Opinion ID: 864414
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether it was error to admit the .22

Text: CALIBER PISTOL INTO EVIDENCE. ¶16. Jones complains that the firearm should not have been admitted into evidence because it was admitted during the testimony of Sheriff Cartlidge, who was a convicted felon. He argues that since Miss. Code Ann. § 97-37-5 (Rev. 2000) prohibits convicted felons from carrying firearms, the effect of possessing and presenting the firearm as Exhibit 2 . . . is plain error. ¶17. Again, Jones failed to make a contemporaneous objection to the admission of the .22. He is therefore procedurally barred from raising this issue on appeal. However, addressing the merits of the claim, we find it to be frivolous. Sheriff Cartlidge was merely performing a ministerial duty by identifying the .22 during the trial. The .22 was taken from the crime scene on the day of Pam's death and had been in the custody of the Sheriff's Department since that day. Just because the Sheriff's Department had been in custody of the firearm does not mean that Sheriff Cartlidge had actual physical possession of it. In any event, section 97-37-5 is not a rule of evidence. This issue is without merit.