Price v. State

• Decision Date: 24 February 2005
• Docket Number: No. 2003-KA-02311-SCT.,2003-KA-02311-SCT.
• Citation: 898 So.2d 641
• Parties: Mitchell D. PRICE, Sr. a/k/a Lucky v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

898 So.2d 641

Mitchell D. PRICE, Sr. a/k/a Lucky v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 2003-KA-02311-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 24, 2005.

Rehearing Denied April 21, 2005.

Michael Adelman, Hattiesburg, attorney for appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jeffrey A. Klingfuss, attorney for appellee.

Before COBB, P.J., EASLEY and GRAVES, JJ.

GRAVES, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Mitchell D. Price, Sr. was convicted of three counts of statutory rape in violation of Section 97-3-65(1) of the Mississippi Code of 1972. The trial judge sentenced Price to terms of imprisonment for twenty years on count 1, ten years on count 2, and ten years on count 3, with the sentences to run consecutively. Price appeals and asserts the following errors: (1) whether he was denied his right to a speedy trial, (2) whether the evidence presented at trial was sufficient to support the conviction, (3) whether the trial court erred in granting the State's Rule 404(b) Motion, (4) whether the trial court erred in denying Price's Motion to Quash, since Counts 2, 3, and 4 of the indictment were not sufficiently specific as to date and time, and (5) whether the sentence rendered by the trial court violated Price's Eighth Amendment rights. Finding no merit to these issues, we affirm the judgment of the trial court.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2. On August 21, 2000, Mitchell D. Price, Sr., was initially arrested in Texas pursuant to a Mississippi warrant for child molestation and statutory rape. Price was extradited from Texas to Marion County, Mississippi, on December 4, 2000. After a preliminary hearing which took place on December 14, 2000, Price was released on a $30,000 bond. Pursuant to Miss.Code Ann. § 97-5-23 and § 97-3-65(1) (Rev.2000), Price was indicted by the grand jury on April 19, 2002, and charged with two counts of statutory rape and one count of child molestation. The April, 2002 indictment was subsequently nol prossed, and from the time of his initial arrest until the April, 2002 indictment, Price claims to have made on-the-record requests for an immediate trial.

¶ 3. On September 25, 2002, Price was indicted again, but this time the charges included three counts of statutory rape and one count of child molestation. He was arrested on January 8, 2003 in Texas and extradited again to Marion County on January 20, 2003. Following this arrest, Price was denied bond. As the proceedings commenced against Price, the trial court found that Price was indigent and appointed counsel on his behalf. On May 30, 2003, Price's court-appointed attorney filed a Motion to Withdraw as Counsel of Record, and he was granted leave to withdraw. Price's present counsel, Michael Adelman, entered his appearance on June 18, 2003, and filed a Motion to Quash Indictment, Request for Special Venire Facias and a List, Motion to Set Bail, and Motion to Dismiss. Price's motions were heard on August 12, 2003, and the trial court granted his Motion to Dismiss as to the one count of child molestation, but denied dismissal of the three counts of statutory rape. The trial court also denied Price's Motion to Quash the Indictment. Prior to trial, the trial court granted the State's Rule 404(b) Motion seeking to introduce evidence of sexual acts allegedly performed on the victim by Price, other than those listed in the indictment. The trial court reserved ruling on the State's Rule 803 Motion seeking to introduce evidence of statements made by the victim wherein she related details of the alleged sexual incidents to third parties.

¶ 4. On September 2-3, 2003, Price was tried in the Circuit Court of Marion County on three counts of statutory rape. The State contended that Price had vaginal sexual intercourse with the female victim on three separate occasions: (i) September, 1992, (ii) December, 1992, and (iii) August, 1995. During the trial the victim testified that she was born on September 26, 1981. Thus, when these incidents allegedly took place, the victim was approximately 10, 11 and 14 years old, respectively.

¶ 5. In 1992, the victim was interviewed by a representative of the Mississippi Department of Human Services (hereinafter "D.H.S.") concerning the two 1992 incidents. During this meeting, the victim specifically told D.H.S. that Price had not touched her. The victim told the interviewer that Price had not touched her in any kind of inappropriate manner. In 1997, the victim was interviewed again by a D.H.S. representative concerning the 1995 incident. In that interview, the victim stayed with her story and informed D.H.S. that Price had not touched her inappropriately and that there had been no "bad touches."

