Rogers v. State, 130 So. 3d 544

R.L. Rogers was convicted by the Harrison County Circuit Court of armed robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, with habitual-offender status enhancing the sentences; he was sentenced to 23 years and 10 years, to run consecutively, without parole.
Prosecution sought to prove the felon-in-possession element via prior felony conviction; defense preferred a stipulation to avoid prejudicial impact from presenting prior-conviction documents.
Before trial, defense stipulated to a prior felony and the stipulation was to be presented via jury instruction rather than documentary evidence; jurors overheard discussion of Hurt’s testimony during a recess.
During trial, Hurt identified Rogers and the pistol; later witnesses described the arrest and recovery of the gun, clothes, and money; Rogers testified denying the robbery and offered an alternate narrative.
A juror-instigator prompted discussions among jurors about Hurt’s testimony; the court denied a mistrial after voir dire, reiterating jurors’ pre-deliberation silence.
On appeal, Rogers argues (1) insufficiency of evidence for felon-in-possession, (2) improper admission of a pre-Miranda statement, and (3) denial of a mistrial; the majority affirmed, with a concurrence/dissent addressing the felon-in-possession issue differently.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence for felon-in-possession	Rogers contends the State failed to prove the prior felony element.	State maintains the stipulation and evidence, including jury instruction, established the element.	Procedurally barred; conviction affirmed on the merits.
Admissibility of pre-Miranda statement	Rogers argues the statement should have been suppressed for lack of Miranda warnings.	State argues no plain error review due to failure to object; issue procedurally barred.	Procedurally barred; plain-error review declined.
Mistrial due to juror discussions	Rogers seeks mistrial based on juror misconduct.	Court exercised discretion; no abuse; jurors instructed to avoid discussions.	No abuse of discretion; mistrial denied.

Rigby v. State, 826 So.2d 694 (Miss.2002) (stips to prior conviction with limiting instruction admissible; Rigby cited for procedure regarding stipulations)
Old Chief v. United States, 519 U.S. 172 (U.S.1987) (premise for limiting evidence of prior offenses when stipulating to prior conviction)
Randall v. State, 806 So.2d 185 (Miss.2001) (effect of stipulation on proving an element of a crime)
Turner v. State, 748 So.2d 706 (Miss.1999) (juror misconduct does not always require mistrial)
Williams v. State, 684 So.2d 1179 (Miss.1996) (presumption jurors follow court instructions)
Moffett v. State, 49 So.3d 1073 (Miss.2010) (abuse-of-discretion standard for denial of mistrial)
Anderson v. State, 79 So.3d 501 (Miss.2012) (instruction must have evidentiary basis; limiting instruction context)
Townsend v. State, 939 So.2d 796 (Miss.2006) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of evidence on appeal)
Magee v. State, 966 So.2d 173 (Miss.Ct.App.2007) (peremptory instruction preserves sufficiency challenge)
Rigby v. State (see above), - (-) (see above)