Opinion ID: 1657574
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 21

Heading: the trial court erred in allowing evidence beyond the actual conviction to be admitted to prove the prior convictions.

Text: One of the two aggravators offered by the State and found by the jury was that Russell was previously convicted of another capital offense or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(5)(b). On appeal, Russell argues that the trial judge committed reversible error in allowing the prosecution to enter into evidence pen packs detailing Russell's prior crimes, i.e., two armed robbery convictions, escape and kidnaping convictions. Russell complains that these pen packs contained information far beyond the mere existence of each of the [prior] convictions. Accordingly, Russell argues, his death sentence should be vacated. The State argues that the information in the pen packs was necessary to the jury's determination that Russell's prior convictions involved crimes of violence. Further, the State contends that the evidence in the pen packs was necessary to establish the second aggravator, i.e., that Russell committed the capital offense while under a sentence of imprisonment. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(5)(a). The pen packs contained: (1) a certification of records form; (2) sentence computation record; (3) social admission interview; (4) commitment; (5) order; (6) indictment; (7) fingerprint card; and (8) photograph of defendant. Russell cites several cases for the proposition that the pen packs should not have been submitted to the jury. First, Russell offers Stringer v. State, 500 So.2d 928 (Miss. 1986), to support his argument that his death sentence should be vacated. In Stringer, a mitigation witness for Stringer stated that she did not believe that Jimbo would commit any crime, but that her mind could be changed if showed proof of any prior convictions. Thereafter, on cross-examination, the prosecution was allowed to offer evidence of Stringer's prior misdemeanor convictions. Id. at 941. On appellate review, this Court held that it was not error for the prosecution to cross-examine and impeach Stringer's mitigation witness as to Stringer's prior misdemeanors. Id. Stringer also argued that it was error for the State to go into details of his prior misdemeanor convictions. Upon reviewing the record we found that the record did not show that any details of the convictions were brought out in testimony. Stringer, 500 So.2d at 942. Nevertheless, we cited Allison v. State, 274 So.2d 678 (Miss. 1973), and Mangrum v. State, 232 So.2d 703 (Miss. 1970), and stated [i]nquiry into the details of prior convictions is improper. Stringer, 500 So.2d at 942. However, we find that Stringer is inapplicable to the case sub judice. The prior misdemeanor convictions in Stringer were not offered to prove any statutory aggravators. Instead, and unlike the case at bar, the convictions were offered for impeachment purposes. In the case sub judice, the prior convictions were offered to prove statutory aggravators. Accordingly, we do not find any merit in Russell's reliance on Stringer. Each of the remaining cases relied on by Russell are distinguishable from the case sub judice. In Allison v. State, 274 So.2d 678, 682 (Miss. 1973), this Court held that the prosecution committed reversible error when it impeached the defendant's reputation for peace and nonviolence by inquiring into the details of crimes for which the defendant was not convicted. Likewise, in Gallion v. State, 469 So.2d 1247 (Miss. 1985), this Court recognized that prior convictions may be introduced to impeach the credibility of any witness, but that a defendant may not be examined about the details of the prior conviction. 469 So.2d at 1249. In Quimby v. State, 604 So.2d 741 (Miss. 1992), this Court once again held that the prosecution could introduce prior convictions to impeach the witness but could not cross-examine the defendant about the details of the previous crime. 604 So.2d at 746. In all of the cases cited by Russell this Court held that evidence of prior convictions may be admissible to impeach any witness. However, these cases held that it was impermissible for the prosecution to question the defendant as to the specific details of these prior convictions. Nevertheless, the situation here is different than the situations faced by this Court in Stringer, supra ; Allison, supra ; Gallion, supra ; and Quimby, supra . In the case at bar, the evidence was not offered to impeach Russell or any of his witnesses. Instead, the evidence was offered to prove the statutory aggravators. In Nixon v. State, 533 So.2d 1078, (Miss. 1987), cert. denied, 490 U.S. 1102, 109 S.Ct. 2458, 104 L.Ed.2d 1012 (1988), this Court stated: [w]hen considering whether Nixon's prior offense was one involving the use or threat of violence the Court should be mindful that it behooves the prosecutor to prove the existence of each aggravating circumstance beyond a reasonable doubt. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-103 (Supp. 1986). The prosecution's burden in the instant case was to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the existence of two aggravating circumstances, i.e., that Russell was previously convicted of another capital offense or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person (Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(5)(b)) and that Russell committed the capital offense while under a sentence of imprisonment. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(5)(a). The prosecution offered the pen packs to satisfy its burden of proof in the case sub judice. In Cabello v. State, 471 So.2d 332, 349 (Miss. 1985), cert. denied, 476 U.S. 1164, 106 S.Ct. 2291, 90 L.Ed.2d 732 (1986), as in the present case, the prosecution sought to prove that the capital murder was committed by one who had previously been convicted of another capital offense or of a felony involving use or threat of violence to the person. Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(5)(b). During the sentencing phase, the prosecution offered the following into evidence: a statement from the defendant indicating his birth date and that he had previously gone by the name James Kenna; copies of a bill of information showing that James Kenna had been convicted of armed robbery; copies of court minutes showing that one James Kenna had been convicted of armed robbery on June 23, 1955; and a copy of his mug shot from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Id. at 347. On appeal, the defendant claimed that the trial judge committed reversible error in admitting into evidence a copy of his mug shot from the Louisiana State Penitentiary. This Court disagreed and recognized that while generally evidence of other crimes perpetrated by the accused is not admissible, this principle loses its significance in the sentencing phase of a capital murder case, when [a] prior conviction `of another capital offense or of a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person' is admissible ... as an aggravating circumstance to be considered by the jury in determining punishment. Cabello, 471 So.2d at 347 (quoting Gray v. State, 351 So.2d 1342, 1345 (Miss. 1977)). In Nixon, we recognized that the trial judge is not required to go beyond the face of the certificate of conviction to determine the validity of a previous conviction. 533 So.2d at 1099. However, we did not say that the trial judge was prohibited from doing so. In the case sub judice, the pen packs were relevant under Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-101(5)(b) and Cabello, 471 So.2d at 347-48, to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the two statutory aggravators. Accordingly, this assignment of error is without merit.