for the Court:
PROCEDURAL POSTURE AND ISSUES PRESENTED
¶ 1. Thе appellant, James “Pig” Cobb was convicted by a jury of burglary and larceny. The Lee County Circuit Court, the Honorable Frank Allison Russell presiding, sentenced Cobb to a term of twenty years incаrceration, ten years suspended, in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and restitution to the victim of $1200. The trial court overruled Cobb’s motion for JNOV, and this appeаl was timely perfected. Cobb raises two issues for our review: 1) whether the trial court committed reversible error in refusing to grant appellant a mistrial and 2) whether the trial court committed reversible error in improperly allowing amendment to the indictment. After a thorough review of the record and applicable precedents, we affirm the conviction and sentence in this case.
FACTS
¶ 2. On February 26, 1997 at approximately 9:00 P.M., a burglary in progress was reported to the Tupelo Police Department. On arriving at the scene of the burglary, Officer Paul Howell noticed a broken window in the door of the dwelling and received information that a рossible suspect was seen fleeing the location. A police bulletin was issued and shortly thereafter, James Cobb was arrested. Subsequently, Cobb was indicted for burglary and larceny of a quаntity of pennies
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
I. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN REFUSING TO GRANT APPELLANT A MISTRIAL
¶ 3. Cobb’s first assignment of error allеges that he was improperly denied a mistrial for a discovery violation by the proseсution. This assignment is without merit. At trial, the prosecutor questioned the victim, Roosevelt Harris, about thе items taken from his home the night of the burglary. Mr. Harris testified that he identified rolled pennies and a pocket knife as being his property. Cobb’s lawyer objected to the testimony about the pocket knife. The judge sustained the objection and admonished the jury to disregard that testimony. Thе prosecutor had not provided information about the pocket knife in discovery bеcause it was not known to the prosecutor that the pocket knife had been taken from Mr. Harris until that day.
¶4. As an appellate court, we must assume that juries follow the instructions of the trial court. Reynolds v. State,
II. WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR IN IMPROPERLY ALLOWING AMENDMENT TO THE INDICTMENT
¶5. Cobb’s second assignment of error surrounds the amendment of the indictment on the day of the trial. Cobb maintains that the trial court’s amendment amounted to a change of substance instead of a change as to form. Cobb cites various rules from the URCCC, including Rule 1.11, 6.07, and 7.09. Cobb argues that the amendment prevented him from adequately preparing a defense and denied him fair notice to contest the amendment. After careful consideration, we find Cobb’s assignment of error in this regard to be without merit and overrule the same.
¶ 6. URCCC 7.09 provides in pertinent part: “[a]ll indictments may be amended as to form but not as to the substance of the offense charged... .Amendment shall bе allowed only if the defendant is afforded a fair opportunity to present a defense and is not unfairly surprised.” In the case sub judice, Cobb was indicted for burglary of a dwelling with the intent to commit the сrime of larceny. Regardless of the value of the property taken or whether any рroperty was taken at all, this in no way prejudiced Cobb’s defense to the burglary charge nor was he unfairly surprised in such a way that his defense changed. The attorney general is correct in his assertion that this amendment was not one of substance. The amendment was inconsequеntial since Cobb was tried for burglary, and not larceny. The language used in the indictment referenсing what Cobb took from the premises was “demonstrating the
¶ 7. THE JUDGMENT OF THE LEE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT OF CONVICTION OF BURGLARY OF A DWELLING AND SENTENCE OF TWENTY YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, TEN YEARS SUSPENDED, AND RESTITUTION IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,200 IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE TAXED AGAINST LEE COUNTY.
