Sykes v. State

749 So. 2d 239, 1999 WL 640036
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 24, 1999
Docket97-KA-01545-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 749 So. 2d 239 (Sykes 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
Sykes v. State, 749 So. 2d 239, 1999 WL 640036 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

749 So.2d 239 (1999)

Sylvester SYKES, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 97-KA-01545-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 24, 1999.

*241 Michael G. Thorne, Tupelo, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, Attorney for Appellee.

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

SOUTHWICK, P.J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Sylvester Sykes was convicted in the Circuit Court of Lee County of burglary of a building. On appeal Sykes challenges the weight and sufficiency of the evidence, the use of peremptory challenges to jurors, the admissibility of his confession, the denial of his request for a circumstantial evidence instruction, and the adequacy of the proof of the former convictions that were used to enhance his sentence. Each of these arguments is without merit and we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 2. On October 11, 1996, officers of the Tupelo Police Department responded to an alarm that was set off at the Social Security Administration offices in Tupelo. They first discovered a shattered window, then found Sylvester Sykes hiding under a desk. Several desk drawers in the area near Sykes had been opened. After having been made aware of his constitutional rights and signing a waiver of them, Sykes gave a statement that was then typed and which he signed. The confession stated:

On the morning of October 11, 1996 at around 12:00 AM I left the area of Ida Street where I had bought some crack cocaine, smoked it and walked to the area of Wal-mart on West Main. While in the area I walked to the social security administration on Traceland Drive, broke in and began looking for some cash money to buy some crack. The next thing I know is the police is there and they catch me under a desk in one of the offices.

Sykes was convicted of burglary of a building and sentenced as an habitual offender to a term of seven years without probation or parole.

DISCUSSION

I.A. Sufficiency of the evidence

¶ 3. Sykes argues that the lower court improperly denied his motions for a *242 directed verdict and later for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict because, he asserts, there was insufficient evidence to prove each element of the crime of burglary. We examine the evidence that was presented at the last time that a motion attacking the sufficiency was presented. Wetz v. State, 503 So.2d 803, 807 n. 3 (Miss.1987). In this case that was at the time of the motion for a JNOV.

¶ 4. In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, we are to accept as true all of the evidence favorable to the State, including all reasonable inferences that may be drawn therefrom, and disregard evidence favorable to the defendant. White v. State, 722 So.2d 1242, 1246 (Miss.1998).

¶ 5. The elements proving the offense of burglary are a breaking and entering of a building with the intent to commit a crime after entering. Jackson v. State, 483 So.2d 1353, 1354 (Miss.1986). The evidence was that an alarm had been activated at an office building. A window was broken and several desk drawers were open. Sykes was hiding under a desk.

¶ 6. Sykes's argument focuses solely on the evidence just described. He states that none of this evidence proves his intent to commit a crime once inside the building as no stolen property was found on him. What Sykes argues in a separate issue is that his complete confession to the crime after being captured was inadmissible. As we explain below, it was admissible. Sykes confessed that he broke into the building searching for money with which to purchase cocaine. There was sufficient evidence.

I.B. Weight of the evidence

¶ 7. Sykes's sufficiency of the evidence argument was solely a question of law. We have rejected it. Next he alleges that the verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence and the trial court should have granted his motion for a new trial. Collier v. State, 711 So.2d 458, 461 (Miss.1998). To determine whether a jury's verdict is against the overwhelming weight of the evidence, we accept as true the evidence that supports the verdict. Reversal occurs only when we are convinced that the trial court has abused its discretion in failing to grant the motion. "Only when the verdict is so contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence that to allow it to stand would sanction an unconscionable injustice will this Court disturb it on appeal." White v. State, 732 So.2d 961, 965 (Miss.1999).

¶ 8. We have recounted the evidence presented by the State. Accepting this evidence as true, the verdict was entirely consistent with the great weight of the evidence. The trial court did not err in refusing to grant Sykes a new trial.

II. Batson motion

¶ 9. Sykes next argues that the State exercised its peremptory challenges in an unconstitutional manner and purposefully excluded prospective black jurors. Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). He contends that the trial court committed reversible error in failing to require that the State articulate a race neutral explanation for challenging each of the jurors.

¶ 10. To establish a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination in the selection of a jury, the accused must demonstrate 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." Id. at 96, 106 S.Ct. 1712. Once this prima facie showing of discrimination has been made, the burden of proof shifts to the State to come forward with race neutral explanations for challenging the jurors. Id.

¶ 11. Sykes is a member of the black race. Though the exercise of the peremptory challenges does not appear in the record, there is evidence that six members *243 of the prospective jury panel were black, and the State used two of its peremptory strikes, one of which was for an alternate juror, against blacks. Sykes argued at trial that these black veniremen did not respond to any of the questions posed during voir dire, and therefore, the only reason to strike them was because of their race.

¶ 12. In response, the State contended that Sykes failed to show purposeful discrimination on the basis of race. Absent that showing, the State was not required to come forward with race-neutral reasons for its strikes. The State used four of its peremptory strikes on white members of the prospective jury panel. The trial court ruled that no pattern of discrimination was shown.

¶ 13. The trial court must look to the overall circumstances of voir dire including the prosecutor's remarks and questioning to determine whether a prima facie case of purposeful discrimination has been made. Griffin v. State, 607 So.2d 1197, 1201 (Miss.1992). The United States Supreme Court stated:

In deciding whether the defendant has made the requisite showing, the trial court should consider all relevant circumstances. For example, a "pattern" of strikes against black jurors included in the particular venire might give rise to an inference of discrimination. Similarly, the prosecutor's questions and statements during voir dire examination and in exercising his challenges may support or refute an inference of discriminatory purpose. These examples are merely illustrative.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
749 So. 2d 239, 1999 WL 640036, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sykes-v-state-missctapp-1999.