Case Title: Spraggins v. State

Citation: 606 So. 2d 592

Docket Number: 90-KA-1181

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1992-08-12T00:00:00Z

Document:
606 So. 2d 592 (1992) James SPRAGGINS a/k/a James Spraggin and a/k/a James Lewis Spraggins v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 90-KA-1181. Supreme Court of Mississippi. August 12, 1992. David L. Walker, Batesville, for appellant. Michael C. Moore, Atty. Gen., Ellen Y. Dale, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before DAN M. LEE, P.J., and PRATHER and ROBERTSON, JJ. DAN M. LEE, Presiding Justice, for the Court: James Spraggins, the defendant, lived in Batesville, Mississippi, in a house which he shared with Sterling Gates and Beverly Fondren. Sterling Gates acted as a confidential informant in this case and allegedly bought two rocks of crack cocaine for $30.00 from his friend and housemate, Spraggins, on August 11, 1989. Spraggins was indicted for sale of a controlled substance, cocaine, by a Panola County Grand Jury in the February 1990 term. A trial was held on October 16-17, 1990, and a jury found Spraggins guilty. The Panola County Circuit Court, Second Judicial District, sentenced Spraggins to fifteen (15) years to the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with the last three (3) years suspended pending future good behavior. Spraggins was also fined $2000.00 and ordered to make restitution in the amount of $100.00 to the Mississippi Crime Lab and $30.00 to the Panola County Sheriff's Office. Post trial motions for JNOV and New Trial were denied. Now, Spraggins appeals his conviction and sentence to this Court with two assignments of error. After a review of this case, we find that Spraggins' first assignment of error presents substantial merit warranting reversal of his conviction. Consequently, we reverse the conviction, vacate the sentence, and remand to the Panola County Circuit Court, Second Judicial District, for a new trial. Since appellant's first assignment of error is dispositive, we decline to address the second assigned error regarding the alleged Batson violation. At the trial, the confidential informant, Sterling Gates, provided the "convicting" testimony. Gates testified that he agreed to work as a confidential informer at the insistence of Bill Drake, his employer. Gates testified that he stole two pistols and some welding equipment from Bill Drake, but Drake agreed to forget the matter if Gates would help law enforcement officers *593 in Panola County in the battle on drugs. As noted above, Gates and Spraggins shared a house along with Beverly Fondren, who was Spraggins' girlfriend. The drug buy that Gates described at trial was routine and unremarkable in every sense. Gates met with Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Agent Rod Waller and Panola County Sheriff David Bryan. Gates was thoroughly searched, and a transmitter was taped to his chest. He was provided with $60.00 from the Panola County's Sheriff's Office for the buy. Gates got on his bicycle and proceeded to the house that he shared with the defendant and Fondren while Sheriff Bryan and Agent Waller set up surveillance in an unmarked car. Gates entered the house and found Spraggins in the back bedroom. Once there, Gates and Spraggins haggled over price for some crack cocaine. After a little negotiating, Gates allegedly bought two rocks of crack cocaine for $30.00. Gates returned to Sheriff Bryan and Agent Waller where he was searched again. He then turned over the remaining $30.00 and the two rocks that he supposedly bought from Spraggins. Spraggins took the stand in his own defense. He categorically denied selling crack to Gates on August 11, 1989. According to Spraggins, Gates came by the house on the day in question, and the two of them engaged in a discussion about selling Gates' bicycle. Spraggins testified that Gates needed money and initially tried to sell his bike for $65.00. According to Spraggins, he bought Gates' bicycle for $20.00, and then Gates left on the bike. For the state's rebuttal, the prosecution played the tape of the alleged drug buy. Although the tape quality is poor, it appears that the discussion between Gates and Spraggins concerned a purchase of drugs rather than the sale of a bicycle. The admissibility of character evidence is governed by Mississippi Rule of Evidence 404. Rule 404 is set forth in its entirety below: M.R.E. 404. In addition to Rule 404(b), there exists a plethora of case law which warns that evidence of other wrongs is inadmissible in the trial of an accused to show behavior which conforms with the charge in the indictment. Blanks v. State, 547 So. 2d 29 (Miss. 1989); Hunt v. State, 538 So. 2d 422 (Miss. 1989); Davis v. State, 530 So. 2d 694 (Miss. 1988); Robinson v. State, 497 So. 2d 440 (Miss. 1986); Brown v. State, 483 So. 2d 328 (Miss. 1986); Fisher v. State, 481 So. 2d 203 (Miss. 1985); Tobias v. State, 472 So.2d *594 398 (Miss. 1985); Donald v. State, 472 So. 2d 370 (Miss. 1985); Gallion v. State, 469 So. 2d 1247 (Miss. 1985); Mason v. State, 429 So. 2d 569 (Miss. 1983); Tucker v. State, 403 So. 2d 1274 (Miss. 1981); Allison v. State, 274 So. 2d 678 (Miss. 1973). James Spraggins was on trial for selling two rocks of crack cocaine to Sterling Gates. Despite Rule 404(b)'s clear proscription of character evidence introduced to show conformity and the rule of the common law, the jury heard repeated testimony of Spraggins' prior involvement in drug related crimes and acts which were unconnected and unrelated to the charge in the indictment. While the assistant district attorney was questioning Spraggins on cross examination, he elicited the following testimony from Spraggins. (1.) On December 10, 1989, some four months after August of 1989, when Spraggins allegedly sold crack to Gates, Spraggins was indicted for possession of cocaine in Panola County, Mississippi. (2.) On August 24, 1989, only a few days after Spraggins allegedly sold crack cocaine to Gates, Spraggins and a friend named James Lewis were arrested in Shelby County, Tennessee, and charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. Spraggins was convicted of possession of 5.8 grams of cocaine on December 27, 1989, stemming from