Ransom v. State

919 So. 2d 887, 2005 WL 2298579
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 22, 2005
Docket2002-CT-00267-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 919 So. 2d 887 (Ransom 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
Ransom v. State, 919 So. 2d 887, 2005 WL 2298579 (Mich. 2005).

Opinion

919 So.2d 887 (2005)

Melvin Darnell RANSOM
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2002-CT-00267-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 22, 2005.
Rehearing Denied December 8, 2005.

Melvin Darnell Ransom, pro se.

W.E. Gore, Jr., Jackson, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Scott Stuart, Faye Peterson, attorney for appellee.

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

EASLEY, Justice, for the Court.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Melvin Darnell Ransom was convicted of strong-arm robbery and sentenced by the Hinds County Circuit Court to serve a term of fifteen years in prison. Ransom's appeal of his conviction was assigned to the Court of Appeals. A divided (4-3-2) Court of Appeals found that trial counsel was ineffective when it failed to investigate alibi testimony and to timely disclose a list of the alibi witnesses. Accordingly, *888 the Court of Appeals reversed the judgment and remanded the case for a new trial. Ransom v. State, 918 So.2d 710 (Miss.Ct.App.2004). The Court of Appeals denied the State's motion for rehearing. The State filed a petition for a writ of certiorari which this Court granted.

FACTS

¶ 2. At 1:30 p.m., on September 15, 1997, Leigh White went into a post office where she was confronted by a person who snatched her purse and ran away. White testified that during the robbery, the robber was "right in her face." She testified that she absolutely had a good opportunity to see his face. The robber had to struggle to remove the purse from White's shoulder. White yelled at the robber and ran after him. The robber then turned around, came back toward White, hit her in the face and knocked her down. White's boss, Lou Morlino, came outside when he saw White lying against the glass door of the post office. Morlino chased the robber. He got as close as the driver's side of the robber's car, but he was unable to detain him. Both White and Morlino saw the robber getting into the get-away car. Each gave a physical description of the robber to the police. White was able to describe the vehicle. Both White and Morlino were able to recall the license plate number. Morlino indicated that when he ran beside the robber's vehicle there was no other person in the vehicle except the robber.

¶ 3. Detective Al Taylor testified that when he ran the tag number that was given to him by White and Morlino, he learned that the car was registered to Melvin Darnell Ransom. The description of the vehicle given by White also matched Ransom's vehicle. Taylor later contacted White and presented her with a photographic line-up of the potential suspects. She identified Ransom as the robber. During the trial, both White and Morlino identified Ransom as the person who attacked and robbed White.

¶ 4. Ransom denied that he committed the robbery stating that he had an alibi. Ransom insinuated that his cousin, Vincent McGrew, committed the crime. However, when defense counsel called McGrew to the stand, McGrew invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to answer any questions pertaining to the case.

¶ 5. Ransom's attorney did not disclose his alibi witnesses to the State until the morning of the trial. The State moved to exclude the testimony of these witnesses on the basis of unfair surprise. The trial court gave the State an opportunity to interview the witnesses. After interviewing the witnesses, the State still insisted that witnesses not be allowed to testify because the State had not had time to investigate the assertions of the witnesses. Based on the State's objection, the trial court refused to allow the alibi witnesses to testify.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. The State argues that the Court of Appeals erred by not applying its holding in Colenburg v. State, 735 So.2d 1099 (Miss.Ct.App.1999). The State argues that on direct appeal "the reviewing court must find that the record supports a finding that the trial counsel was so ineffective that the trial [j]udge had a duty to declare a mistrial sua sponte."

¶ 7. However, the Court of Appeals in Colenburg stated that Read v. State, 430 So.2d 832 (Miss.1983), applied to allow ineffective assistance of counsel to be reviewed on direct appeal. Colenburg, 735 So.2d at 1102. The Court of Appeals in Colenburg further stated:

*889 "The question presented on this appeal is not whether trial counsel was or was not ineffective but whether the trial judge, as a matter of law, had a duty to declare a mistrial or to order a new trial, sua sponte on the basis of trial counsel's performance." (emphasis added).

¶ 8. That is not the issue at hand. Here, Ransom's appellate counsel, attorney W.E. Gore, Jr., raised the issue of whether Ransom's trial counsel, attorney Peter Stewart, provided ineffective assistance of counsel. Therefore, the State is incorrect in arguing that the Court of Appeals applied an incorrect legal standard and misapplied its holding in Colenburg.

¶ 9. Inadequacy of counsel is not "to be determined by whether or not the case was won or lost. [Inadequacy of counsel is] representation so lacking in competence that it becomes apparent or should be apparent that it is the duty of the trial judge to correct it so as to prevent a mockery of justice." Parham v. State, 229 So.2d 582, 583 (Miss.1969).

¶ 10. In Read, 430 So.2d at 841, this Court held:

"Any defendant convicted of a crime may raise the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal, even though the matter has not first been presented to the trial court. The Court should review the entire record on appeal." (emphasis added).

¶ 11. To determine whether counsel has been ineffective, this Court uses the two-pronged test announced in Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). Stringer v. State, 454 So.2d 468, 476 (Miss.1984).

¶ 12. This Court has stated:

The benchmark for judging any claim of ineffectiveness [of counsel] must be whether counsel's conduct so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result. Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 686, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984). The test is two pronged: The defendant must demonstrate that his counsel's performance was deficient, and that the deficiency prejudiced the defense of the case. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064; Washington v. State, 620 So.2d 966 (Miss.1993). `This requires showing that counsel's errors were so serious as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, a trial whose result is reliable. Unless a defendant makes both showings, it cannot be said that the conviction or death sentence resulted from a breakdown in the adversary process that renders the result unreliable.' Stringer v. State, 454 So.2d 468, 477 (Miss.1984), citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064. `In any case presenting an ineffectiveness claim, the performance inquiry must be whether counsel's assistance was reasonable considering all the circumstances.' Stringer at 477, citing Strickland, 466 U.S. at 688, 104 S.Ct. at 2065; State v. Tokman, 564 So.2d 1339, 1343 (Miss.1990).
Judicial scrutiny of counsel's performance must be highly deferential.

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Bluebook (online)
919 So. 2d 887, 2005 WL 2298579, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ransom-v-state-miss-2005.