Opinion ID: 1711298
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether incriminating statements made by a suspect during a telephone conversation with his attorney may be used against the defendant when the conversation took place in the presence of a police officer and after the defendant had been placed in custody.

Text: ¶ 34. Floyd argues that his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to counsel were violated by Officer Palmer's remaining within hearing distance of Floyd's telephone conversation with his attorney and the subsequent use at trial of statements made during that conversation. Floyd's counsel objected to the use of the telephone conversation at trial, but on the grounds that the statements were confidential and thus protected by attorney-client privilege. To this objection, counsel for City of Crystal Springs replied that the communication was not confidential where Floyd was aware of the presence of Officer Palmer at the time the statements were made. The trial judge stated that he would take the objection under consideration and directed the witness, Officer Palmer, to answer the prosecution's questions regarding the telephone conversation. Officer Palmer testified that during the telephone conversation Floyd stated, yes, I've had a few drinks and that after Floyd hung up the telephone, he stated to Officer Palmer that he did not want to take the intoxilyzer test. No ruling was ever made regarding the objection, and Floyd's counsel never raised the question again to the trial court. Floyd now raises the objection on appeal, apparently abandoning the confidentiality argument and arguing, instead, that the use of the statements at trial violated Floyd's right to counsel. ¶ 35. Floyd's argument is procedurally barred. Floyd abandoned his objection when he failed to require the trial judge to issue a ruling on the objection. The State submits that this Court should apply its holding in Rushing v. State, 711 So.2d 450 (Miss.1998), to the issue at hand. In that case, the defendant was convicted of uttering a forged prescription. The defendant had several prior convictions for forged prescriptions, and, prior to trial, the defense attorney filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude from evidence any mention of prior bad acts or convictions. The trial court never ruled on the motion, and the defendant attempted to raise her objection on appeal. This Court stated: There is nothing in the record to indicate whether the motion was ruled on by the court. It is well-established that [i]t is the responsibility of the movant to obtain a ruling from the court on motions filed by him and failure to do so constitutes a waiver of same. Martin v. State, 354 So.2d 1114, 1119 (Miss.1978)( citing Grant v. Planters' Bank, 5 Miss. 326 (1840)).... Thus, we do not hold the trial court in error for not ruling on the motion. Id. at 456. See also Wright v. State, 540 So.2d 1, 4 (Miss.1989). ¶ 36. This principle applies to obtaining rulings on objections as well as on motions. This Court has held that it is the duty of the objecting party to obtain a ruling by the trial court on objections, and that if the record includes no ruling by the trial court, the objections are waived for purposes of appeal. Cole v. State, 525 So.2d 365, 369 (Miss.1987) (citing Hemmingway v. State, 483 So.2d 1335 (Miss. 1986); Cummings v. State, 465 So.2d 993 (Miss.1985)). ¶ 37. Furthermore, any error in admitting the statement from the telephone conversation is harmless. The proof of impairment offered by the State was so overwhelming that any such error was harmless. This Court has explained that an error is harmless when it is apparent on the face of the record that a fairminded jury could not have arrived at a verdict other than that of guilty. Forrest v. State, 335 So.2d 900, 903 (Miss.1976). ¶ 38. The evidence of Floyd's impairment is so overwhelming that a fair minded jury (or, here, a judge in a bench trial) could have arrived at no verdict other than to find Floyd guilty. Officer Palmer testified, and Floyd does not contradict, that at the time he stopped Floyd's vehicle, Floyd stated that he had been to the County Line beer joint where, by Floyd's own admission, he had been drinking. Floyd also told Officer Palmer that he had been drinking on the way home. There was an opened bottle of vodka, one-fourth of which was missing, on the passenger seat of Floyd's car and a glass on the console of the car. When Floyd exited the vehicle, he staggered, almost fell into the highway, could not stand properly, almost fell over when he tried to fix his pants leg, and spoke with slurred speech, alternating between mumbling and loud speech. ¶ 39. Additionally, the only statement from the telephone conversation testified to by Officer Palmer was Floyd's statement, Yes, I've had a few drinks. Floyd had already told Officer Palmer, when Officer Palmer pulled Floyd's car to the side of the road, that he had been to the County Line beer joint where he had been drinking and that he had been drinking on the way home. The statement from the telephone conversation was merely cumulative and is, therefore, harmless.