Agee v. State, No. 43903
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
| Writing for the Court | GILLESPIE |
| Citation | 185 So.2d 671 |
| Parties | Joe AGEE v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Decision Date | 25 April 1966 |
| Docket Number | No. 43903 |
Page 671
v.
STATE of Mississippi.
April 25, 1966.
Page 672
O. M. Oates, Jr., Bay Springs, for appellant.
Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by Hugo Newcomb, Sr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
GILLESPIE, Presiding Justice.
Joe Agee was convicted of murdering Hurbert Darby. The jury fixed punishment at lefe imprisonment, and Agee appealed to this Court.
Hurbert Darby lived alone in the rural part of Jasper County, Mississippi, where he was employed to care for a cattle farm. On December 29, 1964, he was found dead in his residence from gunshot wounds in the chest. He had been shot through a window. There was no evidence of robbery, and at the time his body was discovered, he had been dead several days.
The main question in this case involves the admission in evidence of a written confession. We hold that the State failed to establish that the confession was voluntarily given and that the case should be reversed for a new trial.
Defendant and another youth were arrested at about 1:30 p.m. on December 29, 1964, after the body of the deceased had been found at about 8:30 that morning. He was placed in the county jail and removed to the courthouse from time to time during that day and the next for questioning, and signed a written confession during the evening of December 30, 1964.
Defendant argues four assignments of error; one is that the directed verdict should have been given and appellant discharged. We do not think that this assignment
Page 673
of error requires discussion. His other three assignments of error involve the introduction in evidence of a confession over defendant's objection.The State has the burden of proving the voluntariness of a confession. This burden is met by the testimony of an officer, or other person having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without any threats, coercion, or offer of reward. This makes out a prima facie case for the State on the question of voluntariness. Lee v. State, 236 Miss. 716, 112 So.2d 254 (1959). When objection is made to the introduction of the confession, the accused is entitled to a preliminary hearing on the question of the admissibility of the confession. This hearing is conducted in the absence of the jury. Lee v. State, supra, is also authority for the proposition that when, after the State has made out a prima facie case as to the voluntariness of the confession, the accused offers testimony that violence, threats of violence, or offers of reward induced the confession, then the State must offer all the officers who were present when the accused was questioned and when the confession was signed, or give an adequate reason for the absence of any such witness. See also Holmes v. State, 211 Miss. 436, 51 So.2d 755 (1951).
In the present case the trial court committed several...
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Woodward v. State, No. DP-81
...services of a lawyer. Moulds further testified to the free and voluntary nature of the statement itself. The requisites of Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966), were complied with, and there is no claim to the contrary as to any of the Moulds stated that he wrote Woodward's statement ou......
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Conner v. State, No. 90-DP-927
...Conner first characterizes the statement as a "confession" and argues that use of the statement is prohibited by Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966), which holds that where the voluntariness of a confession is contested, all law enforcement officials present at the scene of the confess......
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Underwood v. State, No. 95-DP-00866-SCT
...956 (Miss.1997) (internal citations omitted). This Court set out its rule for proving the voluntariness of a confession in Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 The State has the burden of proving the voluntariness of a confession. This burden is met by the testimony of an officer, or other person h......
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Byrom v. State, No. 2001-DP-00529-SCT.
...cooperation by the suspect might be of some benefit." See also Layne v. State, 542 So.2d 237 (Miss. 1989). Byrom, citing Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966), argues that her testimony at the suppression hearing clearly rebutted the State's evidence so that the State should have been re......
-
Woodward v. State, No. DP-81
...services of a lawyer. Moulds further testified to the free and voluntary nature of the statement itself. The requisites of Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966), were complied with, and there is no claim to the contrary as to any of the Moulds stated that he wrote Woodward's statement ou......
-
Conner v. State, No. 90-DP-927
...Conner first characterizes the statement as a "confession" and argues that use of the statement is prohibited by Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966), which holds that where the voluntariness of a confession is contested, all law enforcement officials present at the scene of the confess......
-
Underwood v. State, No. 95-DP-00866-SCT
...956 (Miss.1997) (internal citations omitted). This Court set out its rule for proving the voluntariness of a confession in Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 The State has the burden of proving the voluntariness of a confession. This burden is met by the testimony of an officer, or other person h......
-
Byrom v. State, No. 2001-DP-00529-SCT.
...cooperation by the suspect might be of some benefit." See also Layne v. State, 542 So.2d 237 (Miss. 1989). Byrom, citing Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966), argues that her testimony at the suppression hearing clearly rebutted the State's evidence so that the State should have been re......