Wilson v. State

592 So. 2d 993, 1991 WL 285762
Mississippi Supreme Court·Decided December 31, 1991·No. 89-KA-0866·Published·Cited by 25 cases

Opinion

592 So.2d 993 (1991)

Dwight D. WILSON a/k/a Beemon
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 89-KA-0866.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 31, 1991.

*994 Joseph A. Kieronski, Jr., William B. Jacob, Daniel P. Self, Jr., Self & Jacob, Meridian, for appellant.

Mike C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before HAWKINS, P.J., and SULLIVAN and McRAE, JJ.

SULLIVAN, Justice, for the Court:

Dwight D. Wilson a/k/a Beemon was convicted by a jury of Lauderdale County, Mississippi, for feloniously selling cocaine to Lawrence Vaughn, a Meridian Police Officer, in violation of Miss. Code Ann. § 41-29-139(a)(1) (Supp. 1991), and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Robert W. Bailey to twelve (12) years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, and payment of a fine of $5,000.00.

Wilson appeals and assigns the following as error:

1. The trial court committed reversible error by improperly instructing the jury by giving instruction S-4;

2. The trial court erred in improperly admitting the hearsay statement of Agent Glen Knight in violation of M.R.E. 803(1);

3. The trial court erred in failing to grant Wilson's motion to quash the entire venire because of the prejudicial comments of venireman John Paul Carroll; and,

4. The trial court committed reversible error in failing to grant Wilson's motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict and the jury's verdict was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

On May 18, 1988, Officers Lawrence Vaughn, Glenn Knight, Earl Pierce, Tommy Miller, and Earl Gardner, Agents of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, met with Anthony Cole, a confidential informant to brief him for a drug buy in Meridian, Lauderdale County, Mississippi. Cole was working with the narcotics agents because there was pending against him at the time a charge of forgery. The plan was for Cole to drive Vaughn to people suspected of selling drugs and attempt to make a drug buy from them. On the list of names that was given to Cole was Dwight Wilson a/k/a Beemon.

Vaughn, who was to ride with Cole in Cole's car, was outfitted with a microphone and a transmitter. Knight and Pierce were to ride together as one surveillance team and Miller and Gardner were to ride together as the other. Cole drove Vaughn, followed by the surveillance teams, to the Victory Village Apartments where Beemon lived. They found that Beemon was not home and when they began to leave the area, they passed Beemon's car headed toward the apartment. Cole and Vaughn turned around and went back to the apartment where they met Beemon at the rear of the apartment complex.

Officer Vaughn's version of the ensuing events was that when Beemon arrived at the apartment complex, one Freddie Miller was in the automobile with him. Vaughn *995 and Cole pulled up beside Beemon and Miller, and Cole asked Beemon if he knew "where [they] could get a eight-ball of cocaine." Vaughn testified that Beemon then stepped back and told Miller to get the money. Vaughn then asked Beemon how much the cocaine would cost, and was told that the price was now $300.00 instead of $275.00. According to Vaughn he then gave Miller $300.00. Beemon left the automobile and went toward the apartment building. Miller, after receiving the money, left in the same direction. Several minutes later one Jerome Powe came from the same general direction that Beemon and Miller had taken, and approached the driver's side of the car with a rock of cocaine cupped in his left hand, which Vaughn took. Vaughn identified Beemon in his report as having a tatoo on his left shoulder blade.

The confidential informant Cole testified that after he and Vaughn arrived at the apartment, Vaughn asked Beemon if he knew where they could buy anything, and Beemon responded that he didn't know anybody who had anything, but if he knew anybody he would let him know. Beemon then walked away from the car toward his apartment to Cole's left. According to Cole, Jerome Powe then approached the car from Cole's right and came up to Vaughn's side of the car. Powe asked if they needed anything and Vaughn responded, "Yeah, we are looking to buy something." Powe then asked, "How much did you want to buy? How much did you want to spend?" Vaughn answered that he had $300.00 that he wanted to spend and Powe told Vaughn he could get an eight-ball for $300.00. Vaughn gave Powe the $300.00, and Powe returned in the direction from which he came. Powe returned later with the cocaine. Cole stated that Beemon was nowhere around while Vaughn talked with Powe. Cole testified that Vaughn stated that the conversation with Beemon was not a buy. After Powe returned with the cocaine, Vaughn described the transaction as a buy.

Officer Knight testified that he and Pierce followed Cole and Vaughn, but were parked two blocks from the transaction site. Knight was listening to the conversation from the body transmitter that Vaughn was wearing and he heard Vaughn and Cole decide to leave because Beemon was not there. Knight and Pierce followed Vaughn and Cole and turned around when Vaughn and Cole passed Beemon and headed back to the apartments. Knight could not see the transaction but could only hear it. The next thing he heard was the talking at the cars. At trial Knight was asked to say what he had heard. Beemon objected on the grounds of hearsay and the trial judge sustained the objection. The State argued that it was simply asking Knight what his senses observed. The trial judge took up the matter out of the presence of the jury and then informed counsel that he was proceeding under M.R.E. 803(1) and Peterson v. State, 518 So.2d 632 (Miss. 1987). The trial judge decided to review Peterson over night before giving his final ruling on the objection.

The following morning the trial judge took up the matter again out of the presence of the jury, and requested to hear the testimony to be offered. Knight stated that what he heard was Cole telling Beemon that he would like to get an eight-ball from him and that he heard the reply, "I can handle that." Beemon walked off and Miller walked up for the money. Beemon objected to Knight testifying to Beemon as saying "I can handle that" on the ground that it was hearsay because it was not perceived by Knight. The trial judge overruled the objection and let the jury hear the testimony because the statement met the criteria set out in Peterson.

On cross-examination, Knight admitted that he did not know who made the statement "I can handle that." Knight also testified that after Beemon began to walk off he heard Vaughn state, "Subject is walking toward the complex." Knight also said that he heard a statement later that Jerome Powe came from the other side of the complex with the cocaine. Knight indicated that Cole made a written statement of the transaction at the post-buy briefing, but he could not remember if he signed it.

*996 Beemon's version of the transaction was that he was at his father's house on the morning of May 18, and that he returned to his apartment in Victory Village to pick up some barbecue sauce. When he arrived, Cole and Vaughn pulled in beside him and Cole asked him if he knew where he could get an eight-ball. Beemon told Cole that he did not know of anything but would let him know if he found out something later. Beemon then left and went into the apartment for the barbecue sauce. He was in the apartment for fifteen to twenty minutes. When he came back to return to his father's house, Cole and Vaughn were gone.

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Wilson v. State, 592 So. 2d 993, 1991 WL 285762 (Mich. 1991).

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