Sims v. State

• Decision Date: 04 May 2021
• Docket Number: No. 2019-KM-01581-COA,2019-KM-01581-COA
• Citation: 329 So.3d 528
• Parties: James SIMS a/k/a James Arthur Sims, Jr., Appellant v. STATE of Mississippi, Appellee
• Court: Mississippi Court of Appeals

329 So.3d 528

James SIMS a/k/a James Arthur Sims, Jr., Appellant

v.STATE of Mississippi, Appellee

No. 2019-KM-01581-COA

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

May 4, 2021

Rehearing Denied September 21, 2021

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT: WANDA TURNER-LEE ABIOTO, MARY A. BROWN, Grenada

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, BY: ASHLEY LAUREN SULSER

EN BANC.

MODIFIED OPINION ON MOTION FOR REHEARING

LAWRENCE, J., FOR THE COURT:

¶1. The motion for rehearing is denied. The original opinion of this Court is withdrawn, and this modified opinion is substituted in its place.

¶2. James Sims was convicted of disorderly conduct¹ and resisting arrest² in the Southaven Municipal Court. He subsequently appealed his convictions to the DeSoto County County Court. Following a bench trial de novo, the county court judge found Sims guilty of both crimes. The court sentenced Sims to serve six months of supervised probation for the disorderly-conduct conviction and a consecutive six months of unsupervised probation for the resisting-arrest conviction. Sims was also ordered to complete an anger management course and pay $1,058 in fines, costs, and assessments. Sims then appealed to the DeSoto County Circuit Court, which affirmed the county court's judgment. The circuit court allowed Sims to file an out-of-time appeal, which resulted in his appeal now before this Court.

¶3. On appeal, Sims argues that his convictions should be reversed because (1) the City of Southaven (City) committed a Brady³ violation; (2) the City presented perjured testimony; (3) the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions; and (4) the trial court's judgment was against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. Finding no error, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶4. On January 7, 2016, at approximately 8:45 p.m., Detective Tara Crum with the Southaven Police Department was dispatched to the SuperLo Foods store (SuperLo) in response to a shoplifting call. When she arrived, a security guard informed her that he had a female suspect detained in the store and that there was possibly a "second individual" in the area. At that point, Detective Crum radioed for other officers in the area to come and assist. Shortly after, three or four officers arrived to help her look for the second suspect.

¶5. The security guard helped two of the responding officers locate the vehicle that possibly belonged to the shoplifters. The vehicle was empty, which led them to believe that the male suspect was still in the area. Officer Chase Joiner, one of the responding officers, testified that the other officers broadcasted over the radio that they saw a rifle in the back of the car. At that point, Officer Joiner parked his vehicle in the parking lot facing the SuperLo to watch for the male suspect.

¶6. Shortly after, Sims walked out of the restaurant Tiger Hot Wings. Officer Joiner watched Sims leave the restaurant, turn left toward the SuperLo, and take four or five steps. Sims then stopped "abruptly" when he saw the officers at the SuperLo and walked in the opposite direction. Officer Joiner found this behavior to be "unnatural" and "suspicious" and continued to watch Sims.

¶7. As Sims continued to walk away, he looked back at Officer Joiner "five or six times." Based on his behavior, Officer Joiner drove his car toward Sims and pulled into the parking lot that Sims had just entered on foot. He rolled his window down and said he wanted to talk. Sims kept walking and said, "For what man? What do you want?" At that point, Officer Joiner turned on his blue lights and got out of his patrol vehicle. After being asked several times, Sims finally walked back toward Officer Joiner in an aggressive manner with his hands in his pocket and said, "What the f*** do you want?" Around this time, Officer Joiner's partner, Officer Phillip Croy, arrived to assist. Officer Joiner asked Sims several times to take his hands out of his pockets, and "he refused every single time." Officer Joiner testified that there were other people in the parking lot and the surrounding area during this exchange.

¶8. Officer Joiner testified that he could not remember whether he had to physically remove Sims's hands from his pockets or whether Sims removed them voluntarily. Either way, Sims eventually placed his hands on the hood of Officer Joiner's patrol vehicle, and Officer Joiner conducted a pat-down search to look for weapons. Officer Joiner testified that at this point, based on the totality of the circumstances, he believed that Sims was likely involved with the shoplifting incident. Officer Joiner asked Sims to place his hands behind his back, and, at that point, Sims said, "No. F*** you." Officer Joiner ultimately detained Sims to "identify [Sims] and ... to confirm or dispel the suspicions [he] had regarding the shoplifting." At that time, Officer Joiner had not decided whether to arrest Sims. Sims refused to take his hands off the hood of the vehicle and place them behind his back, so Officers Joiner and Croy physically moved his hands and placed the handcuffs. Officer Joiner testified that Sims was cursing them loudly and acting "irate." After Sims was handcuffed, he was still not compliant and continued to physically pull away. Officer Joiner stated there was a "brief struggle" and that Sims was eventually placed in the patrol vehicle and driven to the police station.

