Banks v. Dawkins

Decision Date23 November 1976
Docket NumberNo. 48950,48950
Citation339 So.2d 566
PartiesMack Elmore BANKS v. Merdith Preston DAWKINS, Jr.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Stone & Graham, Columbus, Andrew K. Naugle, III, West Point, Rufus Ward, Jr., J. Tyson Graham, Columbus, for appellant.

Joe O. Sams, Jr., Columbus, Irvin Conrad Mord, II, Macon, for appellee.

Before INZER, P.J., and SMITH and BROOM, JJ.

SMITH, Justice, for the Court:

This was an action begun by Mack Elmore Banks against Merdith Preston Dawkins, Jr., in the Circuit Court of Lowndes County and subsequently transferred to the Circuit Court of Noxubee County. Banks sought damages for personal injuries inflicted upon him by Dawkins by shooting him in the head and face with a shotgun. The appeal is from a verdict and judgment for Dawkins.

Banks was the proprietor of a so-called 'supper club' at Crawford. On the night of Banks' injury, he had forced Dawkins to leave the club earlier that same evening because of alleged misconduct on the part of the latter. In the course of ejecting Dawkins there had been a fight and Dawkins claims to have been struck in the head by Banks with 'brass knucks'.

Dawkins' defense is that he was completely 'blacked out' and remembered nothing whatever after he was forced out of the club by Banks. He testified that he did remember the fight and having been compelled to leave the club by Banks. Dawkins' wife testified that Dawkins had driven home in his pickup truck where he was seen by his wife to have blood on his head and face and was, as she said, 'raving'. It is contended that Dawkins then drove himself back to the club in his pickup, carrying a shotgun. When he arrived at the club Banks and several others were inside and Banks was attending to his own business.

Whatever effect Dawkins' condition may have had upon his recollection of events, apparently it had little or none upon his ability to drive his truck home, drive it back to the club, go to a window through which he thrust the gun and, from among the several persons who were in the club, single out his adversary Banks and shoot him in the face. As the result, Banks sustained the loss of an eye and other injuries.

It appears that the next day Dawkins consulted a doctor, his purpose in doing so and the treatment he received, if any, is not clear, although it does appear that in the fight he had sustained some cuts or abrasions about the face. There is no evidence of skull or brain damage, other than Dawkins' own claim not to remember the...

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7 cases
  • Colman v. Notre Dame Convalescent Home, Inc., Civil Action No. 3:96 CV 0486(GLG).
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
    • July 7, 1997
    ...298, 301 (1979) (affirming trial court's instruction that defendant's mental state was not a defense to negligence); Banks v. Dawkins, 339 So.2d 566, 568 (Miss.1976); Kuhn v. Zabotsky, 9 Ohio St.2d 129, 224 N.E.2d 137, 141 (1967); Johnson v. Lambotte, 147 Colo. 203, 363 P.2d 165, 166 (1961)......
  • Robertson v. Murray (In re Murray)
    • United States
    • U.S. Bankruptcy Court — Southern District of Mississippi
    • January 18, 2023
    ...as to be insane, nevertheless he is required to respond in compensatory damages for injuries resulting from his torts." Banks v. Dawkins, 339 So.2d 566, 568 (Miss. 1976) (action to recover for personal injuries resulting when defendant shot plaintiff in the head and face with a shotgun afte......
  • Delahanty v. Hinckley, Civ. A. No. 82-409
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Columbia
    • August 14, 1992
    ...v. Marrero, 324 So.2d 717 (Fla.App.1976); Vosnos v. Perry, 43 Ill.App.3d 834, 2 Ill. Dec. 447, 357 N.E.2d 614 (1976) Banks v. Dawkins, 339 So.2d 566 (Miss.1976) Albicocco v. Nicoletto, 11 A.D.2d 690, 204 N.Y.S.2d 566 (1960) aff'd, 9 N.Y.2d 920, 217 N.Y.S.2d 91, 176 N.E.2d 100 (1961). Moreov......
  • Sartain v. White
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • October 9, 1991
    ...void, once again because of her mental condition. Even if insane, Mrs. Sartain could be liable for compensatory damages. Banks v. Dawkins, 339 So.2d 566, 568 (Miss.1978). Sartain's argument must fail when faced with the trial court's finding on her mental state. The judgment is not void und......
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