Pipkins v. State

878 So. 2d 119, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 15, 2004 WL 26745
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 6, 2004
DocketNo. 2001-KA-01622-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 878 So. 2d 119 (Pipkins 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
Pipkins v. State, 878 So. 2d 119, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 15, 2004 WL 26745 (Mich. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

MCMILLIN, C. J.,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Edwin Eugene Pipkins was convicted in the Circuit Court of George County of two counts of drug-related criminal activity. The charges were for (a) possession of a controlled substance and (b) possession of precursor chemicals with the intent to manufacture a controlled substance. He has appealed his convictions to this Court and presents three issues for consideration. We have, for purposes of this opinion, rearranged the order in which the issues will be considered. First, he contends that the State’s evidence of guilt was insufficient as a matter of law to support the jury’s verdicts of guilty. Second, he contends that the trial court erred by permitting the State, in cross-examination, to raise matters concerning other bad acts for the sole purpose of prejudicing Pipkins in the eyes of the jury. Finally, Pipkins suggests that, even if the verdicts of guilty are upheld, he is entitled to a lesser sentence because, when the severity of his sentence is compared to that of his co-indictee who pled guilty, it is evident that he was punished strictly for exercising his constitutional right to trial by jury. We find nothing in the matters raised in this appeal to convince us that there is a basis in law to reverse Pipkins’s conviction or set aside his sentence. For that reason, we affirm the verdicts of the jury and the ensuing judgment of sentence entered by the trial court.

I.

Facts

¶ 2. Law enforcement officers answering a domestic disturbance call at a mobile home leased by Pipkins and his girlfriend, Debra Tyler, arrived at the location and found no one there. However, the officers observed in plain view a bag containing a substance that was believed by the officers to be a chemical used in the manufacture of illegal methamphetamine. Other officers working in narcotics law enforcement were summoned to the scene. Shortly thereafter, Tyler returned to the mobile home and consented to a search of the premises. A quantity of chemicals and other paraphernalia commonly associated with illegal methamphetamine manufacturing operations were discovered and seized along with a quantity of methamphetamine. The investigation revealed that the trailer had been leased jointly to Pip-kins and Tyler and that the deposit for electric utilities furnished to the location was made in Pipkins’s name.

¶ 3. Evidence placing Pipkins at the trailer in close proximity to the time officers arrived was disputed. One reasonable interpretation of the evidence presented was that the domestic disturbance reported to law enforcement had occurred shortly before officers arrived and that Pipkins had remained on the property after Tyler had left. The defense presented evidence tending to show that the reported disturbance had occurred several days earlier and that the officers had simply been [121]*121substantially late in efforts to investigate the nature of the disturbance.

II.

The Sufficiency of the Evidence

¶ 4. Pipkins alleges that the trial court erred in denying his JNOV motion on the ground that the evidence was insufficient, as a matter of law, to support a guilty verdict. The State’s case against Pipkins depended upon the theory that Pipkins was in constructive possession of the various items discovered on the premises based on his occupancy of the property as his primary residence. His defense consisted essentially of the contention that he had vacated the premises three or four days before the various items were discovered so that he was no longer in control of the premises, thereby defeating any contention that he was in constructive possession of items on the property. Additionally, he argued that, since he and Tyler were joint occupants of the property, his possession was not exclusive and, therefore, he could not be conclusively shown to be in constructive possession of the various materials charged in the indictment.

¶ 5. An issue of this nature requires this Court to review all of the admissible evidence presented at trial, viewing it in the light most favorable to upholding the jury verdict. Gleeton v. State, 716 So.2d 1083(¶ 14) (Miss.1998) (overruled on other grounds by Miss. Transp. Comm’n v. McLemore, 863 So.2d 31 (Miss.2003)). We must assume that the jury drew all reasonable inferences in favor of guilt that were legally and logically warranted. If we are satisfied that, viewing the evidence in that light, there was proof of the essential elements of the crime, we are charged by law to permit the verdict to stand.

¶ 6. There was no evidence showing that Pipkins was in actual possession of the drug-related materials. Rather, they were discovered on the premises of a residential property shown by the proof to have been occupied by Pipkins as his principal domicile, along with his female companion, Tyler. “A presumption of constructive possession arises against the owner of premises upon which contraband is found.” Cunningham v. State, 583 So.2d 960, 962 (Miss.1991). It was certainly within Pipkins’s power to present evidence that would tend to overcome the presumption, but our review of the record reveals only his contention that he had been gone from the property for several days prior to the discovery of the contraband. There was disputed evidence on this point with some of the evidence tending to indicate that the domestic disturbance that initially led to the appearance of law enforcement officers had, in fact, occurred just a short time prior to their arrival, rather than the several days alleged by the defense. In all events, the State’s proof showed that the property had been rented in Pipkins’s name and that the account for utilities was in his name. The jury, and not the trial court or an appellate court, is charged with resolving disputed factual issues. Jackson v. State, 845 So.2d 727(¶ 12) (Miss.Ct.App.2003). The jury heard all the evidence and was plainly satisfied that the circumstances of the case pointed toward the conclusion that Pipkins was the person primarily in control of the premises and, thus, in possession of any property discovered on that property, absent some plausible explanation tending to show otherwise. We do not find the defendant’s contention that he had voluntarily abandoned the property as his principal residence a few days before the discovery of the contraband to be so compelling as to require a determination that the State’s constructive possession case failed as a matter of law. Even if the jury accepted the time line offered by the defendant, [122]*122there was no factual basis to support a theory that the contraband material had been hastily assembled on the spur of the moment after Pipkins’s unanticipated and sudden departure from the residence. We decline to disturb the jury’s verdict after conducting our own review of the evidence.

III.

Evidence of Other Bad Acts

¶ 7. During the State’s cross examination of Pipkins, the prosecuting attorney engaged in a fairly lengthy inquiry into whether Pipkins had telephoned his co-defendant, Tyler, the night before she was scheduled to testify and attempted to intimidate or otherwise improperly influence her testimony. Pipkins admitted to having talked to Tyler on the telephone but denied any attempt to have her alter her testimony. This line of interrogation was permitted by the trial court over defense counsel’s timely objection. The State thereafter made no effort to show the nature of the telephone conversation by other evidence.

¶ 8.

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878 So. 2d 119, 2004 Miss. App. LEXIS 15, 2004 WL 26745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pipkins-v-state-missctapp-2004.