Pate v. State, 07-KA-59011
| Decision Date | 07 March 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 07-KA-59011,07-KA-59011 |
| Citation | 557 So.2d 1183 |
| Parties | Joseph Earl PATE, Jr. v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Hansel Anthony Jones, Jackson, for appellant.
Mike C. Moore, Atty. Gen. and Billy L. Gore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
En banc.
This appeal addresses the sufficiency of proof of two issues: (1) identity of this defendant, as well as, (2) constructive possession of an illegal drug.
Joseph Earl Pate, the defendant below, was charged with possession of marijuana in an amount greater than one (1) ounce with the intent to distribute said substance. Following a jury trial, Pate was found guilty and was sentenced by the trial court to a term of seven (7) years with the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with four (4) years suspended, and was ordered to pay a $1,000.00 fine. He now appeals this conviction, citing as error the following:
(1) THE EVIDENCE WAS INSUFFICIENT TO SUPPORT THE DEFENDANT'S CONVICTION, AND THE TRIAL COURT THEREFORE ERRED IN OVERRULING THE DEFENDANT'S MOTIONS FOR A DIRECTED VERDICT AND JUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT.
On Wednesday, January 14, 1986, Room 312 of the Regal 8 Motel in Jackson was cleaned for occupancy, using the routine methods. On January 15, 1986, at 9:40 p.m., Joseph Earl Pate, Jr. rented the room and stayed until 3:15 p.m. on Friday, January 16th. Since the maid had gone for the day, the room was not cleaned on that Friday.
On January 17, 1986, at approximately 3:00 p.m., Mildred Chaney, a maid at the Regal 8 Motel, while cleaning the room, found a bag on the floor underneath the bed in Room 312 of the motel. The bag contained cotton and some manila envelopes. Chaney took the bag to Ilene Van Gorder, one of the co-managers of the motel. No testimony was elicited as to whether the room was locked during this interval.
Van Gorder and Chaney then returned to the room, where they found a second bag containing 9.24 ounces of marijuana underneath the bed which was not found by the maid initially. Van Gorder secured the two bags inside her office and telephoned the police.
Chaney resumed her cleaning of Room 312, and while she was doing so, a black male entered the room and said he had returned to "get his stuff." The maid became nervous and left the room. She never saw the man again, and could not identify Pate as the man who appeared in the room while she cleaned. No one else identified Pate at trial as the man who appeared at the room to "get his stuff."
Further investigation of the bags and their contents led to Pate's arrest at 11:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 17th, as the last registered occupant of the room. He was indicted, tried and ultimately convicted. He now appeals his conviction to this Court.
By making motions for a directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict, Pate is challenging the legal sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him. In assessing such claims, this Court uses a familiar standard of review:
When on appeal one convicted of a criminal offense challenges the legal sufficiency of the evidence, our authority to interfere with the jury's verdict is quite limited. We proceed by considering all of the evidence--not just that supporting the case for the prosecution--in the light most consistent with the verdict. We give prosecution the benefit of all favorable inferences that may reasonably be drawn from the evidence. If the facts and inferences so considered point in favor of the accused with sufficient force that reasonable men could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty, reversal and discharge are required. On the other hand, if there is in the record substantial evidence of such quality and weight that, having in mind the beyond a reasonable doubt burden of proof standard, reasonable and fair-minded jurors in the exercise of impartial judgment might have reached different conclusions, the verdict of guilty is thus placed beyond our authority to disturb.
McFee v. State, 511 So.2d 130, 133-34 (Miss.1987). See also, Wells v. State, 521 So.2d 1274, 1277-78 (Miss.1987).
Pate challenges the sufficiency of the evidence used to convict him on two (2) grounds: (1) failure by the prosecution to prove possession of the marijuana by Pate, and (2) failure to prove his intent to distribute. The first of these two grounds is valid--thereby necessitating reversal of his conviction.
In the case sub judice, Pate clearly did not have actual possession of the marijuana at the time of his arrest. However, this fact alone is not determinative of the outcome of the case.
