Wilson v. State

775 So. 2d 735, 2000 WL 559190
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedMay 9, 2000
Docket98-KA-00256-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 775 So. 2d 735 (Wilson 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
Wilson v. State, 775 So. 2d 735, 2000 WL 559190 (Mich. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

775 So.2d 735 (2000)

Jimmy F. WILSON a/k/a Jimmy Franklin Wilson, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 98-KA-00256-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 9, 2000.
Rehearing Denied October 10, 2000.
Certiorari Denied December 21, 2000.

*737 Lynda Carol Robinson, Jackson, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Pat S. Flynn, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE McMILLIN, C.J., BRIDGES, AND PAYNE, JJ.

BRIDGES, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. On October 9, 1996, Jimmy Franklin Wilson was indicted on charges of aiding and abetting in the sale of cocaine and sale of cocaine by a grand jury sitting in Washington County. Wilson was convicted on both counts in the Circuit Court of Washington County on January 24, 1997, and sentenced to serve ten years for aiding and abetting in the sale of cocaine and twenty years for the sale of cocaine in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with the sentences to run concurrently. In addition, Wilson was assessed fines totaling $5,000 along with court costs, laboratory fees, and bond fees. Wilson now appeals his conviction and sentence to this Court asking judicial remedy for the following alleged errors at trial

I. DEFENDANT RECEIVED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AT TRIAL.

A. DEFENSE COUNSEL FAILED TO PROPERLY PERFORM DISCOVERY AND FILE PRETRIAL MOTIONS TO PRESERVE ISSUES FOR APPEAL.
B. DEFENSE COUNSEL'S WAIVER OF A BATSON CHALLENGE DENIED DEFENDANT A FAIR TRIAL BY A JURY OF HIS PEERS.

II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING AN AUDIO TAPE RECORDING OF THE ALLEGED DRUG TRANSACTION INTO EVIDENCE.

III. DEFENDANT'S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT GUARANTEED BY THE "DOUBLE JEOPARDY" CLAUSE OF THE FIFTH AMENDMENT WAS VIOLATED BY PROSECUTING HIM FOR BOTH AIDING AND ABETTING IN THE SALE OF COCAINE AND FOR THE SALE OF COCAINE.

Finding Wilson's last allegation of error entirely correct, we reverse in part and affirm in part.

FACTS

¶ 2. Agent Stacey James of the Central Delta Drug Task Force, Agent Charles Moore, formerly of the Central Delta Drug Task Force, and confidential informant Dorsey Taylor traveled in an unmarked police vehicle from Greenville, Mississippi to Arcola, Mississippi to conduct a sting operation involving the sale of narcotics. Along with James, Moore and Taylor, Agents Steve Bingham and Stan Bagley followed in a separate surveillance car. Upon entering the city limits of Arcola, everyone proceeded to Tam's Grocery, hoping to find someone there to facilitate the illicit transaction.

¶ 3. Taylor recognized the defendant, Jimmy Franklin Wilson, and approached him in Tam's Grocery in an effort to procure two hundred dollars worth of crack cocaine. While Wilson and Taylor conversed, James and Moore inconspicuously browsed around the store surveying its merchandise. Bingham and Bailey sat patiently in the surveillance car a few blocks away listening to the entire endeavor on Taylor's hidden body microphone.

¶ 4. A short while later, Taylor and Wilson exited the store and spoke for a few *738 more minutes. Wilson then got into his van, and Taylor returned to the unmarked police car and instructed the two lead operatives to follow Wilson to a local automotive repair shop. Again, Bingham and Bailey followed at a safe distance still recording Taylor's every word. After everyone arrived at the designated location, James Moore and Taylor parked one or two houses down from the shop. From that vantage point, the agents witnessed Wilson speak to a woman later identified as Sandra Willis. After talking briefly with Willis, Wilson handed her a white capsule. As Willis approached the car, Taylor exited the vehicle and spoke with Willis. Both Taylor and Willis then returned to the unmarked police car and got into the back seat. Willis gave the white capsule containing several white rock like objects to James in return for two hundred dollars in cash. Willis got out of the car and all involved parted ways. A crime laboratory analysis was performed on the substance sold to James and determined it to be cocaine.

¶ 5. Both Wilson and Willis were arrested and indicted for crimes arising out of the aforementioned single transaction. Willis made a deal with the district attorney for a suspension of the charges against her in exchange for her truthful testimony regarding the alleged drug sale.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. DEFENDANT RECEIVED INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AT TRIAL.

¶ 6. In determining whether or not defense counsel committed any error egregious enough to undermine Wilson's right to a fair trial, Wilson must show "a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's unprofessional errors, the result of the proceedings would have been different." Leatherwood v. State, 473 So.2d 964, 968 (Miss.1985). In making this determination, this Court must find that Wilson's counsel was both deficient and that deficiency was prejudicial based upon the totality of the circumstances. Moody v. State, 644 So.2d 451, 456 (Miss.1994). Wilson faces a very stringent standard to overcome because trial counsel is presumed to be competent. Brooks v. State, 573 So.2d 1350, 1353 (Miss.1990). Furthermore, if trial counsel is reasonably effective, the constitutional standards are met, regardless of the client's evaluation of his performance. Brooks, 573 So.2d at 1353.

¶ 7. Specifically, Wilson cites trial counsel's failure to adequately conduct discovery and failure to preserve Batson objections for appeal as the basis for this allegation of error. The United States Supreme Court has held that when "a convicted defendant complains of the ineffectiveness of counsel's assistance, the defendant must show that counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness." Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 693, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984).

¶ 8. A clear two part test articulated in the Stricklandcase and cited with approval in Gilliard provides that Wilson must show that his counsel's conduct was so deficient that he was not functioning as counsel guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, and that if his counsel is shown to be ineffective, then he must further show that his counsel's deficient performance prejudiced his defense. Gilliard v. State, 462 So.2d 710, 714 (Miss.1985).

A. DEFENSE COUNSEL FAILED TO PROPERLY PERFORM DISCOVERY AND FILE PRETRIAL MOTIONS TO PRESERVE ISSUES FOR APPEAL

¶ 9. Wilson alleges reversible error can be found in his trial counsel's failure to file pretrial motions other than a motion for discovery. Specifically, Wilson objects to trial counsel's failure to file a motion to suppress the audio tape recording of the alleged drug sale being entered into evidence. It is clear in our state's case law that the filing of pretrial motions falls *739 squarely within the ambit of trial strategy. Hall v. State, 735 So.2d 1124, 1127 (Miss. Ct.App.1999) (citing Murray v. Maggio, 736 F.2d 279, 283 (5th Cir.1984)). No clearer statement can be made regarding this allegation of error. Since this decision is considered trial strategy, it is impossible for this Court to say that Wilson's trial counsel's conduct was so deficient as to be considered not functioning as counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Herman Jackson, Jr. v. State of Mississippi
263 So. 3d 1003 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2018)
Riley v. State
126 So. 3d 1007 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2013)
Scott v. State
981 So. 2d 964 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 2008)
Suber v. Suber
936 So. 2d 945 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2006)
Manuel v. State
813 So. 2d 762 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2002)
Redhead v. Entergy Mississippi, Inc.
828 So. 2d 801 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2001)
James Wesley Scott v. State of Mississippi
Mississippi Supreme Court, 2001
McDonald v. State
807 So. 2d 447 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2001)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
775 So. 2d 735, 2000 WL 559190, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilson-v-state-missctapp-2000.