¶9. Once Sims was identified, it was discovered that there was a warrant for his arrest for contempt, which Officer Joiner suspected was the reason for his behavior. Officer Joiner also testified that it was later discovered that Sims had nothing to do with the shoplifting incident. Once they arrived at the station, Sims "jerked away" from Officer Joiner and refused to cooperate. Officer Croy's testimony at trial corroborated Officer Joiner's recount of the events leading up to Sims's arrest. Sims was ultimately charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and public profanity.⁴

¶10. Sims testified that he did not head toward the SuperLo when he left Tiger Hot Wings as stated by Officer Joiner. He instead claimed he was walking to a nearby gas station. Sims also claimed that Officer Joiner was lying during most of his testimony. Sims admitted to seeing Officer Joiner's patrol vehicle but claimed he only glanced at it initially. Sims also testified that he immediately complied and stopped walking as soon as he heard Officer Joiner speak to him. He stated that he never had a chance to put his hands behind his back and that the officers threw him against the car and handcuffed him. Finally, Sims denied knowing that he had a warrant out for his arrest for contempt of court until Officer Joiner told him.

¶11. On May 11, 2016, Sims was convicted of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest in municipal court. He appealed the judgment to county court. The county court held a bench trial, which occurred on December 4, 2017, and February 13, 2018. At the close of trial, the county court found Sims guilty of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Sims subsequently filed an untimely motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) or alternatively, a new trial. The county court ultimately found Sims's delay in filing was a result of "inadvertence" and denied Sims's post-trial motion pursuant to Mississippi Rule of Criminal Procedure 25.1(c). Sims then appealed the county court's judgment to circuit court on March 12, 2018. Sims and the City submitted briefs for the court's review. After reviewing the briefs and the county court record, the circuit court affirmed the county court's judgment on July 9, 2019, under Mississippi Rule of Criminal Procedure 30.1(c).⁵ Sims appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶12. "In a bench trial, the trial judge is ‘the jury’ for all purposes of resolving issues of fact." Sendelweck v. State , 101 So. 3d 734, 738-39 (¶19) (Miss. Ct. App. 2012) (citing Evans v. State , 547 So. 2d 38, 40 (Miss. 1989) ). "As such, a ‘judge sitting without a jury is accorded the same deference with regard to his findings as a chancellor, and his findings are safe on appeal where they are supported by substantial, credible, and reasonable evidence.’ " Carlson v. City of Ridgeland , 131 So. 3d 1220, 1223 (¶13) (Miss. Ct. App. 2013) (citing Doolie v. State , 856 So. 2d 669, 671 (¶7) (Miss. Ct. App. 2003) ).

ANALYSIS

1. The City did not commit a Brady violation.

¶13. Sims argues that the City committed a Brady violation by suppressing audio recordings between the officers who responded to the shoplifting incident at the SuperLo. More specifically, Sims claims that "the [exculpatory] information passed between the officers on the radio would have shown that at the time Officer [Joiner] stopped [Sims] that he knew that Sims was not involved in the shoplifting incident at the grocery store."

¶14. The week before trial, Sims filed a motion requesting additional evidence, which included the alleged audio recording and subpoenas for several employees at the police department. On the first day of trial, the City maintained that it had provided everything requested through discovery, including "an audio recording in the sallyport as well as dispatch recordings." The next day, defense counsel sent the City prosecutor a letter, again requesting additional evidence and subpoenas. The City filed a motion to quash the request for the subpoenas, and the court heard the matter on what was supposed to be the second day of trial. The City reiterated that it had provided all the available requested evidence it had to Sims. Although the court had "a real problem with [defense counsel's] sloppiness" in waiting until "the last minute," it entered an order the same day of the hearing requiring the City to provide "a complete record of the dispatch recordings for the time and date relevant to the facts in this case." When trial resumed February 13, 2018, there was no further discussion of any missing evidence. The City contended that it fully complied with the...