McCoy v. State

820 So. 2d 25, 2002 WL 85664
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 22, 2002
Docket1999-KA-00337-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 820 So. 2d 25 (McCoy 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
McCoy v. State, 820 So. 2d 25, 2002 WL 85664 (Mich. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

820 So.2d 25 (2002)

Leon McCOY a/k/a Coy, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 1999-KA-00337-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

January 22, 2002.
Rehearing Denied April 9, 2002.
Certiorari Denied June 27, 2002.

*27 Edward J. Bogen, Jr., Oxford, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Scott Stuart, Attorney for Appellee.

Before SOUTHWICK, P.J., BRIDGES, and CHANDLER, JJ.

CHANDLER, J., For The Court.

¶ 1. Leon McCoy appeals from a jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Bolivar County, Mississippi, finding him guilty on two counts of the sale of cocaine. McCoy was sentenced to serve sixty years on each count, concurrently, without the possibility of parole. Aggrieved, McCoy perfected this appeal, raising the following issues as error:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING THE INDICTMENT TO BE AMENDMENT AS TO COUNT I.
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY DISMISSING ONE OF THE JURORS IN FAVOR OF AN ALTERNATE JUROR.
III. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED BY ALLOWING EVIDENCE AS TO THE LEVEL AND DEGREE OF THE ALLEGED DRUG SALE.
IV. WHETHER THE SENTENCE WAS GROSSLY DISPROPORTIONATE TO THE CRIMES.

Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On April 8, 1996, agents from the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics (MBN) conducted a controlled undercover buy in Bolivar County, Mississippi. One agent, Jeff Overstreet, remained in a vehicle equipped with radio and surveillance instruments. Agent Jeff Mitchell, along with Rodney Graham, a confidential informant, went to Nell's Barber Shop and asked the owner, Vincent Richardson, if he knew where they could purchase some drugs. Richardson left the barbershop and shortly after returned with Leon McCoy.

*28 ¶ 3. Graham and McCoy began conversing and proceeded to the middle of the barbershop where Graham and Agent Mitchell could get a good look at the drugs. McCoy took out four plastic bags containing crack cocaine and placed them on the counter. Each plastic bag contained $100 worth of crack cocaine. Graham agreed to purchase $300 worth of the cocaine. After Graham paid for the drugs, Agent Mitchell asked McCoy if he could obtain an additional $300 worth of cocaine. McCoy answered affirmatively and left the barbershop for about twenty-five minutes. McCoy returned with six bags of crack cocaine. Agent Mitchell selected the three bags he wanted, put them in his pocket, and paid McCoy $300.

¶ 4. McCoy was charged with two counts of selling a controlled substance pursuant to section 41-29-139 of the Mississippi Code. During the trial, Agent Mitchell identified McCoy as the person who sold the crack cocaine. Furthermore, the sale was recorded by a tape recorder worn by Graham and a body transmitter worn by Agent Mitchell. This tape was played for the jury during the trial.

¶ 5. McCoy testified on his own behalf and denied selling cocaine to either Agent Mitchell or Graham, stating that he had been in Florida during the time of the alleged sale. In support of this defense, McCoy offered an identification badge from his job at a public warehouse in Florida and a Florida driver's license. Following the trial, McCoy was convicted on both counts and sentenced as a habitual offender under section 99-19-81 of the Mississippi Code. Moreover, the trial judge doubled each sentence pursuant to section 41-29-147 of the Mississippi Code. It is from this sentence that McCoy appeals.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR BY ALLOWING THE INDICTMENT TO BE AMENDMENT AS TO COUNT I?

¶ 6. McCoy asserts in his first assignment of error that the circuit court erred by allowing the State to improperly amend count I of the indictment. Specifically, McCoy contends that count I of the original indictment charged that the defendant sold cocaine to a person identified as "Tommy Phipps." However, subsequent to the grand jury issuing the indictment, the district attorney sought to have the indictment amended to charge McCoy with having sold cocaine to a person identified as "Rodney Graham." According to McCoy, this amendment was one of substance and not of form.

