Williams v. State

761 So. 2d 149, 2000 WL 352559
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 6, 2000
Docket97-CT-01429-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 761 So. 2d 149 (Williams 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
Williams v. State, 761 So. 2d 149, 2000 WL 352559 (Mich. 2000).

Opinion

761 So.2d 149 (2000)

Elbert Lee WILLIAMS a/k/a Al Williams
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 97-CT-01429-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 6, 2000.

*150 Henry Palmer, Meridian, Attorney for Appellant.

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

EN BANC.

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

PITTMAN, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. Elbert Lee Williams was indicted on two counts of the sale of marijuana. At trial Williams did not deny that he participated in the sales, but rather argued that he was entrapped into participating in them. He was convicted and sentenced to a total of ten years in the custody of Mississippi Department of Corrections. The Court of Appeals in a 5-5 decision affirmed his conviction. He subsequently filed a petition for writ of certiorari, which we granted. Because the trial court erred in allowing into evidence a certified copy of a ten-year-old indictment for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, as well as evidence that he subsequently pled guilty to possession of marijuana, and because Williams was improperly denied an entrapment instruction, we reverse and remand for a new trial.

FACTS

¶ 2. In December of 1994, Agent John Butler of the Mississippi Alcohol and Beverage Control division of the Mississippi Tax Commission received a tip from confidential informant, Robert Pollard, that marijuana was being sold at Elbert Lee Williams's (Williams) night club located in the Whynot community in Lauderdale County, Mississippi.

¶ 3. Karl Merchant, a detective with the Meridian Police Department on special assignment to the Meridian/Lauderdale County Drug Task Force, requested Pollard to become friends with Williams, which Pollard did. Subsequently, on June 20, 1996, Pollard purchased $150 of marijuana from Williams. The next day, Pollard and Walter Martin, an undercover agent with the Southeast Mississippi Drug Task Force, went to Williams's establishment, where Williams sold Martin three ounces of marijuana for $450. During this buy, Martin also arranged to buy a pound of marijuana from Williams at a later date.

¶ 4. Four days later, on June 24, 1996, Pollard delivered to Martin two ounces of marijuana given to him by Williams. On June 26, 1996, Martin met with Williams and paid him $300 for the two ounces which had been delivered by Pollard two days earlier. At that same meeting, Martin *151 arranged to buy a pound from Williams.

¶ 5. The next morning, Williams met with Martin and Pollard. Williams informed Martin and Pollard that he did not have the pound at that time, but told them to come back later and he would have it. Martin returned without Pollard, and upon arrival, instead of the one pound of marijuana he had promised, Williams had approximately 7.7 pounds of marijuana. Williams accepted $1,600 from Martin and extended Martin $9,750 credit. Subsequently, on July 19, 1996, Martin ordered another five pounds of marijuana and made arrangements to pay the outstanding balance of $9,750.

¶ 6. At this point, law enforcement authorities decided to pay Williams the $9,750 balance, attempt to buy the additional five pounds of marijuana, and then arrest Williams. When Williams showed up, he did not have the five pounds of marijuana with him. Williams was paid the $9,750, and made the arrest.

¶ 7. At trial, Williams admitted to his involvement in both sales but alleged that Pollard entrapped him into participating in the sales. He argued that Pollard's continual inquiries led him to arrange the sale even though he had never participated in illegal narcotic sales. The State, over Williams's objection, introduced evidence of a ten-year-old prior misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana which resulted from a guilty plea, as well as the indictment in that cause which charged Williams with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute.

¶ 8. The jury convicted Williams and he appealed. His case was assigned to the Court of Appeals, which in a 5-5 decision, affirmed the conviction. The Court of Appeals found that the trial court erred in allowing the prior conviction for possession into evidence, but five of the ten Court of Appeals Judges found the error to be harmless. Williams filed a motion for rehearing which was denied by the Court of Appeals, and he subsequently timely filed the petition for writ of certiorari which is currently before the Court.

ANALYSIS

¶ 9. Williams first argues that the evidence regarding the previous conviction and indictment should not have been admitted because the State did not disclose in discovery the fact that it intended to use them. In support of his argument he cites Norris v. State, 735 So.2d 363 (Miss.1999).[1] In Norris, the appellants were convicted of simple assault on a law enforcement officer. At 6:00 p.m. on the night before the trial, the State produced sixty to ninety pages of statements from approximately twenty five witnesses. There this Court stated:

This Court has set forth the following procedures for trial courts to follow when faced with a discovery violation:
1) Upon defense objection, the trial court should give the defendant a reasonable opportunity to become familiar with the undisclosed evidence by interviewing the witness, inspecting the physical evidence, etc.
2) If, after this opportunity for familiarization, the defendant believes he may be prejudiced by lack of opportunity to prepare to meet the evidence, he must request a continuance. Failure to do so constitutes a waiver of the issue.
3) If the defendant does request a continuance, the State may choose to proceed with trial and forego using the undisclosed evidence. If the State is not willing to proceed without the evidence, the trial court must grant the requested continuance.
Cole v. State, 525 So.2d 365, 367-68 (Miss.1987) (citing Box v. State, 437 So.2d 19, 23-24 (Miss.1983)(Robertson, J., specially concurring)); See also Ramos v. State, 710 So.2d 380, 385 (Miss. *152 1998); West v. State, 553 So.2d 8, 18 (Miss.1989).

Norris, 735 So.2d at 364.

¶ 10. The Court in Norris went on to reverse and remand the case, and in so doing found:

In spite of the great care taken by the trial judge to diminish the prejudicial effects brought on by the State's belated disclosure, the Norrises were ambushed and surprised by the violation of a discovery rule, which is simple and clear on its face. The night before a jury trial is a very busy time for even a well-prepared lawyer under the best of circumstances. Procedurally, the Norrises did all that they were required to do when confronted with a possible discovery violation. See Houston v. State, 531 So.2d 598, 611-12 (Miss.1988). Under Box and its progeny, the defendant is not required to show prejudice, nor is he required to demonstrate what, if any, efforts have been made in order to rebut the late discovery. Neither our cases nor our rules require defendants to demonstrate prejudice where there has been a gross discovery violation by the State, as presented here.

Norris at 365.

¶ 11. In the present case, the State introduced evidence of Williams's prior misdemeanor conviction for possession of marijuana which had resulted from a guilty plea entered approximately ten years prior to the incident in question.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
761 So. 2d 149, 2000 WL 352559, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/williams-v-state-miss-2000.