¶ 6. During her trial testimony, the victim stated that she lied to D.H.S. both in 1992 and 1997 when interviewed about the alleged incidents because she was afraid that she would be taken to a foster if she told the truth. Further, she testified that she lied in 1997 because her mother told her that if she told the truth, it would break up her mother's marriage with Price. Afterwards, the victim's maternal grandmother testified that she notified D.H.S. after the victim told her about the incidents. The State offered testimony of Doug Barnes, an investigator with the Marion County Sheriff's Department to establish Price's age at the time these incidents took place. Other than the testimony of the victim, her grandmother, and Doug Barnes, the State offered no corroborating medical or physical evidence to support its case against Price.

¶ 7. Following the State's case, Price moved for a dismissal of the charges on the ground that the State failed to make a prima facie case. Following the denial of that motion, Price testified on his own behalf. At the close of the case, the jury returned a guilty verdict on all three counts of statutory rape. The trial judge sentenced Price to twenty years on the first statutory rape and ten years each on the two remaining statutory rape counts, with the sentences to run consecutively.

DISCUSSION

I. Whether Price was denied his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.

¶ 8. Price argues that the trial court denied his fundamental right to a speedy trial as guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, is a "fundamental right," and is applicable to the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. See Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 223, 87 S.Ct. 988, 993, 18 L.Ed.2d 1 (1967)

. We also note that Article 3, Section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 provides defendants in criminal cases with a right to a speedy trial. Mississippi has also codified speedy trial guarantees to further protect the rights of defendants. See Miss.Code Ann. § 99-17-1 (Supp.2000). Price only asserts a speedy trial violation under his Sixth Amendment rights. Therefore, this Court need not analyze this alleged violation under the Mississippi Constitution or statute.¹

¶ 9. Review of a speedy trial claim encompasses the fact question of whether the trial delay rose from good cause. DeLoach v. State, 722 So.2d 512, 516 (Miss.1998); Mims v. State, 856 So.2d 518, 520 (Miss.Ct.App.2003). Under this Court's standard of review, this Court will uphold a decision based on substantial, credible evidence. Folk v. State, 576 So.2d 1243, 1247 (Miss.1991). If no probative evidence supports the trial court's findings of good cause, this Court will ordinarily reverse. DeLoach, 722 So.2d at 516. The State bears the burden of proving good cause for a speedy trial delay, and thus bears the risk of non-persuasion. Id. The right to a speedy trial attaches at the time of the accused's arrest, indictment, or information. Smith v. State, 550 So.2d 406, 408 (Miss.1989).

¶ 10. The United States Supreme Court in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), created a four-pronged balancing test to determine whether a defendant has been deprived of his right to a speedy trial in violation of the Constitution. The four prongs are (i) length of delay, (ii) the reason for the delay, (iii) the defendant's assertion of his right, and (iv) prejudice to the defendant. Barker, 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182. We have adopted and applied the Barker factors on numerous occasions. State v. Woodall, 801 So.2d 678, 680-81 (Miss.2001); Perry v. State, 637 So.2d 871, 874 (Miss.1994); Flores v. State, 574 So.2d 1314, 1321 (Miss.1990); Lightsey v. State, 493 So.2d 375, 378 (Miss.1986). Any delay of over eight months is presumptively prejudicial and triggers balancing of the other three factors. State v. Ferguson, 576 So.2d 1252, 1254 (Miss.1991). Once the delay is found presumptively prejudicial, "the burden shifts to the prosecution to produce evidence justifying the delay and to persuade the trier of fact of the legitimacy of these reasons." Id.

¶ 11. If this Court finds a constitutional speedy trial violation, the sole remedy is to reverse the trial court's decision and dismiss the charges. DeLoach, 722 So.2d at 516. No mathematical formula exists to which the Barker weighing and balancing process must be performed. Beavers v. State, 498 So.2d 788, 790 (Miss.1986). The weight to be given each factor necessarily turns on the quality of evidence available on each and, in the absence of evidence, identification of the party with the risk of non-persuasion. Beavers, 498 So.2d at 790. In the end, no one factor is dispositive. Id. The totality of the circumstances must be considered. Id. We now proceed to examine each factor.

Length of Delay

¶ 12. In evaluating a speedy trial issue arising under constitutional considerations, as opposed to Mississippi's statutory scheme, the commencement of the period begins when a person is arrested. Sharp, 786 So.2d at 380; Taylor v. State, 672 So.2d 1246, 1257 (Miss.1996).

¶ 13. The trial court correctly ruled that this factor weighs in favor of Price. Price was first...