Baggett v. State, 38959

• Decision Date: 18 January 1954
• Docket Number: No. 38959,38959
• Citation: 69 So.2d 389,219 Miss. 583
• Parties: BAGGETT v. STATE.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 389

69 So.2d 389

219 Miss. 583

BAGGETT v. STATE.

No. 38959.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Jan. 18, 1954.

Darwin M. Maples, H. G. Rowland, Lucedale, for appellant.

J. P. Coleman, Atty. Gen., John E. Stone, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

KYLE, Justice.

M. C. Baggett was indicted, tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of George County on a charge of murder in the killing of Ernest Lee Robinson, who is referred to in the record as 'Smokie', and was sentenced to life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. From that judgment he prosecutes this appeal.

The shooting occurred on January 4, 1953, at the Fruitdale Lumber Company camp in the southern part of George County. The State's testimony in chief consisted mainly of the testimony of Willie Mae Conley and Shelby Smith, who investigated the shooting after it occurred.

Willie Mae Conley testified that she and Smokie lived in a house at the camp settlement located only a few feet from the road, and that Tommy Lee Dunninger and Irene Dunniger, who is also referred to in the record as Irene Brown, lived across the road from her. M. C. Baggett lived in a house only a few feet from Willie Mae's house and on the same side of the road, and Marcus Baggett, M. C. Baggett's father, and his family lived in a house located immediately north of and only a few feet from M. C.'s house. Willie Mae stated that she was in her kitchen cooking supper when the difficulty occurred between M. C. and Smokie. She heard some one holler, 'You all don't do that.' She went to the door and saw Tommy Lee Dunniger and John Willie Lee holding M. C. M. C. said, 'Smokie, I'm going to kill you.' They were standing between M. C.'s house and Willie Mae's house at that time. Smokie ran over across the road to Tommy Lee Dunniger's house, and when he got across the road M. C. shot him in the back. M. C. was standing between his own house and Willie Mae's house when he fired the shot. Willie Mae said that one bullet entered Smokie's spinal cord. Smokie was taken to the hospital at Lucedale, and a few days latter was carried to a hospital in Mobile, where he died on January 26.

Shelby Smith, the sheriff, testified that he went to the lumber camp a short time after the shooting occurred to make an investigation. Ernest Hollinghead went with him. When they arrived at the camp, M. C. was standing near the roadside where Smokie had fallen. The sheriff asked who did the shooting, and M. C. said, 'I done it, Boss. I couldn't help it. I had to do it.' The sheriff stated that M. C. did not have the gun that he had used with him when the sheriff arrived at the camp; but the sheriff later got possession of a shotgun, which M. C. admitted was the gun that he had used when he shot Smokie. The sheriff found a shall between M. C.'s house and Willie Mae's house. The sheriff measured the distance from the place where M. C. was standing when he fired the shot to the place where Smokie fell, and the distance was 57 steps. The sheriff had a rough drawing or diagram which he had made and which he stated was a true representation of the camp settlement, showing the true location of the houses mentioned by him in his testimony; and the drawing, after being properly identified, was offered as an exhibit to the sheriff's testimony. The appellant's attorney objected to the drawing being admitted in evidence; but after the sheriff had inserted the distances between the houses shown on the drawing, the drawing was admitted in evidence as an exhibit to the sheriff's testimony. Ernest Hollinghead testified that he went with the sheriff to the scene of the shooting immediately after the shooting occurred, and assisted the sheriff in making his investigation.

Dr. Louis F. Rittermeyer testified that Smokie was brought to the hospital at Lucedale on the night of January 4; and that he examined him at once. Smokie had three bullet wounds in his body, and was paralyzed from his waist down. The doctor treated him for shock and dressed his wounds, but did not undertake to remove the shots. From the location of the bullet wounds it appeared that the gun was fired from behind. Doctor Rittermeyer treated Smokie about four days, and then sent him to the hospital at Mobile. Dr. William S. Warren, of Mobile, testified that Smokie was brought to the hospital in Mobile on January 6. He had been shot with a load of buckshot. He was paralyzed from the chest down. One bullet had entered his body under the shoulder blade. He had four holes in the back of his left side and knee. His left leg and foot were cold and swollen. The doctor operated on Smokie and removed fragments of bone that had been knocked off the vertebrae, when the bullet entered the spinal canal. Gangrene developed in Smokie's left leg soon after he arrived at the hospital, and a few days later the leg was amputated above the knee. Smokie died on January 26. In the doctor's opinion the gunshot wounds were the cause of his death.

