Williams v. State
| Docket Number: | 2005-KA-01939-COA Linked Case(s): 2005-KA-01939-COA ; 2005-CT-01939-SCT ; 2005-CT-01939-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 05-29-2007 Opinion Author: GRIFFIS, J. Holding: Affirmed |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Conspiracy to possess marijuana & Possession of marijuana - Sufficiency of evidence Judge(s) Concurring: LEE AND MYERS, PJJ., CHANDLER, BARNES, ROBERTS AND CARLTON, JJ. Dissenting Author : IRVING, J. Dissent Joined By : KING, C.J., AND ISHEE, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 09-12-2005 Appealed from: MADISON COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT Judge: William E. Chapman, III Disposition: CONVICTED OF COUNT I: CONSPIRACY TO POSSESS MORE THAN FIVE KILOGRAMS OF MARIJUANA WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE AND COUNT II: POSSESSION OF MORE THAN FIVE KILOGRAMS OF MARIJUANA AND SENTENCED TO SERVE A TERM OF TWENTY (20) YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR COUNT I AND SENTENCED TO SERVE A TERM OF THIRTY (30) YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS FOR COUNT II, WITH TWENTY-FIVE (25) YEARS TO SERVE AND FIVE (5) YEARS SUSPENDED. THE SENTENCES IN COUNT I AND COUNT II TO RUN CONCURRENTLY. District Attorney: David Byrd Clark Case Number: 2003-495 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | LATINA WILLIAMS |
LISA M. ROSS
GEORGE J. PARNHAM |
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| Appellee: | STATE OF MISSISSIPPI | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: W. GLENN WATTS |
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| Topic: | Conspiracy to possess marijuana & Possession of marijuana - Sufficiency of evidence |
| Summary of the Facts: | Latina Williams was found guilty of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to sell more than five kilograms of marijuana and guilty of possession of more than five kilograms of marijuana. Williams appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Williams argues that there was insufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to transfer, sell, or distribute, and that since there was insufficient evidence on the conspiracy charge, the necessary nexus between Williams and the possession charge was missing. For there to be a conspiracy, there must be recognition on the part of the conspirators that they are entering into a common plan and knowingly intend to further its common purpose. Several specific facts support the jury’s verdict of guilty as to the conspiracy charge. When the deputy attempted to pull behind the Ford Explorer to pull it over, Williams increased her speed, blocking the deputy’s attempt. The deputy first noticed the Dodge driven by Williams following too closely to the Ford driven by Nash. As he approached the vehicles without his blue lights activated, the Dodge dropped back away from the Ford. The vehicle Williams was driving contained an amount of marijuana that was still in its compressed form like it had been torn off a brick similar to the ones found in the Ford Explorer. The cell phone found in the vehicle that Williams was driving, which she admitted to using, had the number of Nash’s pager stored in its recently dialed memory. Both Nash and Williams were driving North on I-55 from Houston, Texas. A reasonable inference that can be drawn from the evidence was that Williams, Collins, and Nash were traveling together along I-55 with a common plan to move twenty-five pounds of marijuana to later transfer, sell or distribute it. It also would be a permissible inference that Williams attempted to draw the deputy’s attention away from Nash’s vehicle, since he was the one carrying the bulk of the marijuana. Since there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction on the conspiracy charge, there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict of guilty of possession of more than five kilograms of marijuana. |
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