Golden v. State
| Decision Date | 13 April 2021 |
| Docket Number | No. 2019-KA-00757-COA,2019-KA-00757-COA |
| Citation | 323 So.3d 1122 |
| Parties | Christopher GOLDEN, Appellant, v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee. |
| Court | Mississippi Court of Appeals |
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY: GEORGE T. HOLMES, CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN (PRO SE)
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: LAUREN GABRIELLE CANTRELL
BEFORE WILSON, P.J., LAWRENCE AND McCARTY, JJ.
LAWRENCE, J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1. On March 7, 2018, Christopher Golden was indicted by a grand jury in Montgomery County for kidnapping pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-53 (Rev. 2014) (Count I), two counts of possession of a deadly weapon by a felon pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-37-5(1) (Rev. 2014) (Count II and Count V), and two counts of armed robbery pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-79 (Rev. 2014) (Count III and Count IV). After a one-day jury trial on April 16, 2019, Golden was found guilty of the charges in Count I, Count II, and Count III.1 Golden was sentenced as a habitual offender pursuant to Mississippi Code Annotated section 99-19-8 (Rev. 2015) and ordered to serve twenty-five years for Count I, ten years for Count II, and twenty-five years for Count III with each sentence to be served consecutively in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC). Aggrieved by the outcome of the jury trial, Golden appealed and asserted the following issues: (1) whether the circuit court erred in refusing to give jury instruction D7 regarding identification testimony, and (2) whether the circuit court erred in refusing to give jury instruction D8 regarding Golden's alibi defense. Additionally, Golden filed a pro se supplemental brief in which he asserted a claim that his constitutional and statutory rights to a speedy trial were violated.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2. On Saturday, September 10, 2016, Narendra "Nick" Patel was working alone at the front desk of the Magnolia Lodge at 201 Brister Drive, Winona, Mississippi. On that same evening, Camille Garrett was traveling in her vehicle on Highway 82 in Grenada County near Poor House Road when she encountered Christopher Golden2 walking down the highway in the rain.
Garrett testified that Golden asked her to take him to the Magnolia Lodge and rent a room for him because he did not have any identification to rent the room for himself. According to Garrett, Golden gave her the cash to rent the room. Garrett entered the Magnolia Lodge, rented a room, and was given room number 124.3 Garrett testified that after she rented the room for Golden and dropped him off at his room, she left the Magnolia Lodge and did not return. Garrett claimed that she did not know anything else about the alleged robbery and kidnapping that occurred later that evening.
¶3. Patel testified that Garrett came to the Magnolia Lodge and rented a motel room around 7:00 p.m. on September 10, 2016. Patel testified that sometime later that night, a man came out of room 124 and requested a plunger because his toilet was overflowing. According to Patel, approximately twenty to thirty minutes later, the same man returned to the lobby and requested more towels because all of his towels were wet from cleaning the toilet. Patel testified that when he returned with the clean towels, the man was holding a gun. Patel identified Golden as the man who was holding the gun. But during cross-examination, Patel stated that while Golden looked like the man who pulled the gun on him, the man he encountered on the night of the robbery was short. Patel testified that he could not be sure of Golden's identity without knowing his height. Patel stated that Golden ordered him to take out all of the money in the register, totaling approximately $400.00. According to Patel, after he emptied the register, Golden forced him to go into room 124 to retrieve Golden's bag, and then they went back to the office to get Patel's car keys. Patel testified that Golden made him get into his car and drive approximately three miles with Golden sitting in the back seat. At that point, Golden demanded to be let out of the vehicle on the side of the road in the rain. Patel testified that Golden was holding a gun throughout the entire encounter. After dropping Golden off, Patel drove his car back to the Magnolia Lodge and called the police.
¶4. Don Herod, the chief investigator of the Winona Police Department, went to the Magnolia Lodge on Monday, September 12, 2016, to begin his investigation and collect the security video footage from the night of the robbery and kidnapping. The video footage showed Garrett entering the Magnolia Lodge to rent a room and then showed Garrett and a male entering room 124. Garrett only stayed a short period of time before leaving. Around an hour after Garrett left, another car pulled up to the Magnolia Lodge, and two individuals entered room 124. Those same two individuals, a man and a woman, left the room shortly after they arrived. No one else entered or exited room 124 until approximately 11:37. At that time, the security video footage showed a man leaving room 124 and heading to the lobby. Herod testified that he had known Golden for a "long time" and that when he initially watched the security video footage and saw the man enter the lobby, he "knew exactly who it was." In reference to his identification of Golden from the security video footage, Herod testified that "I've been in law enforcement, at this time for about 16 years, and I've never been so sure about any other surveillance video that I've watched." The remainder of the security video footage corroborated Patel's rendition of the events that transpired at the Magnolia Lodge on the evening of September 10, 2016. Golden was arrested on September 22, 2016, by United States Marshals in Grenada County in connection with the alleged crimes.
¶5. Christopher Golden testified that he was not at the Magnolia Lodge on the evening of September 10, 2016. According to Golden, he did not see Garrett on that day and denied that he was the man in the security video footage that was previously shown to the jury. He stated that he was at the home of Othella Hamer on Poor House Road on the day of the robbery. Further, Golden testified that he did not own a gun because of his status as a felon.
¶6. After deliberation and review of the evidence, the jury returned guilty verdicts on Count I, Count II, and Count III. Golden was sentenced immediately thereafter. Aggrieved by the jury verdicts, Golden appealed. He alleges three issues on appeal: two concerning the denial of jury instructions and one concerning a violation of speedy trial rights, all of which will be addressed below.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
¶7. It is well-settled that the standard of review for the giving or refusing of jury instructions is an abuse of discretion. Taylor v. State , 109 So. 3d 589, 595 (¶18) (Miss. Ct. App. 2013) (citing Victory v. State , 83 So. 3d 370, 373 (¶12) (Miss. 2012) ). Questions of law are reviewed de novo. Brown v. State , 731 So. 2d 595, 598 (¶6) (Miss. 1999).
ANALYSIS
¶8. Golden alleges that the circuit court committed reversible error by refusing to give jury instruction D7 regarding identification testimony. More specifically, Golden claims that the law requires that a jury instruction in the form of D7 be given when the identification of the defendant has only been made by one witness and there is no other corroborating evidence linking the defendant to the alleged crime.
¶9. Proposed jury instruction D7 stated:
Golden relies on Warren v. State , 709 So. 2d 415, 421 (¶ 28) (Miss. 1998), in his argument on appeal that the circuit court committed reversible error by failing to give proposed jury instruction D7. Pursuant to Warren , Golden argues that the identification instruction should have been given because the case turned on his identification "by a single person" at trial, and as such the identification instruction was required. Id .
¶10. Golden's argument lacks merit because more than one individual identified him at trial as the occupant of room 124 and as the man who robbed and kidnapped Patel. Patel first...
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