Pattie Baggett, the mother of the appellant, testified as the first witness for the appellant. Pattie stated that she was in her kitchen cooking supper when the difficulty arose between M. C. and Smokie. M. C. was cutting wood near his house when Smokie came up and offered him some whiskey. Pattie said to him, 'Smokie, don't give him none of that whiskey, because I don't want him to have none.' Smokie said, 'This is my g_____ d_____ whiskey. * * * Aint nobody got anything to do with what I do with it.' M. C. then said, 'Don't talk to my mother like that.' Other words were spoken, and Smokie advanced on M. C. with an open knife. M. C. ran, and Smokie pursued him. Finally M. C. ran into his own house. Smokie stopped at M. C.'s door, then turned and crossed over to Irene Dunniger's house. Irene reached for a gun there in her house. Smokie grabbed for that gun. Irene ran out of the house, with Smokie in close pursuit. M. C. called to Smokie, 'Smokie, don't go after that gun no more. * * * If you do, I'm going to shoot you.' About that time Smokie reached for the gun that Irene held, and when he did that, M. C. shot him. Pattie stated that at the time the shots were fired Irene and Smokie were standing between the corner of Irene's house and the edge of the road, and that was where Smokie fell.

Marcus Baggett testified that he was at Irene's house when the difficulty started, and that he did not know how it started. He said that he saw Smokie running into Irene's house, and some one said, 'Don't let Smokie get my gun.' When Smokie came into the house he pushed Irene and grabbed for the gun that Irene had in her hand. Irene ran out the back door, and Smokie ran out behind her. Marcus stated that he heard M. C. say, 'Smokie, don't get that gun. If you get that gun, I'm going to shoot you.' Smokie then made an effort to get the gun and M. C. shot.

The appellant, M. C. Baggett, testified that he was cutting wood when Smokie came over and offered him a drink of whiskey. He told Smokie he did nto want a drink of whiskey. M. C.'s mother then said to Smokie, 'Smokie, don't give M. C. none of that whiskey.' Smokie said, 'G_____ d_____ you. I'll give my whiskey to who I want to.' M. C. then said, 'Boy, mind your mouth. I wouldn't talk to your mother like that.' Smokie uttered other abusive language; and when M. C. raised up from his wood chopping, Smokie ran his hand in his pocket and pulled out a knife. M. C. ran and Smokie ran after him. M. C. ran into his own house and got his gun. Smokie crossed over to Irene's house and tried to get a gun from Irene. Irene ran out of the house with the gun in her hand, and Smokie followed her trying to get the gun. M. C. called to Smokie and said, 'Smokie, you done enough to me--you done enough, and you go and get a gun to hurt me, I am going to shoot you.' M. C. said that about that time Smokie made for him, and 'when he did, I shot him. I didn't mean to kill him, I just tried to stop him from killing me.' M. C. stated that the shot he used were buckshot. He said that Smokie was a bad man and had already killed a man and had served a five-year sentence in the penitentiary for that. M. C. said that Irene was standing in the front door of her house and had the gun in her hand that Smokie was trying to get from her when he shot Smokie. He admitted that he was standing back of his house 57 steps from Smokie when he shot. T. W. Cornet, the sawmill superintendent, testified that M. C. had worked for him about eight years and had never given him any trouble; and that Smokie had worked for him from time to time during the last five or six years. He stated that Smokie was hard to get along with in some ways; that he knew that Smokie was selling whiskey, and that he had tried to stop him, but had not succeeded in doing so.

The State called Tommy Lee Dunniger as a witness in rebuttal. Tommy Lee testified that he was at his woodpile when the trouble started, and that Irene was in the house. He said that the first thing he saw was M. C. and Smokie running around Marcus Baggett's house. Smokie then ran across the road into Irene's house. He did not know why Smokie was running. Tommy Lee stated that he went over to M. C.'s house and tried to talk to M. C., tried to get him not to shoot Smokie. He stated that Smokie did not have a gun when he came out of Irene's house, and that Smokie was running at the time M. C. shot him. Tommy Lee said that Marcus Baggett was at his own home at the time of the shooting, and not at Irene's house, and that he did not see Irene at all at the time of the shooting. Tommy Lee stated that just before M. C. shot Smokie, he caught hold of him and tried to keep him from shooting, and that M. C.'s brother-in-law tried to hold him also.

Willie Mae Conley was recalled as a witness in rebuttal and testified that Irene was at her house when the shooting occurred, but did not receive a summons to court, and that the appellant did not summons Tommy Lee as a witness. She said that John...