 2001. The total time elapsed is approximately 915 days or 30 months. A delay of eights months is presumptively prejudicial, so we look to the next factor. Arthur, 735 So.2d at (¶ 13).

b. reason for delay

¶ 7. The reason for the delay appears to have been docket congestion, which Malone's attorney conceded in his argument on the motion. He noted that each time the docket was called, he always announced he was ready for trial, with one exception when he had planned a vacation. In rebuttal, the State acknowledged that the crowded docket was the cause for the delay, pointing out several older more serious cases that needed to be and were tried before Malone's case could make it before the judge. "Where the reason for the delay is overcrowded dockets and understaffed prosecutors, this Court has stated that this factor will not be weighed heavily against the State." McGhee v. State, 657 So.2d 799, 802 (Miss.1995). "This Court has held that congested trial court dockets may constitute `good cause' for a trial's delay."

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Bluebook (online)
829 So. 2d 1253, 2002 WL 31043276, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/malone-v-state-missctapp-2002.