Opinion ID: 1659705
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: whether the trial court erred in allowing the state to present the underlying facts of a prior felony conviction where such evidence was irrelevant and without probative value

Text: On September 9, 1992, Holly was convicted in the State of Illinois of attempted aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated murder in conjunction with the July 15, 1992 incident wherein he and his friend, Benefield, attempted to abduct a woman at gunpoint in a K-Mart parking lot. The episode culminated in a gun battle with Illinois police. At the sentencing phase of the trial, the State introduced a certified judgment of the conviction. Officer Michael Beck, an investigator for the Decatur, Illinois Police Department, very briefly recited the facts behind the charges: that two white males had hidden in a van belonging to a local woman; she ran when she realized they were there; they, in turn, ran to their parked Yalobusha County, Mississippi school bus, and opened fire on officers as they approached the vehicle. Holly filed a motion in limine to exclude this evidence from the jury. The trial judge stated that he would reserve his ruling, but noted that the evidence probably would not be allowed during the guilt phase of the trial. The record does not indicate whether the court ruled on the motion. Holly also failed to obtain a ruling on his Motion to Bar Introduction of Any Evidence Relating to Prior Convictions or Bad Acts filed January 13, 1992. The burden was on Holly to obtain a ruling on his motions. Billiot v. State, 454 So.2d 445, 456 (Miss. 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 1230, 105 S.Ct. 1232, 84 L.Ed.2d 369, reh. denied, 470 U.S. 1089, 105 S.Ct. 1858, 85 L.Ed.2d 154 (1985). Holly failed to meet this obligation. Holly's only objection to Officer Beck's testimony in the sentencing phase of the trial was raised when the investigator testified as to what another officer had seen at the scene of the incident. That hearsay objection was overruled. He is further barred procedurally by his failure to make a contemporaneous objection to Officer Beck's testimony. Carr v. State, 655 So.2d 824, 852 (Miss. 1995); Conner v. State, 632 So.2d 1239, 1255 (Miss. 1993); Russell v. State, 607 So.2d 1107, 1117 (Miss. 1992); Fleming v. State, 604 So.2d 280, 292 (Miss. 1992); Cole v. State, 525 So.2d 365, 374 (Miss. 1987); Lockett v. State, 517 So.2d 1346, 1353 (Miss. 1987).