Opinion ID: 1957350
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether glasper's constitutional rights were violated for failure to provide an initial appearance.

Text: ¶ 33. Glasper asserts that because of the delay in providing him an initial appearance before a neutral magistrate where he would have been advised of his constitutional right to remain silent, law enforcement officials were able to get Glasper to finally succumb to pressure and confess to these heinous crimes. Glasper also complains of the fact that it does not appear that [he] was ever provided a preliminary hearing. The Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice govern initial appearances and preliminary hearings in criminal cases. URCCC 6.03 states: Rule 6.03 INITIAL APPEARANCE Every person in custody shall be taken, without unnecessary delay and within 48 hours of arrest, before a judicial officer or other person authorized by statute for an initial appearance. Upon the defendant's initial appearance, the judicial officer or other person authorized by statute shall ascertain the defendant's true name and address, and amend the formal charge if necessary to reflect this information. The defendant shall be informed of the charges against him/her and provided with a copy of the complaint. If the arrest has been made without a warrant, the judicial officer shall determine whether there was probable cause for the arrest and note the probable cause determination for the record. If there was no probable cause for the warrantless arrest, the defendant shall be released. The judicial officer shall also advise the defendant of the following: 1. That the defendant is not required to speak and that any statements made may be used against him/her; 2. If the defendant is unrepresented, that the defendant has the right to assistance of an attorney, and that if the defendant is unable to afford an attorney, an attorney will be appointed to represent him/her; 3. That the defendant has the right to communicate with an attorney, family or friends, and that reasonable means will be provided to enable the defendant to do so; 4. Conditions under which the defendant may obtain release, if any; 5. That the defendant has the right to demand a preliminary hearing while the defendant remains in custody. URCCC 6.04 provides that an accused is entitled upon demand to a preliminary hearing where the judicial officer will determine whether the evidence presented creates a probable cause that a criminal offense has been committed and that the accused committed this offense. If the judicial officer should find the evidence sufficient to bind the accused over to the grand jury, the judicial officer then determines whether the accused is entitled to release from custody pending grand jury action, and if so, then the conditions of the release. ¶ 34. We have made it abundantly clear that uniform rules violations do not necessarily rise to the level of a constitutional violation. Lawrence v. State, 869 So.2d 353, 356 (Miss.2003). However, Glasper does claim that upon his arrest on the night of May 30, 2000, he was interrogated for hours, during which time, he was not allowed to make any telephone calls, nor was he allowed to communicate in any fashion with his family members, friends, or a lawyer. Thus, Glasper concludes that [g]iven the foregoing facts and the fact that he was unable to communicate with anyone other than the detectives who were imposing tremendous pressure on him to confess, and to whose pressure he eventually succumbed and confessed, [he] contends that both his state and federal rights were violated. ¶ 35. In an effort to convince us to find the confessions to be illegal based on a violation of URCCC 6.03, Glasper relies on Abram v. State, 606 So.2d 1015, 1029 (Miss.1992). In Abram, the defendant was arrested and then incarcerated and interrogated over a three-day period without an initial appearance, resulting in an eventual confession to two charges of capital murder and one charge of armed robbery. This Court concluded that law enforcement officials would have never obtained an uncounseled confession from Abram but for the authorities' failure to comply with the initial appearance rule, thus depriving Abram of access to counsel. Id. at 1029. The Court in Abram also found that such error could not be deemed harmless since the capital murder conviction was based entirely on his confession. Id. ¶ 36. Our case today is clearly distinguishable from Abram, where there was a clear violation of the rule and Abram's confession was the sole basis for the conviction. Glasper's confessions were given within twenty-hours of his arrest, well within the 48-hour provision for an initial appearance under URCCC 6.03. Additionally, Glasper's confessions did not constitute the sole basis for his convictions. Markelia Ellzey's testimony put Glasper within feet of the scene of the crime within hours of the discovery of Sanders's body. Paul Wilkerson of the Mississippi Crime Lab testified that of the seven latent fingerprints/palm prints recovered from Sanders's bedroom window, six of the prints belonged to Glasper. Nikia Redmond of Reliagene Technologies examined known blood samples of Glasper and the victim, the vaginal and rectal swabs of the victim, and the stains recovered from the victim's nightgown. While Redmond unhesitatingly testified that her testing was inconclusive as to Glasper, she did testify that the alleles [small portions of genetic markers] that I marked in blue marker are consistent with the genetic profile at the same positions with Oscar Glasper, but as I said before, it is not enough information to conclusively draw the conclusion that he is the donor of the sperm. Still, Redmond's testimony was properly before the jury for the jury to give it such weight and credit as the jury deemed appropriate, in conjunction with the other evidence before the jury. Also, the District Attorney's grueling cross-examination of Glasper before the jury certainly could have had an adverse effect on Glasper's defense in the eyes of the jury. In fact, a review of the totality of Glasper's testimony before the jury could cause one to conclude that Glasper hardly enamored himself to the jury. ¶ 37. Even if we were to find a URCCC 6.03 violation, which we do not, Glasper would have to show that the delay in providing him an initial appearance caused him to suffer some prejudice. We addressed this precise issue in Jones v. State, 841 So.2d 115 (Miss.2003). We stated: It is well established that the failure to provide an initial appearance for an accused within the time provided is not, of itself, a reason to suppress a confession. Davis v. State, 743 So.2d 326, 337 (Miss. 1999). In Morgan v. State, 681 So.2d 82 (Miss.1996) and Veal v. State, 585 So.2d 693 (Miss.1991), this Court found that a violation of Rule 6.03 alone will not result in the suppression of evidence or reversible error where the defendant was informed of his rights and made a knowing and voluntary waiver. But see Gordon v. State, 160 So.2d 73 (Miss. 1964); Parker v. State, 244 Miss. 332, 141 So.2d 546 (1962) (holding that considerable delay in providing an initial appearance alone can be reversible error).       The statement given by Jones on January 12 was completely incriminating, sufficient to prosecute him for Wilkerson's murder, and well within the 48 hour period. Therefore, the delay in providing Jones an initial appearance caused him no prejudice. A timely initial appearance in Mississippi might have resulted in less evidence being gathered, but it would not have resulted in suppression of the evidence against Jones to the extent where there is any reasonable probability that the verdict would have changed. 841 So.2d at 132, 133-34. Certainly, in today's case, Glasper has wholly failed to show that his failure to receive an initial appearance prior to his being interrogated by law enforcement, was an unnecessary delay which resulted in prejudice to him. [12] We thus find this assignment of error to be without merit.