Rankin v. State

636 So. 2d 652, 1994 WL 92237
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 28, 1994
Docket91-KA-0446
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 636 So. 2d 652 (Rankin v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rankin v. State, 636 So. 2d 652, 1994 WL 92237 (Mich. 1994).

Opinion

636 So.2d 652 (1994)

Johnny Lewis RANKIN
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 91-KA-0446.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

March 24, 1994.
As Modified April 28, 1994.

*654 John S. Knowles, III, Brantley and Knowles, Jackson, for appellant.

Michael C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Deirdre McCrory, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PRATHER, P.J., and PITTMAN and SMITH, JJ.

PRATHER, Presiding Justice, for the court:

I. INTRODUCTION AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Johnny Lewis Rankin was indicted by the Yazoo County Grand Jury for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Following a trial on the merits, the jury returned a guilty verdict and Rankin was sentenced to twenty-five (25) years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with fifteen (15) years suspended on five (5) years good behavior, to run consecutive to cause No. 7056. A $10,000.00 fine was also imposed. Rankin subsequently filed a motion for new trial or in the alternative for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which was overruled by the trial judge. Feeling aggrieved, Rankin perfected his appeal to this Court, requesting review of the following issues:

A. Whether giving the case to the jury at 7:08 p.m. was improper and prejudicial as it did not give the jury sufficient time to make an adequate, fair, and unhurried decision on this case; and
B. Whether the verdict of the jury was against the overwhelming weight of the credible evidence and was the result of bias, passion, or prejudice against the defendant.

After a thorough review of the law and the facts in the record before us, this Court is of the opinion that there is no merit to either of these assignments of error. However, a subsequently filed document raises an issue which warrants discussion.

II. THE FACTS

Stacy Brumfield, who had known Johnny "Catfish" Rankin for three or four years, was at Smitty's Stop and Shop on November 10, 1989, when an altercation ensued between Brumfield and Rankin. Brumfield saw that Rankin had a dark-handled pistol in the back of his pants, and said he threatened her with it. Brumfield ran into Smitty's and used the telephone to report the incident to police. Brumfield recalled Rankin was wearing a hooded khaki jacket or coat at the time of the incident, which covered his gun, and which she had seen him wearing on other occasions at Smitty's. The police directed Brumfield to the Sheriff's Department because this was within the county jurisdiction.

Deputy Jackson of the Yazoo County Sheriff's Department was off duty on November 10, 1989, but Deputy Gilmore asked Jackson to accompany him to Smitty's in response to Brumfield's complaint because Jackson knew Rankin and could identify him. When the deputies arrived at Smitty's[1] the crowd of about ten to twenty-five people dispersed. Jackson pointed out Rankin to Gilmore, describing Rankin as the man in the brown-tan jacket. Rankin was in Smitty's parking lot beside the guard rails. When Jackson pointed him out to Gilmore, Rankin took off his jacket, laid it on the guard rail, and sat on it.[2] Jackson and Gilmore then noticed the handgun in the small of Rankin's back. The Deputies asked Rankin to put his hands on the patrol car and arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon. Rankin was put in the back seat of the patrol car and his jacket was placed on the front seat before the deputies brought Rankin to the county jail.

Once at the jail, Jackson, in Gilmore's presence, searched Rankin's person and the pockets of his jacket. In the left coat pocket, Jackson found $654.00 cash and 112 rocks of *655 crack cocaine.[3] In Rankin's right front pant pocket, Jackson found $1,053.00 cash. Rankin was then placed under arrest for possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.

Four witnesses testified, one equivocally, that Rankin was not wearing or carrying a coat on the day of his arrest.[4] Jimmy Fleming, Chief of Police in Yazoo City, had known Rankin "[q]uite a while." Fleming said Rankin owned a jacket identical to the one admitted into evidence at trial. Fleming remembered it because Rankin also had a matching hat, which he had worn with the jacket on several occasions, prompting Fleming to dub him "Sherlock Holmes."

Rankin said he had not worn a coat on November 10, 1989, and denied that the coat marked Exhibit 1 was his. According to Rankin, as soon as the officers arrived at Smitty's, before he knew why they were there, he voluntarily told them he had a gun.

Once at the station, Rankin said the officers searched the coat out of his presence. When they asked whether the money found in the coat belonged to him, Rankin said it did not, and denied ownership of the coat.[5] He also told the officers the rocks of cocaine were not his. Rankin said he had $1,700.00 or $1,800.00 on him, in his pant pocket, because he was planning to buy some supplies to repair his house and store.[6] Rankin said the cash in his pant pocket the day he was arrested came from a $1,900.00 cashier's check Rankin had obtained, then cashed on November 6, 1989, because the building supply company wouldn't take a cashier's check.

III. PRO SE MOTION

A. Procedural Posture

Eleven months after Rankin's brief was filed with this Court, he requested from the Clerk of this Court the trial transcript in this cause in order to prepare a supplemental appeal brief. Two months later, Rankin filed documents captioned motion for leave to proceed in trial court, motion for post-conviction collateral relief, petition for post-conviction collateral relief, and memorandum brief in support of his post-conviction petition.

Rankin's motion for leave to proceed in trial court was purportedly filed pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-27. His petition for post-conviction collateral relief asserts ineffective assistance of counsel, specifically counsel's failure to advocate Rankin's Fourth Amendment claim of illegal search and seizure and counsel's failure to file a timely suppression motion regarding the illegally obtained evidence. Rankin concluded his petition with a request that this Court set aside his conviction and sentence with a complete discharge. Rankin's memorandum brief explains that his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel is directed to his attorney's performance both at trial and on appeal.

B. Analysis

Rankin's pro se motion for post-conviction relief ("PCR") was prematurely filed with this Court as his direct appeal had not yet been disposed of by this Court. Martin v. State, 556 So.2d 357, 359 (Miss. 1990); Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-7 (Supp. 1992). This Court could dismiss or deny Rankin's motion on this ground without prejudice, allowing him to institute another such action in the appropriate court at the appropriate time. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-27(9) (Supp. 1992). See also Martin, 556 So.2d at 360.

Another option is for this Court to first dispose of Rankin's direct appeal, then address his PCR action. But Miss. Code Ann. § 99-39-5(2) (Supp.

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Bluebook (online)
636 So. 2d 652, 1994 WL 92237, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rankin-v-state-miss-1994.