Myles v. State

774 So. 2d 486, 2000 WL 1281589
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedSeptember 12, 2000
Docket98-KA-00611-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 774 So. 2d 486 (Myles 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
Myles v. State, 774 So. 2d 486, 2000 WL 1281589 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

774 So.2d 486 (2000)

Johnny MYLES a/k/a Johnny Myles, Jr. and Calvin Walker, Appellants,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 98-KA-00611-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

September 12, 2000.
Rehearing Denied December 5, 2000.

*487 Edmund J. Phillips, Jr., Newton, Robert N. Brooks, Carthage, Joe N. Tatum, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellants.

Office of the Attorney General by Wayne Snuggs, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE SOUTHWICK, P.J., BRIDGES, AND IRVING, JJ.

IRVING, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Johnny Myles and Calvin Walker were convicted in Scott County Circuit Court of armed robbery. Tried jointly, both were convicted and sentenced to serve thirty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Aggrieved, both Myles and Walker appeal. Their statement of issues is recited verbatim from their briefs. Myles argues the following

I. The court erred in rejecting appellant's Batson challenge to the State's peremptory strike of venireman Patrick.

Walker argues the following:

I. The trial court erred in allowing the district attorney to excuse without proper cause African American jurors in violation of Calvin Walker's due process rights.
II. The trial court erred overruling appellant's motion to suppress *488 photographic lineup and the resulting in court identification.
III. The evidence was insufficient to sustain Walker's armed robbery conviction.

Finding no reversible error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2. On October 9, 1997, Myles and Walker drove up to David Cubbage while Cubbage was attending to his tractor trailer in a Chevron station parking lot and robbed him at gun point. Myles was the passenger and Walker was the driver. Cubbage testified that Myles got out of the vehicle and approached him. Cubbage, thinking Myles and Walker were seeking information or directions, walked toward Myles. Myles displayed a gun and asked for Cubbage's wallet. When Cubbage did not immediately turn over his wallet, Myles cocked the gun and threatened to kill Cubbage, at which point Cubbage handed his wallet to Myles. Myles took money out of the wallet and threw the wallet to the ground. After taking the money, both Myles and Walker fled the scene. As Myles and Walker sped off, Cubbage got the license number of the truck and reported it to law enforcement. Investigating officers subsequently discovered the vehicle was registered to Walker. Cubbage identified Myles and Walker in a pretrial lineup as well as at trial.

ANALYSIS OF THE ISSUES PRESENTED

I. Batson challenge

¶ 3. Since Myles and Walker both make a Batson challenge, we will combine their separate arguments for discussion.

¶ 4. A defendant asserting a Batson challenge must show that (1) he is a member of a cognizable racial group; (2) that the prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges to excuse a venire person of the defendant's race; and (3) that there is an inference that the venire persons were excluded on account of their race. Collins v. State, 691 So.2d 918, 926 (Miss.1997). "In sum, these components constitute the prima facie showing of discrimination necessary to compel the state to come forward with a neutral explanation for challenging black jurors." Id. The burden then shifts to the State to come forward with a raceneutral explanation for challenging the jurors. Id. However, the State's explanation is not required to rise to the level of justification as required for a challenge for cause. Id.

¶ 5. The State made six peremptory strikes, five against African American jurors and one against a European American juror. However, the State accepted two African American jurors. The State exercised its first three strikes against, Ollie Harper, Elroy McClendon, and a Ms. Johnson, all African American jurors. The State's fourth strike was exercised against a Mr. Roberts, a European American juror. The State's fifth and sixth strikes were exercised against two more African American jurors, Gwendale Strong and Roshae Patrick. The final jury consisted of ten European Americans and two African Americans.

¶ 6. The State gave the following reasons for each strike:

1. Ollie Harper:
BY MR. DUNCAN: My reason for excusing her is that we have prosecuted her sister and sent her to jail, sentenced her to the penitentiary.
2. Elroy McClendon:
BY MR. DUNCAN: Your Honor, my reason for striking Mr. McClendon is that we have convicted more than one of his family members in the past on felonies.
3. Mrs. Johnson:
BY MR. DUNCAN: Excuse Juror No. 5, Johnson, who's also a black juror, Your Honor, and the reason we excuse her is that, during his lifetime, I understand he's now deceased, but we sent her husband to the Penitentiary.
*489 BY MR. DUNCAN: Your honor, I don't recall. It's impossible for me to remember who's related to who. I don't know Mrs. Johnson. I get this information from the law enforcement that, you know, do know Mrs. Johnson.
BY THE COURT: Okay.
BY MR. DUNCAN: And they tell me that, during his lifetime, he's now deceased, that we prosecuted her husband and sent him to the Penitentiary, and I don't think what he was convicted of, and what he was sentenced to, and when it was has any bearing on whether or not it's a race neutral challenge.
4. Gwendale Strong:
BY MR. DUNCAN: We'll excuse No. 7, Strong, who is a black juror. The reason I excuse him, Your Honor, is that the law enforcement officials have informed me that he has a reputation for using drugs; that he's recently been charged with a DUI by local law enforcement, and I also have some personal knowledge of Mr. Strong, and I'm aware of some of his feelings toward Court.
5. Roshae Patrick:
BY MR. DUNCAN: We'll excuse No. 10, Patrick, who is a black juror, Your Honor, and my reason for excluding her is that we have, in the past, convicted several of her family members and kinships, and, as far as specifics, you know, I can't tell you who it was. I just know that, over the years, we've convicted numerous Patricks that the law enforcement tell me that she is related to, and, in fact, we have a Patrick on the docket this term of Court that I think she's related to.

¶ 7. Myles and Walker offered no rebuttal evidence that the reasons given by the State were in fact false but contend that the proffered reasons given by the State were essentially the same for all stricken jurors and were not racially neutral. Myles argues that the reasons given by the prosecution for the peremptory challenges did not relate to an answer given by the prospective jurors. Myles also contends that as to juror Patrick, the prosecutor could not name her convicted kinsmen, describe their relationship to Patrick, or tell what crimes for which the kinsmen were convicted. Walker further argues that the trial court erred by not requiring the State to give specifics regarding the conviction and the convicted persons' relationship to the challenged venire member.

¶ 8. The pivotal question is whether the State was able to present a race-neutral explanation for each of the peremptory strikes.

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774 So. 2d 486, 2000 WL 1281589, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/myles-v-state-missctapp-2000.