White v. State

The evidence supported the defendant's convictions for armed robbery, kidnapping with bodily injury and burglary, and the trial court did not err in overruling defense counsel's objection to the court's own questions posed to the victim at the end of his testimony.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

In March 1997, Michael Jerome White was convicted by a jury of armed robbery, kidnapping with bodily injury, and burglary. The trial court subsequently granted White’s June 16, 2014 pro se motion for out-of-time appeal, and this appeal followed. White asserts on appeal that the trial court erred in overruling his counsel’s objections to the court’s questioning of the victim and that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions. We affirm for the reasons set forth below.

Viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict,1 the evidence showed that on August 16, 1996, at around 9:00 p.m., 63-year-old Jack Morris left his place of business in his truck and drove home after a quick stop at a store. When Morris arrived home, he went inside and placed his briefcase on the living room sofa and turned on lights inside and outside of the house. When Morris went back outside to retrieve his mail, White confronted him, put a gun to his head, and ordered him to open his truck door. After searching the truck, White forced Morris back inside his house. White grabbed the briefcase off the sofa in the living room and took Morris and his briefcase to the dining room. White opened the briefcase, scattered the papers inside, and kept asking where the money was. At that point, White took Morris’s ring, watch, and a small caliber handgun from the briefcase and put them in his pocket. He also demanded Morris’s wallet and took $40 to $45 and credit cards from inside. White then forced Morris into the kitchen and from there, into the den where he demanded that Morris unlock his gun cabinet. He directed Morris to take the rifles and shotguns out of the cabinet and lay them on the floor, and he told Morris to remove the ammunition and put it in a plastic bag, which Morris did.

White v. State

The evidence supported the defendant's convictions for armed robbery, kidnapping with bodily injury and burglary, and the trial court did not err in overruling defense counsel's objection to the court's own questions posed to the victim at the end of his testimony.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report