¶ 7. As a general rule, where an amendment is made to an indictment that changes the nature of the charge, then the amendment must be made by the grand jury that returned the indictment. Greenlee v. State, 725 So.2d 816, 821 (¶ 10) (Miss. 1998). However, a court may authorize an amendment to an indictment in situations where the amendment would alter the form, but not the substance of the indictment. Harris v. State, 757 So.2d 195, 199 (¶ 6) (Miss.2000); Greenlee, 725 So.2d at 821 (¶ 10); Parchman v. State, 279 So.2d 602, 604 (Miss.1973); Byrd v. State, 228 So.2d 874, 875-76 (Miss.1969). Therefore, a court may order an amendment where the amendment "does not 1) materially alter the essential facts of the offense or 2) materially alter a defense that the defendant had under the original indictment so as to prejudice his case." Harris, 757 So.2d at 199 (¶ 16). An amendment is prejudicial only where a valid defense under the original indictment would no longer be available subsequent to the amendment. Id.

¶ 8. As the record shows, both Tommy Phipps and Rodney Graham were working *29 as undercover informants for the MBN during the time of the drug sales. Prior to the beginning of the trial, the State admitted that it had misnamed one of the undercover purchasers in the indictment and sought to have the indictment amended. The State also acknowledged that it notified McCoy as soon as the mistake was discovered, several months before the trial. The trial court determined that the amendment was one of form as the exact name of the undercover informant was not essential to the underlying sale. We agree with the trial court and find that the name of the undercover informant was irrelevant to the charges against McCoy. In reaching this decision, we emphasize that neither Tommy Phipps nor Rodney Graham testified at any point in the proceedings.

¶ 9. This Court also agrees with the State's contention that the amendment to the indictment failed to deprive McCoy of any defense that existed prior to the indictment. Throughout the course of the trial, McCoy asserted only one defense to the charges against him; that is, he claimed that he could not have sold the drugs as he resided in Florida during the time of the alleged sale. Clearly, this defense does not hinge upon the identity of the undercover informant. There is no doubt that prior to the indictment McCoy would have made the same argument, and to the same effect, regardless of whose name was mentioned in the indictment. Therefore, we find that McCoy was not prejudiced by the amendment as the amendment in no way materially altered a defense available to McCoy under the original indictment.

II. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR BY DISMISSING ONE OF THE JURORS IN FAVOR OF AN ALTERNATE JUROR?

¶ 10. McCoy next argues that the circuit court erred when, after the defense rested its case but prior to deliberations, it dismissed a juror and substituted him with an alternate. Conversely, the State argues that the dismissal and replacement of a juror with an alternate is within the trial court's discretion and there is an abundance of evidence in the record to support the court's ultimate decision to excuse the juror. We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion.

¶ 11.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Calvin Giles v. State of Mississippi
Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2019
Brett Prince v. State of Mississippi
225 So. 3d 545 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2017)
Dexter Johnson v. State of Mississippi
196 So. 3d 973 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2015)
Dominick v. State
108 So. 3d 452 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Parkman v. State
108 So. 3d 443 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2012)
Hudspeth v. State
28 So. 3d 600 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2009)
Wilson v. State
12 So. 3d 8 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
King v. State
994 So. 2d 890 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Watson v. State
8 So. 3d 901 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Bankston v. State
4 So. 3d 377 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Goldman v. State
9 So. 3d 394 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Brown v. State
999 So. 2d 853 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2008)
Pittman v. State
987 So. 2d 1010 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Moss v. State
977 So. 2d 1201 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Mason v. State
971 So. 2d 618 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Smith v. State
956 So. 2d 997 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2007)
Lawrence v. State
931 So. 2d 600 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)
Harris v. State
921 So. 2d 366 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
820 So. 2d 25, 2002 WL 85664, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccoy-v-state-missctapp-2002.