Perkins v. State
| Docket Number: | 2008-KA-01387-COA Linked Case(s): 2008-KA-01387-COA ; 2008-CT-01387-SCT |
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| Court of Appeals: |
Opinion Link Opinion Date: 12-01-2009 Opinion Author: IRVING, J. Holding: AFFIRMED |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Selling, transferring, or delivering cocaine within 1,500 feet of a church - Weight of evidence - Ineffective assistance of counsel Judge(s) Concurring: KING, C.J., LEE AND MYERS, P.JJ., GRIFFIS, BARNES, ISHEE, CARLTON AND MAXWELL, JJ. Judge(s) Concurring Separately: ROBERTS, J., SPECIALLY CONCURS WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN OPINION JOINED BY GRIFFIS, J., AND JOINED IN PART BY MAXWELL, J. Procedural History: Jury Trial Nature of the Case: CRIMINAL - FELONY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-24-2008 Appealed from: Coahoma County Circuit Court Judge: Charles E. Webster Disposition: CONVICTED OF SELLING, TRANSFERRING, OR DELIVERING COCAINE WITHIN 1,500 FEET OF A CHURCH AND SENTENCED AS A HABITUAL OFFENDER TO THIRTY YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS District Attorney: Laurence Y. Mellen Case Number: 2007-0036 |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | FELIX PERKINS |
LESLIE S. LEE |
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| Appellee: | STATE OF MISSISSIPPI | OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: BILLY L. GORE | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Selling, transferring, or delivering cocaine within 1,500 feet of a church - Weight of evidence - Ineffective assistance of counsel |
| Summary of the Facts: | Felix Perkins was convicted of selling, transferring, or delivering cocaine within 1,500 feet of a church. He was sentenced, as a habitual offender, to thirty years. He appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Weight of evidence Perkins argues that his conviction was reached against the overwhelming weight of the evidence because the State never established the exact location of the buy. The testimonies of the State’s witnesses do not clearly establish where the buy occurred. Nevertheless, it is clear that a police officer testified that the buy occurred within 147 feet of the church. The jury, and not the reviewing court, judges the credibility of the witnesses as well as the weight and worth of their conflicting testimony. Perkins further argues that the CI’s testimony was not credible because he is a paid informant with a prior felony conviction. However, the jury apparently found the CI credible. Perkins also argues that the officers did not see the transaction because it was not captured on video. The fact that the exchange of the crack cocaine for the forty dollars may not have been captured on video does not prove that the exchange did not occur. It was up to the jury to make an assessment of what transpired. Its verdict is proof that it believed a sale of crack cocaine took place. Issue 2: Ineffective assistance of counsel Perkins argues that his trial attorney was ineffective. Because the record is insufficient to show that Perkins’s attorney was constitutionally ineffective for not requesting the lesser, non-included-offense instruction, the Court will not address the claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, and Perkins can raise this issue in a motion for post-conviction relief should he desire to do so. |
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