Cooper v. State
| Decision Date | 15 October 2013 |
| Docket Number | NO. 2012-KA-00460-COA,2012-KA-00460-COA |
| Parties | TAZARIUS COOPER A/K/A T.C. APPELLANT v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI APPELLEE |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT:
GEORGE T. HOLMES
MICHAEL ANTHONY WILLIAMS
PHILLIP BROADHEAD
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: ELLIOTT GEORGE FLAGGS
DISTRICT ATTORNEY: WILLIE DEWAYNE RICHARDSON
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
CONVICTED OF POSSESSION OF
ECSTASY WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE
AND SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS IN
THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI
DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, WITH
TWO YEARS TO SERVE FOLLOWED BY
FIVE YEARS OF POST-RELEASE
SUPERVISION, WITH THE SENTENCE TO
RUN CONSECUTIVELY TO ANY OTHER
SENTENCE CURRENTLY BEING SERVED,
AND TO PAY A $3,000 FINE AND $500 TO
THE CRIME VICTIMS' COMPENSATION
FUND
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED: 10/15/2013
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
BEFORE GRIFFIS, P.J., MAXWELL AND FAIR, JJ.
GRIFFIS, P.J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. Tazarius Cooper appeals his conviction for possession of ecstasy with the intent to distribute, transfer, or sell. In this appeal, Cooper argues it was error for the court to: (1) deny his motion to suppress evidence, and (2) deny his motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or, in the alternative, a new trial. We find no error and affirm.
FACTS
¶2. Cooper was indicted for the possession of ecstasy, a Schedule I controlled substance, with the intent to sell, barter, transfer, or deliver to another, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 41-29-139(a)(1) (Rev. 2009).
¶3. The State presented three witnesses: Detectives Joe Edney and Charlton Smith of the Greenville Police Department, and Allison Conville, a forensic scientist for the Mississippi Crime Laboratory.
¶4. Det. Edney testified that on July 12, 2012, a concerned citizen phoned the Greenville Police Department's Special Operations Unit to complain about illegal-narcotics activity at the 500 block of Union Street in Greenville. This was an area known for heavy drug trafficking. Lieutenant Redmond received the complaint and communicated it to Det. Edney. Lt. Redmond stated that the caller complained that "young men, young black men, are standing out on sidewalks, corners, selling drugs." Det. Edney and Det. Smith went to investigate the tip. Det. Edney testified that they arrived at the scene in a black Ford F-250, flashed the blue lights, and exited the vehicle. He recognized the house and knew the owner of the house, who was not Cooper. According to Det. Edney, the house was very decrepitand had holes everywhere. Det. Edney had previously reported the house to the housing authority, and it was declared inhabitable.
¶5. Det. Edney testified that before he exited the vehicle, he saw Cooper and Cooper's friend, Dennis Wright, standing next to Cooper. After Det. Edney commanded the two individuals not to move, Wright complied. Cooper ran. Cooper then forced himself into the door of the house. Det. Edney followed in pursuit of Cooper. Det. Edney observed Cooper throw a clear bag with a blue substance into a hole in the wall from outside the front steps of the house. Det. Edney claimed that he could see into the living room and observe Cooper's actions, because the drywall was missing. Det. Edney then detained Cooper and field tested the twenty-one blue, dolphin-imprinted pills in the clear bag. The pills tested positive for ecstasy. Det. Edney arrested Cooper.
¶6. Det. Edney also testified that he charged Cooper with possession with intent to distribute. Det. Edney reasoned that, based on his knowledge, the number of pills found in Cooper's possession would be inconsistent with personal use. Det. Edney further testified, after being questioned by defense counsel, that items such as scales and plastic baggies were not necessary for the sale of ecstasy. Ecstasy pills are handed out individually when sold.
¶7. During a pretrial hearing on Cooper's motion to suppress the evidence of the ecstasy pills, which claimed the evidence was the fruit of an illegal search, Det. Edney gave similar testimony. Based on Det. Edney's testimony at the pretrial hearing, and after clearing up the factual dispute as to whether Det. Edney stood outside or inside the house when he witnessed Cooper throw the clear bag into the wall (he was outside of the house), the trial judge denied Cooper's motion to suppress the ecstasy pills. The court held that the pills were not the fruitsof an illegal search by Det. Edney, due to a lack of a search warrant, an arrest warrant, or exigent circumstances.
