Thompson v. State

910 So. 2d 60, 2005 WL 43465
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJanuary 11, 2005
Docket2003-KA-02154-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 910 So. 2d 60 (Thompson 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
Thompson v. State, 910 So. 2d 60, 2005 WL 43465 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

910 So.2d 60 (2005)

Jimmie Lee THOMPSON, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2003-KA-02154-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

January 11, 2005.

*61 John D. Watson, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by W. Glenn Watts, attorney for appellee.

Before BRIDGES, P.J., CHANDLER and GRIFFIS, JJ.

CHANDLER, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. Jimmie Lee Thompson and an accomplice were arrested and convicted for burglary of the home of Dorothy Worley and for attempted grand larceny for attempting to steal an antique desk. Thompson appeals, raising the following issues:

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING MRS. WORLEY'S TESTIMONY AS TO THE VALUE OF THE DESK

II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN REFUSING THOMPSON'S PROPOSED JURY INSTRUCTIONS

¶ 2. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS

¶ 3. On April 6, 2001, Dorothy Worley drove by her former residence. Worley still owned the property, which stored some of her furniture. As she drove by, she noticed two men exiting the front door of her house carrying something. The item they were carrying was later ascertained to be a desk. Worley stopped at the house, with the intention of going across the street to call the police.

¶ 4. The truck the men arrived in was parked behind the house. Worley parked the car at the base of the driveway to prevent the men from escaping. When the men saw Worley arrive, they jumped the curb with the truck, drove off the driveway and escaped onto the highway. Worley followed the truck, blowing her horn and waving her arm to attract the attention of other motorists. She rolled her window down and asked the motorists with cell *62 phones to call the police. When she saw a police officer, she told him what had occurred. The officer stopped the men and arrested them. The two men, Jimmie Lee Thompson and Travis Manuel, were indicted and convicted of the charges of burglary and attempted grand larceny for attempting to steal property with a value in excess of $250, in violation of Mississippi Code Section 97-17-33 and Mississippi Code Section 97-17-41. Jimmie Thompson appeals.

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ADMITTING MRS. WORLEY'S TESTIMONY AS TO THE VALUE OF THE DESK

¶ 5. The desk Thompson attempted to steal was an antique solid cherry wood desk. The State established the value of the desk[1] exclusively through the testimony of Dorothy Worley. Worley believed that the desk was worth approximately $3,000. Her testimony consisted of the fact that her husband paid $3,000 for the desk eighteen or nineteen years ago. She had seen the receipt for the desk. Additionally, she encountered an antique cherry wood desk of similar quality and style for sale at Samuel's Furniture Store in Memphis. This desk was for sale for $4,399. Worley understood that the value of antique furniture tends to appreciate, rather than depreciate, in value. Based on these facts, Worley estimated that the desk was worth $3,000, the same price she paid for it.

¶ 6. Thompson argues that Worley's testimony regarding the value of the desk should be stricken because she is not an expert in the field of furniture valuation. Because she is not an expert, argues Thompson, she is not allowed to give an opinion regarding the value of the desk. Mississippi Rule of Evidence (M.R.E.) 702 provides that "if scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise." Thompson submits that the valuation of furniture is an area that requires the opinion of an expert. When the furniture in question has been used for seventeen to nineteen years, argues Thompson, the value is subject to factors such as depreciation, condition, and market price. We decline to hold that the value of the desk needed to be established by an expert. It is common knowledge and not exclusively within the knowledge of an expert that antique furniture tends to appreciate, rather than depreciate, in value. The establishment of market price of a desk can be established by comparing the desk in question to similar desks that are currently for sale; there is no need to rely on a complex economic model to establish the market value of an item that can be comparably priced. For the purposes of this case, it was not necessary to establish a precise value on the stolen desk but merely to establish that the desk had a value that was greater than $250. The photograph of the desk, State's Exhibit 1, shows that the desk was in excellent condition. In other words, there was no need for an expert to testify that the particular desk owned by Worley was worth more than $250. We find no merit in demanding expert testimony to value the desk.

*63 ¶ 7. M.R.E. 701 governs the admissibility of opinion testimony by lay witnesses and allows lay witnesses to give such opinions so long as the inferences are "(a) rationally based on the perception of the witness, (b) helpful to the clear understanding of the testimony or determination of a fact or issue, and (c) not based on scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge within the scope of Rule 702." Worley's opinion testimony regarding the value of the desk was based on her personal knowledge that her husband paid $3,000 for the desk, her personal knowledge that antique furniture tends to appreciate rather than depreciate, and her personal knowledge that a similar desk is currently for sale for $4,399. The facts Worley used to establish the value of the desk were all based on her personal knowledge, and there was no scientific or technical basis for her valuation of the desk. Her opinion of the estimated value of the desk was therefore admissible.

¶ 8. M.R.E. 702 provides that an expert witness may be used if it will assist the jury in understanding the evidence or determine a fact at issue. In this case, there was no evidence produced by Thompson showing that the desk might be worth less than $250. There was no issue regarding the value of the desk that the jury needed to resolve, as we will discuss later. Because there was no issue for the jury to resolve, there was no need to require expert testimony regarding the value of the desk.

¶ 9. In Barry v. State, 406 So.2d 45 (Miss.1981), the Mississippi Supreme Court adopted the following standard for valuing property for the purpose of convicting a defendant of grand larceny: "In the ordinary case, the proper yardstick is the market value of the property at the time and place of the larceny; the original cost of the property or any special value to the owner personally is not considered." Id. at 47 (quoting 3 Wharton's Criminal Law § 357 at 309-11 (14th Ed.1980)). In Barry, the proof that Barry should be convicted for grand larceny consisted of testimony from the owner that he paid about $200 for the stolen CB Radio, speaker, and antenna approximately two and a half years before they were stolen. The Court held that this testimony was insufficient to sustain a grand larceny conviction. Id. In Williams v. State, 763 So.2d 186, 188(¶ 6)(Miss.Ct.App.2000), the trial court heard evidence from the victim that he paid $600 for his stolen stereo two and a half years before the theft and paid $110 for the stolen flashlight one year before the theft.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
910 So. 2d 60, 2005 WL 43465, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thompson-v-state-missctapp-2005.