Larry Press Wells v. State of Mississippi, 2015 Miss. LEXIS 85

Wells was arrested May 24, 2007 for possessing cocaine with intent to transfer after an undercover sting in Gulfport; Guynes conducted the sting, used marked bills and a prop crack pipe; Wells helped Guynes locate drugs and allegedly smoked crack using the pipe.
A rock-like substance tested at 0.04 grams of cocaine was found near Wells; the prop pipe was not tested for residue.
The Harrison County grand jury indicted Wells on possession with intent to transfer under §41-29-139(a)(1); the State later amended to habitual offender under §99-19-81 (Oct 11, 2007).
Before trial, the State moved (Apr 24, 2009) to amend to a second/subsequent drug offender under §41-29-147, doubling the maximum sentence; Wells was convicted Apr 29, 2009 of possession with intent to distribute.
The court sentenced Wells to 60 years without parole; the majority vacates the §41-29-147 enhancement as discretionary and remands for resentencing, affirming conviction and habitual-offender status but allowing judicial discretion on the subsequent-drug-offender enhancement.
The speedy-trial claim was not addressed on direct appeal per the majority, while a dissent would reverse and render based on speedy-trial violations.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the evidence proves intent to distribute beyond reasonable doubt	Wells argues insufficient evidence of intent to transfer	Wells contends the surrounding circumstances fail to show intent	Conviction supported; sufficient evidence of intent
Whether jury instruction S-3 plain error affected rights	Wells claims the instruction harmed certainty of guilt	Wells joined agreement on instruction; no plain error	Instruction proper when read as part of the whole jury charges
Whether indictment amendments properly charged habitual and subsequent-offender status	Amendments lacked district-specific jurisdiction and surprised Wells	Amendments provided notice; not unfairly surprised	Indictment amendments valid for habitual-offender; procedural flaws not reversible; remand limited to discretion on §41-29-147
Whether trial court erred by denying discretionary sentencing under §41-29-147	Trial court presumed mandatory doubling	§41-29-147 grants discretion to enhance	Remand for resentencing to exercise discretion on §41-29-147; conviction affirmed

Stringfield v. State, 588 So.2d 438 (Miss. 1991) (requires clear evidence of intent to transfer drugs)
Chambliss v. State, 919 So.2d 30 (Miss. 2005) (intent to transfer determined from acts and statements)
Bush v. State, 895 So.2d 836 (Miss. 2005) (standard for sufficiency and weight of evidence review)
Irby v. State, 893 So.2d 1042 (Miss. 2004) (objected instruction must be preserved; waiver when agreed to jury instruction)
Williams v. State, 131 So.3d 1174 (Miss. 2014) (notice period sufficient for habitual/subsequent-offender amendments)
McCain v. State, 81 So.3d 1055 (Miss. 2012) (case-by-case evaluation of notice for habitual enhancements)
Kolberg v. State, 829 So.2d 29 (Miss. 2002) (failure to obtain ruling on speedy-trial motions can waive claim)
Price v. State, 898 So.2d 641 (Miss. 2005) (speedy-trial prejudice balancing requires good cause shown for delay)