State v. Mims

505 So. 2d 747
Louisiana Court of Appeal·Decided April 1, 1987·No. 18358-KA·Published·Cited by 16 cases

Opinion

505 So.2d 747 (1987)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Michael J. MIMS, Appellant.

No. 18358-KA.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

April 1, 1987.

*748 Bobby L. Culpepper, Jonesboro, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, John C. Blake, Dist. Atty., Walter E. May, Jr., Asst. Dist. Atty., Jonesboro, for appellee.

Before FRED W. JONES, JR., NORRIS and LINDSAY, JJ.

LINDSAY, Judge.

The defendant, Michael J. Mims, was charged with one count of distribution of marijuana and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, violations of LSA-R.S. 40:966. The defendant was tried before a jury and was convicted as charged. The trial court sentenced the defendant to the maximum sentence under each count, ten years at hard labor and a fine of $15,000.00, and ordered that the sentences be served consecutively. On each count, the defendant was also ordered to serve an additional prison term of one year in default of payment of the fine. The defendant appeals his convictions and sentences, urging numerous assignments of error. For the following reasons, we remand the case to the trial court for further proceedings.

Because this case is to be remanded to the trial court for a hearing mandated by the contentions raised by assignment of error number six, a full recitation of the background facts of the case is not required. Briefly stated, however, the record reveals that based upon information initially provided to law enforcement officers by one Glen Jackson, officers of the Jackson Parish Sheriff's Department began an investigation of the defendant, Michael J. Mims. During the course of the investigation, Glen Jackson made a controlled buy of a quantity of marijuana from Michael J. Mims at Mims' store in East Hodge, Louisiana, on November 23, 1984. During the course of this transaction, Mims advised Jackson that he was in possession of more marijuana which was located in his mobile home located adjacent to Mims' store.

Based upon the information obtained during the investigation and as a result of the controlled marijuana buy made by Jackson, the officers obtained a search warrant for the search of Mims' residence and the *749 store. The warrant was issued by a district court judge and during the early morning hours of November 24, 1984, the officers, accompanied by the Chief of Police of East Hodge, went to Mims' residence. Upon being admitted to the mobile home by Mims, a search was conducted and the officers recovered approximately 1.7 pounds of marijuana, as well as other evidence. Mims' store was also searched and additional marijuana was recovered.

The defendant was charged by bill of information with one count of distribution of marijuana arising from the transaction in the store on November 23, 1984, and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in connection with the marijuana found at his residence and in the store.

Counsel for the defendant filed numerous pre-trial motions. On February 28, 1985, a motion to suppress was filed on behalf of the defendant. A judgment was signed by the trial court on April 19, 1985, denying that motion to suppress. On September 11, 1985, a motion to quash the information for misjoinder of offenses was filed. Shortly thereafter, another motion to suppress was filed. The trial court minutes indicate both these motions were denied by the trial court on September 16, 1985 and the trial on the merits commenced immediately thereafter. However, a mistrial was declared and a new trial date was obtained.

The present trial commenced on November 18, 1985. The defendant was tried before a jury and found guilty as charged. The defendant now appeals his convictions and sentences.

The defendant relies upon numerous assignments of error, however, our decision on assignments four and six make a consideration of the other assignments unnecessary.

ASSIGNMENTS 4 & 6

In assignment of error six, the defendant claims the trial court erred in failing to grant a mistrial because of a pattern of racial discrimination in jury selection shown by the empaneling of an all-white jury. Although there were four prospective black jurors in the jury venire, one was excused by the court and three were excused by the State through the use of peremptory challenges. For the following reasons, we find that the defendant has made a prima facie showing of racial discrimination. The State is now required to come forward with a neutral explanation for challenging prospective black jurors.

In Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S.Ct. 824, 13 L.Ed.2d 759 (1965), the United States Supreme Court was required to decide whether a black defendant was denied equal protection by the State's exercise of peremptory challenges to exclude members of his race from the jury. In State v. Ford, 489 So.2d 1250 (La.1986)[1] the Louisiana Supreme Court set forth the manner in which this rule was to be applied:

This court continues to adhere to the standard established in Swain v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 202, 85 S.Ct. 824, 13 L.Ed.2d 759 (1965), realizing that the defendant is saddled with a difficult burden. State v. Eames, 365 So.2d 1361, 1367 (La.1978). The defendant must show systematic exclusion of blacks from juries over a period of time. State v. Hayes, 414 So.2d 717 (La.1982); State v. Edwards, 406 So.2d 1331 (La.1981). The defendant in this case has not shown a systematic exclusion of blacks, nor a long-standing policy of the office of the district attorney to exclude black jurors. Without such a showing of systematic exclusion, the state is entitled to exercise its peremptory challenges as it chooses. State v. Berry, 391 So.2d 406 (La.1980). State v. Williams, 445 So.2d 1171, 1177 (La.1984).
We are not prepared to depart from this standard, whether defendant brings his claim under the Sixth Amendment or the Fourteenth.

*750 Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court, in Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. ___, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986), stated that this interpretation of Swain placed on a defendant a crippling burden of proof, making a prosecutor's peremptory challenges largely immune from constitutional scrutiny. The court announced new criteria for establishing constitutional infringement upon a defendant's rights by the racial makeup of a jury.

In Batson, the United States Supreme Court stated that to establish a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination in selection of the petit jury,

T]he defendant first must show that he is a member of a cognizable racial group, Castaneda v. Partida, supra, 430 U.S. [482], at 494, 97 S.Ct. [1272] at 1280 [51 L.Ed.2d 498], and that the prosecutor has exercised peremptory challenges to remove from the venire members of the defendant's race. Second, the defendant is entitled to rely on the fact, as to which there can be no dispute, that peremptory challenges constitute a jury selection practice that permits "those to discriminate who are of a mind to discriminate." Avery v. Georgia, supra, 345 U.S. [559], at 562, 73 S.Ct. [891] at 892 [97 L.Ed.2d 1244]. Finally, the defendant must show that these facts and any other relevant circumstances raise an inference that the prosecutor used that practice to exclude the veniremen from the petit jury on account of their race.

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