Snider v. State
Snider v. State
Opinion
¶ 1. In the Circuit Court of DeSoto County, Travis Snider was convicted of the sale of less than one ounce of marijuana in violation of Miss. Code Ann. §
¶ 4. The defense promptly objected, and the jury was taken to the jury room while the trial court heard discussion on the objection. The defense argued that because Carmon's statement interjected evidence of other criminal activity, the trial court should have declared a mistrial. M.R.E. 404 (b) provides:
See also Bounds v. State,[e]vidence of other crimes, wrongs, or acts is not admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show that he acted in conformity therewith. It *Page 510 may, however, be admissible for other purposes such as proof of motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge, identity or absence of mistake or accident.
¶ 5. As Carmon's response did not go to any enumerated permissible use of prior bad acts, it was inadmissible as evidence. However, a witness's response which improperly refers to evidence of bad acts does not mandate a trial court grant a mistrial. Rather, pursuant to Uniform Circuit and County Court Rule 3.12, the trial court should determine whether the response has caused "irreparable prejudice" to the defendants case. In a markedly similar case the supreme court stated:
Reynolds v. State,[t]he trial judge, who is in the best position to determine if a remark is truly prejudicial, is given considerable discretion to determine whether a remark creates irreparable prejudice necessitating a mistrial. Where the remark creates no irreparable prejudice, then the trial court should admonish the jury to disregard the improper remark. (citation omitted.) Such remedial acts of the trial court are usually deemed sufficient to remove any prejudicial effect from the minds of the jurors. The jury is presumed to have followed the instructions of the trial court. (citation omitted.)
In this case, the trial court correctly sustained Snider's objection. The trial court went on not only to admonish the jury to disregard Carmon's response but also polled the jury to determine whether "irreparable prejudice" had resulted. Upon this record, there is no error.
[t]he war of drugs. I mean, my past. I've had a prior history of knowing of people doing, dealing drugs, various types of drugs, and it's killing people. It's killing kids. It's corrupting kids. Somebody has got to pay for it.
Snider objected that this question was irrelevant. The trial court then stated, "All right. Move on to something else." On appeal, Snider contends that Goin's response "inflamed the passion of the jury" thereby denying him his right to a fair trial under Article III, Section 6 of the Constitution of the State of Mississippi and the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. From the record, it is unclear whether the trial court overruled Snider's objection or whether the trial court sustained it and simply directed the prosecution to move to another line of questioning.
¶ 7. Firstly, a defendant has a duty to insist upon a ruling upon a motion, and failure to do so waives the issue. Hemingway v. State,
¶ 8. More importantly, the question was not obviously irrelevant. During cross-examination of Goin, Snider attempted to discredit his testimony by inquiring as to how much money he was paid for being an informant, how many other cases he had been involved in, and whether he could *Page 511 expect the Task Force to employ him if he admitted to lying in this case. Relevant evidence is:
evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.
M.R.E. 401. See also Brent v. State,
¶ 10. In this case, only two witnesses with actual knowledge of whether Snider sold drugs to Goin testified, i.e. Snider and Goin. The scope of appellate review does not extend to reviewing a jury's determination of which witness is credible. Id. Because it was a decision for the jury whether to believe Snider or Goin, this assignment of error is without merit.
¶ 11. Having considered the three assigned errors, we find none have merit. The case is affirmed.
¶ 12. THE JUDGMENT OF THE DESOTO COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT OF THECONVICTION OF SALE OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, LESS THAN ONE OUNCEOF MARIJUANA, AND SENTENCE OF A TERM OF SIX YEARS AS A RECIDIVISTIN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS,SENTENCE SHALL RUN CONSECUTIVELY TO CAUSE #91203-B IS AFFIRMED.ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO DESOTO COUNTY. McMILLIN, C.J., KING AND SOUTHWICK, P. JJ., BRIDGES, COLEMAN,IRVING, LEE, PAYNE, AND THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Travis Snider A/K/A Travis Duane Snider v. State of Mississippi
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published