¶8. Det. Smith testified at trial that he responded to the anonymous tip with Det. Edney on the day in question. He claimed, as Det. Edney testified, that they arrived at the scene in a black Ford F-250 and activated their blue police lights. As they exited the vehicle, Det. Edney commanded Cooper and Wright to stop. Det. Smith detained Wright, while Det. Edney pursued Cooper as he ran into the house. Det. Smith testified that he saw Cooper run into the house. However, he did not enter the house himself.
¶9. Conville testified that she performed a color test and instrumental-analysis test on the twenty-one pills recovered at the crime scene, and the pills tested positive for ecstasy.
¶10. In his own defense, Cooper testified at trial that he walked down the street to his friend's home located on the 500 block of Union Street. Cooper, along with Wright and Wright's nephew, sat outside of the home. Cooper then walked inside of the home to use the bathroom. Instead of using the bathroom, however, Cooper decided to retrieve his Black & Mild cigar and then go back outside. After the owner of the house told him that the cigar was on the kitchen table, Cooper grabbed the cigar and began walking through the kitchen to go back outside. As he was on his way outside, he could see a white Dodge Charger pull into the driveway of the home. He testified that he did not see any police lights on the vehicle.
¶11. Cooper testified that before he could walk outside, Det. Edney met him at the door and aimed a loaded gun at him just as Cooper was explaining that the home was not Cooper's residence. Det. Edney did not have a search or arrest warrant for Cooper. Cooper testified that Det. Edney entered the home without permission from the owner, slammed Cooper to thekitchen floor, and searched all of the cabinets and throughout the house. After a few moments, Det. Edney returned with a bag containing twenty-one dolphin-imprinted pills that he said he recovered from a hole in the wall in the living room. Cooper denied that he owned the pills or the house. Nevertheless, Det. Edney arrested Cooper and walked him back outside. Det. Edney then field tested the pills. They tested positive for ecstasy.
¶12. Wright also testified that he was with Cooper and his nephew on the day of Cooper's arrest. They were sitting outside of the house at the 500 Block of Union Street. Wright claimed that Cooper went in the house to use the bathroom before the officers came in a white, unmarked Dodge Charger. Wright then claimed that Cooper was getting ready to come out of the house when the officers arrived. He stated that they both heard the officers command them to stop. He also testified that Det. Edney went into the house to pursue Cooper as Det. Smith detained him. Wright claimed that Det. Edney arrested Cooper afterwards. Wright also testified as to the decrepit condition of the residence, particularly that there were holes in the walls of the house.
¶13. The jury returned a verdict that found Cooper guilty of possession of ecstasy with intent to distribute pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 41-29-139(a)(1) (Rev. 2009). Cooper was sentenced to serve a term of seven years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with two years to serve followed by five years of post-release supervision. The circuit court ordered the sentence to run consecutively to any sentence he is currently obligated to serve. Cooper subsequently filed a motion for a JNOV or, in the alternative, a new trial. The circuit court denied the motion.
ANALYSIS
¶14. Cooper argues in his first issue on appeal that the trial court erred when it denied his motion to suppress the bag containing the ecstasy pills. Cooper claims that the bag was the fruit of an illegal search and seizure that violated his Fourth Amendment rights.
¶15. This Court applies a mixed standard of review to Fourth Amendment suppression-of-evidence inquiries. Dies v. State, 926 So. 2d 910, 917 (¶20) (Miss. 2006). "Determinations of reasonable suspicion and probable cause should be reviewed de novo." Id. "However, this Court is restricted to a de novo review of the trial judge's decision based on historical facts reviewed under the substantial evidence and clearly erroneous standards." Id. Further, the Court reviews a trial court's decision to admit or exclude evidence following a motion to suppress under the abuse-of-discretion standard. Lee v. State, 100 So. 3d 982, 984 (¶8) (Miss. Ct. App. 2012) (citation omitted).
¶16. The basis for the alleged violation of Cooper's Fourth Amendment rights is two-fold. First, Cooper contends that the unreliability of the anonymous tip that led to his arrest resulted in a lack of reasonable suspicion for an investigatory stop or probable cause for his arrest. Cooper asserts that the anonymous call to the Greenville Police Department about drug activity at his location "lacked any detail that could be corroborated by independent investigation." The anonymous tip, according to Cooper, provided "very general information" that offered no detail beyond location and lacked specificity as to the criminal activity that had occurred. Cooper contends that this lack of specificity would indicate that the "tip was either based on...
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