Mastin v. State

180 So. 3d 732, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 591, 2015 WL 7253278
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedNovember 17, 2015
DocketNo. 2014-KM-00431-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 180 So. 3d 732 (Mastin 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
Mastin v. State, 180 So. 3d 732, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 591, 2015 WL 7253278 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

IRVING, P.J.,

for the Court:

¶ 1. After the Circuit Court of Lowndes County affirmed Gregory Mastin’s convictions for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, he appealed, raising five issues, which we restate as follows:

I. Whether the State failed to prove that Mastin’s spoken words constituted disorderly conduct;
II. Whether Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-35-7(1)® (Rev.2014),1 as applied in this case, violates Mastin’s First Amendment right to free speech and is thus overly broad;
III. Whether the State failed to ádvise Mastín of the disorderly-conduct statute that he was being prosecuted under in violation of Article 3, Section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution;
IV. Whether Mastin’s initial seizure was in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution as well as Article 3, Section 23 of the Mississippi Constitution, requiring reversal of his convictions; and
V. Whether the evidence is insufficient to support the judgment or whether the judgment is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

¶ 2. Finding insufficient evidence to support the convictions under section 97-35-7(1)®, we reverse and render.

[734]*734FACTS

¶ 3. While conducting a driver’s license checkpoint, Deputy Paul Greggs discovered that Mastin’s Alabama-issued driver’s license, which was valid under Alabama law, was expired under Mississippi law;2 so he asked Mastín to move his vehicle to the side of the road. Mastín then parked his vehicle on the roadside and in front of Deputy Greggs’s patrol car, and Deputy Greggs asked Mastín to step out of the vehicle. After doing so, Mastín handed his license to Deputy Greggs. At some point, Mastín got back inside1 his vehicle, where he waited while Deputy Greggs was in his patrol car verifying that Mastin’s driver’s license was not suspended. While still in his patrol car, Deputy Greggs prepared an expired-license ticket to give to Mastín.

¶ 4. After walking to Mastin’s vehicle, Deputy Greggs again asked Mastín to step out of the vehicle, and Mastín complied.3 According to Deputy Greggs, as he and Mastín stood near the rear of the vehicle, Mastín yelled, screamed, and refused to accept the ticket.4 According to Deputy Greggs, at that point, he arrested Mastín for disorderly conduct.

¶ 5. In the Justice Court of • Lowndes County, Mastín pleaded, guilty to the expired-license charge, and following a bench trial, the justice court convicted him of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Mastín appealed both convictions to the County Court of Lowndes County, which found him guilty of both charges. As stated, the circuit court affirmed the convictions, resulting in this appeal.

DISCUSSION

¶6. Preliminarily, we note that Mastín failed to preserve his second issue for appeal. Therefore, it is procedurally barred. Simmons v. State, 805 So.2d 452, 468 (¶¶ 5-6) (Miss.2001) (citations omitted). We also note that issue one is subsumed in issue five, which tye find dispositive. And because we find issue five dispositive, we pretermit discussion of Mastin’s third and fourth issues.

Sufficiency of the Evidence

¶ 7. When reviewing a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence,

an appellate court considers the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution...-. [Ajppellate court[s] will reverse and render, if the facts- and inferences point in favor of the defendant on any element of the offense with sufficient force that reasonable jurors could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the, defendant was guilty. The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that our relevant inquiry is whether any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.

Gray v. State, 169 So.3d 982, 984 (¶ 9) (Miss.Ct.App.2015) (internal citations and quotation marks omitted).

¶ 8. On appeal, Mastín argues that the evidence was insufficient to support a conviction for disorderly conduct. In re[735]*735sponse, the State argues that Deputy “Greggs arrested Mastín for disorderly conduct based on his actions, behavior[,] and words.” The State also argues that Mastin’s refusal of the expired-lieense ticket constituted disorderly conduct.

¶ 9. Mastín was charged by affidavit with committing disorderly conduct “[b]y yelling ánd cursing, stating [that] he wasn’t paying the f- ticket he was being issued[,] ..: [and] yelling this is f-b-.” Although a statute is not listed in the charging affidavit, the State concedes that the correct charging statute is section 97-35-7(l)(i), which reads as follows;

Whoever, with intent to provoke a breach of the peace, or under such circumstances as may lead to a breach of the peace, or which may cause or occasion a breach of the peace, fails or refuses to promptly comply with or obey a request, command, or order of a law enforcement officer, having the authority to then and there arrest any person for a violation of the law, to:
⅜ * *
[ajct or do or refrain from acting or doing as ordered, requested or commanded by said officer to avoid any breach of the peace at or near the place of issuance of such order, request or command, shall be guilty of disorderly conduct ....

(Emphasis added).'

¶ 10. During direct examination at trial, Deputy Greggs testified that after he asked Mastín to step out of his vehicle the second time, Deputy Greggs “tried to hand [the ticket] to [Mastín, who] made the statement that [Deputy Greggs] didn’t have to give [Mastín] the [ticket][ — ]that [it] was b-Deputy Greggs also testified that although he urged Mastín to take the ticket, informing him that he could be arrested;for driving with an expired license, Mastín “crossed his arms and again refused to take the ticket and continued to act .disorderly [by][y]elling [and] screaming.” However, on cross-examination, Deputy Greggs admitted that Mastín took the ticket, as shown by the following colloquy:

Q: So in your police report and in your sworn testimony[,] Mr. Mastín did actually take the ticket from you?
A: That’s correct.
Q: Okay. And when he took the ticket and then he said another protest of — -to you about giving the ticket, that’s when you arrested him?
A: Continuously yelling, that’s correct.
Q: And at no time prior to that, prior to your advising him that [he was] under arrest, Mr. Mastín, did Mr. Mastín threaten you physicallyt?]
A; Did not.
[[Image here]]
Q: Okay. So his actions that you considered for I believe disorderly conduct were his spoken words? '
A: And his actions and his refusal to take the citation, as I testified earlier, for an expired driver’s license, a minor citation that any law enforcement officer can issue anyone....

¶ 11.

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Bluebook (online)
180 So. 3d 732, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 591, 2015 WL 7253278, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mastin-v-state-missctapp-2015.