DATE
OF JUDGMENT: 02/27/2017
PIKE
COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT HON. MICHAEL M. TAYLOR
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: OFFICE OF STATE PUBLIC DEFENDER BY:
ERIN ELIZABETH BRIGGS
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE: OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY:
KATY TAYLOR GERBER
BEFORE
IRVING, P.J., BARNES AND WILSON, JJ.
WILSON, J., FOR THE COURT.
¶1.
Following a jury trial, Alvin Green was convicted of two
counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery,
aggravated assault, and two counts of possession of a firearm
by a convicted felon. Green's appointed appellate counsel
filed a "Lindsey brief, " certifying that
she has scoured the record and that the case presents no
"arguable issues" for appeal. Lindsey v.
State, 939 So.2d 743, 748 (¶18) (Miss. 2005). Green
subsequently filed a pro se supplemental brief that could be
liberally construed as challenging the weight or sufficiency
of the evidence and/or to allege ineffective assistance of
trial counsel. We have independently reviewed the entire
record and find no issues warranting reversal. Therefore, we
affirm Green's convictions and sentences.
FACTS
AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
¶2.
On Tuesday, October 27, 2015, Stanley Ginn was walking home
from school at McComb High School when two men drove up
beside him in a Silver Nissan. At trial, Ginn identified
Green as one of the two men in the car. The other man got out
of the car and put a gun to Ginn's stomach. Green
directed the man with the gun to check Ginn's pockets and
to take Ginn's book sack. The man with the gun took two
dollars in change from Ginn's pockets, Ginn's iPhone,
and Ginn's book sack. The man with the gun then returned
to the car, and the two men drove off.
¶3.
On Wednesday, October 28, 2015, Carlos Jones was at a gas
station in McComb when two men in a car offered to sell him
codeine cough syrup. At trial, Jones identified Green as one
of the two men in the car, which he described as a gray
Nissan Altima. Jones declined to buy the cough syrup but
offered to sell the men some jewelry, which he showed them.
Green said that he would buy the jewelry but needed to go to
the ATM first. When Green got out of his car, he put a gun in
Jones's stomach and said, "Give me everything you
got." Jones tried to push the gun away, but Green fired
the gun, and the bullet grazed Jones and wounded him. Green
then returned to the car, and the two men then drove off.
¶4.
Based on partial license plate numbers provided by witnesses,
the police were able to identify the car used in the
robberies as a 2009 silver Nissan Altima owned by Victoria
Holmes. They located Holmes and the car on Friday, October
30, 2015.
¶5.
Holmes told police that Green had her car on the days of the
two robberies. Holmes, who lived in McComb, had gone to visit
her sister in New Orleans the weekend before the robberies.
Green lived in New Orleans and knew Holmes's sister, and
Holmes agreed to give him a ride back to McComb on Monday,
October 26, 2015. Green and a man named "Trell"
then rented a room at the Quality Inn in McComb. On Tuesday
and Wednesday, Green and Trell borrowed Holmes's car
during the day while she was at work at Sanderson Farms.
Green told Holmes that "he was thinking about staying
[in McComb] longer" and might even move there. However,
when Green and Trell picked Holmes up at work on Wednesday
night, they were in a hurry to go back to New Orleans
immediately. Holmes drove them back to New Orleans that night
and then returned to McComb alone the next day.
¶6.
A Pike County grand jury indicted Green for the armed
robberies of Ginn and Jones, conspiracy to commit the armed
robbery of Ginn, two counts of possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon, and the aggravated assault of
Jones.[1] The case proceeded to a jury trial on
February 15-16, 2017. The State called five witnesses: Ginn,
Jones, Holmes, Detective Sid Boyte of the McComb Police
Department, and an employee of the Quality Inn, who testified
that Green stayed at the hotel on October 26-28, 2015. The
defense rested without calling any witnesses, and the jury
returned a verdict finding Green guilty on all counts.
¶7.
The circuit court sentenced Green to concurrent terms of
thirty years, with ten years suspended and five years of
post-release supervision, for each count of armed robbery;
ten years for each count of possession of a firearm by a
convicted felon; five years for conspiracy; and twenty years
for aggravated assault. Green subsequently filed a motion for
a ...