There must be sufficient facts to warrant a finding that defendant was aware of the presence and character of the particular substance and was intentionally and consciously in possession of it. It need not be actual physical possession. Constructive possession may be shown by establishing that the drug involved was subject to his dominion or control.
Guilbeau v. State, 502 So.2d 639, 641 (Miss.1987) (quoting Curry v. State, 249 So.2d 414, 416 [Miss. 1971]) (Emphasis added).
This Court, in Pool v. State, 483 So.2d 331 (Miss.1986), further delineated the proof required when a conviction is based in part on elements of constructive possession.
"One who is the owner in possession of the premises ... is presumed to be in constructive possession of the articles found in or on the property possessed." Id. at 432. This presumption is rebuttable, however, and does not relieve the State of its burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. Thus, "where the premises upon which contraband is found is not in the exclusive possession of the accused, the accused is entitled to acquittal, absent some competent evidence connecting him with the contraband." Powell v. State, 355 So.2d 1378, 1379 (Miss.1978). See also, Keys v. State, 478 So.2d 266, 268 (Miss.1985).
483 So.2d at 336 (quoting Hamburg v. State, 248 So.2d 430, 432 [Miss. 1971]). (Emphasis added).
The record in this case deserves quoting. Van Gorder on direct examination testified that she did not see the man who came looking for his "stuff."
A. Mrs. Chaney came back down. I had her go to another room to start cleaning and we locked that one up. And she came back down and she said, "The fellow is here to pick up his stuff." And she was scared. I said, "Well, just stay down in the office until we find out what's going on." And I walked out and I didn't see anybody at that particular time so we thought he had left. (Emphasis added).
Q. Uh huh.
A. But she stayed downstairs because she was afraid to go back out until the police arrived.
Q. Okay. Did anyone then come to you asking about her?
A.--from 312.
Q. Okay.
THE COURT: All right. It's submitted for the fact that it was said and to explain her actions. Objection overruled.
Q. Now, could you tell the jury from the records who was logged into that room or who had that room at that particular time?
A. Yes, sir. Mr. Joseph Pate.
Q. Okay. And Mr. Pate, has he--has he stayed there on more than one occasion?
A. Oh, yes, quite frequently.
Q. Okay. And do you have knowledge of who he is and what he looks like, then?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Okay. Can you look around the courtroom, then, and tell us whether or not the individual you know as Joseph Pate is in the courtroom?
A. That gentleman sitting there. And the day he came in he had a plastic hood on his head, but that's the gentleman there.
Q. Okay. When you say, "That's the gentleman," could you point him out.
A. The one in the army jacket there.
Q. So this is the individual that had that room at that particular time.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. All right. And this is the individual, then,--was this the individual who came looking for the maid? (Emphasis added).
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Do you know who came looking for the maid?
The next answer from Van Gorder is confusing. It is found at Transcript, p. 54, and is as follows:
A. He was standing on the second floor out in front of the window of my apartment, waiting for us to bring the package of his stuff, is the way it was worded. (Emphasis added).
Q. Okay. And who was that?
A. That was Mr. Pate.
Q. Okay. So that's the individual that came looking for her.
A. Right.
Q. Now--(document inspected by defense counsel). I hand you a piece of paper. Can you identify that and tell the Court what it is, please.
A. Yes. It's the original registration card a guest has to fill out on coming into renting a room, and this is a copy, the top copy of the folio where we do the billings for our machine.
Q. And what room in that particular instance was that?
A. 312.
Q. 312? Is that the same room where you found these items?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And who registered in that room, please, ma'am? Tell the jury.
A. Mr. Joseph Pate.
Q. That's the same Joseph Pate that's the defendant in this case?
A. Yes, sir.
The italicized portion indicates that she is reading from some document. This appears to be in conflict with her prior statement that she never saw "the man" who came for his "stuff."
However, defense counsel's cross-examination of Van Gorder affirmatively shows that she never actually saw the appellant:
Q. Okay. I believe you testified that you did not observe Mrs. Chaney talking with anyone; is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. All right. Now, so you...
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