Orlando Tremayne Grayson v. State of Mississippi
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
NO. 2002-KA-00420-COA
ORLANDO TREMAYNE GRAYSON A/K/A TRIM
GRAYSON
v.
STATE OF MISSISSIPPI
DATE OF TRIAL COURT JUDGMENT:
TRIAL JUDGE:
COURT FROM WHICH APPEALED:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT:
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEE:
DISTRICT ATTORNEY:
NATURE OF THE CASE:
TRIAL COURT DISPOSITION:
DISPOSITION:
MOTION FOR REHEARING FILED:
CERTIORARI FILED:
MANDATE ISSUED:
APPELLANT
APPELLEE
3/6/2002
HON. PAUL S. FUNDERBURK
ALCORN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT
JOE THOMAS GAY
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: JOHN R. HENRY
JOHN RICHARD YOUNG
CRIMINAL - FELONY
SENTENCE OF 20 YEARS IN THE MDOC FOR
CONSPIRACY TO POSSESS MORE THAN ONE
KILOGRAM OF MARIJUANA WITH INTENT TO
SELL OR DISTRIBUTE
AFFIRMED - 07/15/03
BEFORE MCMILLIN, C.J., THOMAS AND CHANDLER, JJ.
MCMILLIN, C.J., FOR THE COURT:
¶1.
Orlando Tremayne Grayson was found guilty of conspiracy to possess more than one kilogram of
marijuana with intent to sell or distribute. Grayson has appealed his conviction, alleging reversible error by
the Circuit Court of Alcorn County when it allowed inadmissible hearsay testimony to be presented to the
jury on several different occasions during trial. We find Grayson’s contentions to be without merit and
affirm his conviction.
I.
Facts
¶2.
In November 1999, employees of United Parcel Service working in Booneville discovered a
package that had split open. The employees suspected that the contents might be marijuana, and, as a
result, they notified local law enforcement officers. The police found that the package contained twentyone bricks of marijuana packed in newspaper from the Los Angeles Times. The package had been
shipped from an address in Rowland Heights, California, and was addressed to Mark Johnson in Corinth.
Upon investigating, officers determined that the actual residents at that address were individuals named
Rodney Spence and Tasha Williams.
¶3.
A police officer, disguised as a UPS deliveryman, delivered the package to the indicated address
in Alcorn County. An individual named Cory Spence, who proved to be a cousin of Rodney Spence, was
present at the address and signed for the package. He was arrested shortly thereafter and charged with
conspiracy to possess more than one kilogram of marijuana. Cory Spence cooperated in the subsequent
investigation that implicated Grayson and ultimately testified for the State at Grayson’s conspiracy trial.
II.
Discussion
¶4.
Grayson contends that the trial court committed reversible error on several different occasions when
the court permitted inadmissible hearsay testimony to be presented.
¶5.
The first instance, according to Grayson, was when Officer Jeff Palmer was permitted to read a
written statement taken by him during the investigation allegedly made by a third party discussing his
knowledge of Grayson's marijuana sales. Despite Grayson’s contention in this appeal that the statement
was inadmissible, when the matter of allowing the officer to read the statement came up at trial, defense
2
counsel specifically said, "No objection at all, your Honor." Failure to timely object to alleged hearsay
evidence acts as a bar preventing the aggrieved party from raising the issue on appeal. M.R.E. 103;
Murphy v. State, 453 So. 2d 1290, 1293-94 (Miss. 1984). For that reason, we find the allegation that
this constituted reversible error to be without merit.
¶6.
Grayson’s second instance of alleged inadmissible hearsay occurred during Cory Spence's
testimony. Spence testified about a prior occasion when he had dropped off a package at Grayson's house
and about conversations that Cory Spence had with his cousin, Rodney Spence, concerning delivering
packages to Grayson. Grayson's counsel objected on the ground of hearsay. The State claimed that the
statements were by one of Grayson’s co-conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy, and, thus, did not
constitute hearsay under authority of Mississippi Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2)(E). The court agreed with
the State and overruled the defense's objection.
¶7.
On appeal, Grayson argues that Cory Spence's testimony should have been excluded because the
statements testified to by Spence were not made in the course of the conspiracy. As a more basic failure,
Grayson contends that the State failed to establish the existence of a conspiracy between Cory Spence and
Grayson. This argument is without foundation. The State charged in the indictment, and made an
evidentiary showing, that Grayson, Cory Spence and Rodney Spence were involved in conspiring to obtain
and sell large amounts of marijuana. The testimony of Cory Spence involved alleged statements made by
Rodney Spence in furtherance of the conspiracy. Statements of this sort are admissible and not considered
to be hearsay. M.R.E. 801 (d)(2)(E); Mitchell v. State, 495 So. 2d 5, 12 (Miss.1986).
¶8.
Finally, Grayson argues that the testimony of Police Officer Jeff Palmer as to what UPS employees
related to him about the package and its contents was inadmissible hearsay. We find that the trial court was
correct in overruling the defense's hearsay objection. Officer Palmer was merely attempting to "explain the
3
steps taken . . . to investigate the incident. The truth of the statement [made to the officer] was not in issue."
Butler v. State, 758 So. 2d 1063, 1066 (¶ 9) (Miss. Ct. App. 2000). No critical element of the crime
of conspiracy depended upon the truth of matters asserted by the UPS employees in their conversations
with police regarding the ruptured package or their opinion as to what the contents of the package might
have been, and the evidence clearly was not offered for that purpose. Rather, the information was
presented to permit the jury to have a full picture of the circumstances regarding how law enforcement
became involved in the case, thus permitting the State’s case to unfold in a coherent and understandable
manner. Viewed in this light, the testimony was not objectionable hearsay and was correctly allowed into
evidence. This issue is without merit.
¶9.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ALCORN COUNTY OF
CONVICTION OF CONSPIRACY TO POSSESS MORE THAN ONE KILOGRAM OF
MARIJUANA WITH INTENT TO SELL OR DISTRIBUTE AND SENTENCE OF TWENTY
YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
WITH EIGHT YEARS SUSPENDED AND FIVE YEARS OF POST-RELEASE SUPERVISION
AND FINE OF $5,000 IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THIS APPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO
THE APPELLANT.
KING AND SOUTHWICK, P.JJ., BRIDGES, THOMAS, LEE, IRVING, MYERS,
CHANDLER AND GRIFFIS, JJ., CONCUR.
4
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
