Michael Leroy Knight v. State of Mississippi

188 So. 3d 1235, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 458, 2015 WL 5202893
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 8, 2015
Docket2014-KA-00992-COA
StatusPublished

This text of 188 So. 3d 1235 (Michael Leroy Knight v. State of Mississippi) 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
Michael Leroy Knight v. State of Mississippi, 188 So. 3d 1235, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 458, 2015 WL 5202893 (Mich. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

FAIR, J.,

for the Court:

¶1. Michael Knight and his wife had valid prescriptions for Oxycodone and Methadone, but they were found to be missing hundreds of pills from prescriptions that had been filled recently — and Knight had more than a thousand dollars in cash on his person. Knight confessed that he had been selling his pills, and he was convicted of two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. Knight appeals, and as we find no error, we affirm.

DISCUSSION

1. Admissibility of Confession

¶ 2. Knight gave an incriminating statement after executing both oral and written Miranda waivers. He thereafter unsuccessfully sought to suppress the statement as involuntary under two theo- *1237 ríes: first, that he was intoxicated; and second, that he was induced by promises, express or implied, from the officers. The first ten and a half minutes of an audio recording of the interview was entered into evidence and played for the jury. On appeal, Knight argues that the denial of his motion to suppress the confession was erroneous.

¶ 3. “A confession is voluntary when, taking into consideration the totality of the circumstances, the statement is the product of the accused’s free and rational choice.” Wilson v. State, 936 So.2d 357, 361-62 (¶ 8) (Miss.2006). “The circuit court sits as a fact finder when determining voluntariness of a confession, and its determination will not be reversed unless manifestly wrong.” Horne v. State, 825 So.2d 627, 639 (¶ 44) (Miss.2002). This Court can reverse a trial court’s denial of a motion to suppress only “if the incorrect legal principle was applied; if there was no substantial evidence to support a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver of Miranda rights; and if the denial was a result of manifest error.” Scott v. State, 8 So.3d 855, 861 (¶ 22) (Miss.2008). “The burden lies with the State to prove that a confession is voluntary.” Id. at (¶ 24). “[Tjhe burden is met by the testimony of an officer, or other person having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without any threats, coercion, or offer of reward. This makes out a prima facie case for the State on the question of voluntariness.” Id. (citation and quotation marks omitted). “The trial judge must determine beyond a reasonable doubt that a confession was voluntary and knowing and that the defendant was given his Miranda rights prior to any custodial interrogation.” Id. at (¶ 23).

¶4. Knight testified at the suppression hearing and claimed that he was intoxicated when he gave the statement. The admissibility of a ' confession given while intoxicated depends on the degree of intoxication; a confession will not be excluded unless the defendant was so intoxicated “that he was in a state of mania.” Thomas v. State, 42 So.3d 528, 537 (¶ 29) (Miss.2010).

¶5. Knight claimed that he had liquified and injected five Oxycodone pills shortly before he was taken into custody. However, each of the three police officers present when Knight gave the statement, including one who had known Knight previously, testified that he did not appear to be intoxicated when he gave the statement. Approximately twenty minutes of the interview was recorded and reviewed by the court, which allowed the judge to make an independent evaluation of Knight’s mental state. Under these circumstances we cannot say the trial judge erred in finding that Knight’s confession was not induced by extreme intoxication.

¶ 6.. Knight also alleges that the confession was induced by a belief that the officers would make his charges “go away” if he cooperated. For this point he largely relies on his own testimony to show any sort of offers or suggestions of reward for a confession, which was denied by all three police officers., The trial , judge, as the finder of fact, was entitled to credit their accounts over Knight’s. Moreover, Knight acknowledged at the beginning of the recorded interview that “no promises or threats” had been made to. induce his statement.

¶ 7. In support of Knight’s argument he cites two more or less undisputed facts. The first is that he had a histoiy of collaborating with one of the interrogating- officers and that the officer had helped him in the past, and from this Knight expected to receive similar treatment if he cooperated again. But prior leniency apparently in *1238 volved sales by others and not when the “dealer” was himself. At best Knight could assert a subjective hope of help from his past experience, if he informed on someone else; but this is little more than any other person familiar with police practices could claim. There was no credible evidence of an offer of reward from the authorities that would render Knight’s confession inadmissible. Scott, 8 So.3d at 861 (¶ 24).

¶8. Knight also notes that approximately fifteen'' minutes into the interview, after he had manifested a willingness to provide information and act as an informant, one of the officers stated that helping them catch another drug dealer was Knight’s “ticket out.” But this occurred long after Knight had confessed; an inducement offered after the confession cannot be said to have induced it. See Swanier v. State, 473 So.2d 180, 187 (Miss.1985). Out of an abundance of caution, the trial judge suppressed any further statements made by Knight thereafter, and the recording was truncated (apparently by agreement) to the first ten and a half minutes,,when-it was introduced into evidence and presented to the jury.' • •

¶ 9. After reviewing the récord, we are satisfied that the denial of the motion to suppress Knight’s confession was not manifestly erroneous. • ■

2. Wife’s Pills

¶ 10. When the authorities executed their search warrant on Knight’s hotel room, they found both Knight and his wife, as well'as four bottles of prescription pills. Two bottles were in Knight’s, name and two were in his wife’s name. Both prescriptions had been filled in Alabama shortly before the warrant was obtained— Knight’s on the same day and his wife’s the day before. His wife died prior to trial and had never been charged with a crime. The trial court admitted the wife’s pills on the theory that they were part of a common scheme and that the large number of missing pills from both individuals’ prescriptions was evidence that Knight did not hold his for personal use.

¶ 11. Knight offers only a cursory argument, little more than the assertion that the evidence should have been excluded under Mississippi Rule of Evidence 403 because its probative value was substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice.

¶ 12. A trial judge’s decision' to admit or exclude evidence under'Rulé 403 is reviewed on appeal for an abuse of discretion. Green v. State, 89 So.3d 543, 549 (¶ 15) (Miss.2012). The record here reflects that the trial judge'carefully weighed the probative value of the evidence against its potential prejudice to Knight, and her decision has not been shown to be an abuse of discretion. We find no merit to this issue.

3.

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Related

Jackson v. Virginia
443 U.S. 307 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Swanier v. State
473 So. 2d 180 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1985)
Wilson v. State
936 So. 2d 357 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2006)
Scott v. State
8 So. 3d 855 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2008)
Bush v. State
895 So. 2d 836 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2005)
Horne v. State
825 So. 2d 627 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2002)
Thomas v. State
42 So. 3d 528 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2010)
Green v. State
89 So. 3d 543 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2012)
Havard v. State
94 So. 3d 229 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
188 So. 3d 1235, 2015 Miss. App. LEXIS 458, 2015 WL 5202893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/michael-leroy-knight-v-state-of-mississippi-missctapp-2015.