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Wheeler v. State9/19/2002
NATURE OF THE CASE: CRIMINAL - FELONY
DISPOSITION: AFFIRMED- 09/19/2002
. Vincent M. Wheeler was tried and convicted in the Lee County Circuit Court of robbery, burglary, and aggravated assault of James Clark. Wheeler was ordered to make restitution to Clark's estate in the amount of $7,500.00 and sentenced to serve fifteen years for each offense in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. On appeal, Wheeler asserts that (1) there was not sufficient evidence to convict him for robbery and burglary; (2) the trial court erred in denying his motions for directed verdict and for a new trial; (3) the trial court erred in allowing photographs, a photographic lineup, and an out-of-court identification into evidence; (4) he was denied his right to a speedy trial and was subjected to double jeopardy; (5) the trial court erred in not suppressing his statement to police; (6) the trial court erred in not granting a mistrial where witnesses made prejudicial statements; and (7) the cumulative effect of these errors greatly prejudiced him and therefore denied him a fair trial.
. We find that the evidence was sufficient to support the convictions of robbery and burglary; that the trial court did not err in denying a directed verdict and new trial and in not granting a mistrial; that the trial court made no harmful evidentiary errors; that Wheeler's right to a speedy trial was not denied; that he was not subjected to double jeopardy; and that there were no cumulative errors which denied him a fair trial. Therefore, we affirm the convictions of robbery, burglary, and aggravated assault.
FACTS
. Clark was an elderly man who lived by himself. He had three daughters and a granddaughter who lived nearby and checked on him daily. Clark kept large sums of money on his person or in a hole in his mattress in his house. His two daughters, Barbara and Dorothy Copeland, and one granddaughter knew about the cash he kept on hand. Dorothy's boyfriend, Ozell Williams, apparently overheard Barbara and Dorothy discussing their father's aversion to banks and the large sums of cash he kept in his house. On May 11, 1999, Clark told Dorothy that Williams and another man came into his house in the middle of the night, hit him in the face, and took $1,500.00 from his wallet. Dorothy filed a police report to that effect. Clark and his granddaughter had recently counted his money; according to her, he had between $7,000 and $9,000. Williams was arrested four days later on different charges.
. Late at night or in the early morning that Williams was arrested, Clark was severely beaten in his home, and his television and cash were taken. The time of the attack is unknown, but Williams was in jail from 1:00 a.m. until 4:52 a.m. and was not a suspect. The morning of the attack, Clark's granddaughter found him lying on the floor in a puddle of blood, with an extremely swollen face and several of his teeth knocked out. Clark was hospitalized for a couple of weeks and was then moved to a nursing home. He died a few months after the attack.
. Wheeler was identified by four witnesses as being one of the men who was attempting to sell Clark's television around 6:00 a.m. the morning of the attack. He first attempted to sell the television to Clark's daughter, Barbara. Then he approached the Buford sisters, and one of them bought the television. The other later identified him through a photographic lineup. Wheeler was brought into the police station a few days after the incident and gave a statement to police admitting that he beat Clark and took the television from his home.
. Wheeler was originally indicted for robbery, burglary and aggrav
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