the Tennessee charges. The following testimony consists of the Assistant D.A.'s questioning of Spraggins concerning the prior arrest in Panola County, Mississippi, and the arrest and conviction in Tennessee. In addition to the above, the Assistant District Attorney attempted to elicit testimony from Spraggins that he kept Fondren's sister, Minnie Bell Perry, supplied with cocaine. At trial, the state was successful in convincing the circuit court that this Court's decision in Quinn v. State, 479 So. 2d 706 (Miss. 1985), furnished the rule of law allowing the admissibility of Spraggins' prior conviction and other bad acts. However, a clear reading of Quinn leaves no doubt that the testimony elicited by the state from Spraggins is, in fact, inadmissible not admissible. In Quinn v. State, Terry Lee Quinn was on trial for selling 9.8 grams of marijuana on November 8, 1983, to a narcotics undercover agent and a confidential informant. Quinn v. State, 479 So. 2d 706, 707 (Miss. 1985). Four days prior to November 8th, November 4, 1983, Quinn also allegedly sold marijuana to the same undercover agent. Quinn took the stand in his own defense. While being questioned by his own attorney on direct examination, Quinn categorically denied that he had ever sold marijuana to anyone at anytime: Quinn, 479 So. 2d at 708. In response to questions posed by his own attorney, Quinn purposely portrayed himself as "pure as the driven snow." "To be sure, every defendant brought to trial may, if he wishes, try to paint himself as being as pure as the driven snow." Quinn v. State, 479 So. 2d at 708. Having portrayed himself as "pure," on direct examination by his own attorney, this Court held that Quinn opened the door for the state to attack his credibility on cross examination by questioning him about a drug sale which he made four days prior to the one for which he was on trial. Quinn, 479 So. 2d at 708. The following excerpt from Quinn provides a cogent explanation of the rule of law regarding the use of prior criminal acts for impeachment purposes. Un like Quinn, Spraggins, upon direct examination, did nothing to "open the door" which would allow the state to launch an attack on his credibility and parade the prior conviction and arrest before the jury. In fact, Spraggins went no where near the door. On cross examination by the state, Spraggins testified that his girlfriend, Beverly Fondren, did not use cocaine until Gates moved back to Mississippi from Wisconsin in the summer of 1987. By 1988, Spraggins testified that Beverly was using cocaine, and he did not approve of her use. While being cross-examined by the state, Spraggins testified that he moved in with Beverly for a period of time in 1988, in an effort to prevent her from using cocaine: In 1988, approximately one year prior to the time Spraggins allegedly sold cocaine to Gates, Spraggins testified that he was living back and forth between Beverly's house and his mother's house. Spraggins' testimony was that at some time in 1988, he moved in with Beverly in an effort to get her weaned from cocaine. When he failed, he moved back into the house with his mother. Then, at some point in time later on, Spraggins moved back in with Beverly. Clearly, this is not the sort of "door opening" testimony which permissibly triggers the state's use of a prior drug conviction, a prior drug arrest, and other bad acts concerning drug activity to impeach his credibility. Nor is it the "pure as the driven snow" picture which Quinn sought to convey to the jury. Furthermore, we have not even discussed the fact that this allegedly "door opening" testimony was elicited entirely on cross-examination by the state with no denial on direct examination which could "set up" the state's impeachment. Quinn, far from supporting the state's position, is inapposite. Citing Tobias v. State, 472 So. 2d 398 (Miss. 1985), Quinn clearly instructs that the state may not initiate the "door opening" testimony which it later seeks to impeach by the defendant's prior criminal record and dealings. See Quinn v. State, 479 So. 2d 706, 708 (Miss. 1985) (quoted above). Recently, this Court decided Stewart v. State, 596 So. 2d 851 (Miss. 1992). In Stewart, this Court reiterated the rule of Quinn noting that when an accused, on direct examination seeks to exculpate himself, such testimony is subject to impeachment on cross-examination, even though it may reveal that the defendant committed another *598 crime unrelated to the one for which he is on trial. Stewart, 596 So. 2d at 853. In Stewart, this Court reversed and remanded for a new trial finding that the state's impeachment exceeded the door opening invitation which the defendant extended on direct examination. "[T]he prosecution's impeachment privilege may not exceed the invitation extended." Stewart, 596 So. 2d at 853. See Blanks v. State, 547 So. 2d 29, 37 (Miss. 1989). In addition to Quinn, Stewart, and Tobias, to like effect are Hudgins v. State, 569 So. 2d 1206, 1209 (Miss. 1990), and Gallion v. State, 469 So. 2d 1247, 1250 (Miss. 1985). Finally, we note briefly in passing that even if the state could meet the requirements of a using a prior felony conviction for impeachment purposes, the lower court in this case failed to conduct a M.R.E. 601(a)(1) balancing test to assess the prejudicial impact of the prior drug conviction in Tennessee along with its probative value in this case. See M.R.E. 609(a)(1); Peterson v. State, 518 So. 2d 632, 636 (Miss. 1987). In conclusion, the trial court committed reversible error in allowing the state to question the defendant about a prior conviction, a prior arrest, and other bad acts all in violation of M.R.E. 404(b) and well-settled case law. Therefore, we reverse Spraggins' conviction for the sale of crack cocaine; vacate the sentence of fifteen years imprisonment, $2000.00 fine, and restitution fees totalling $130.00; and remand this case to the Panola County Circuit Court, Second Judicial District, for a new trial. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR A NEW TRIAL CONSISTENT WITH THIS OPINION. ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., HAWKINS, P.J., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, PITTMAN, BANKS and McRAE, JJ., concur.