Belcher v. Commonwealth

• Decision Date: 16 March 1933
• Citation: 168 S.E. 468
• Parties: BELCHER . v. COMMONWEALTH
• Court: Virginia Supreme Court

168 S.E. 468

BELCHER .

v.COMMONWEALTH

Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia.

March 16, 1933.

.

Error to Circuit Court, Franklin County. William Belcher was convicted of murder, and he brings error.

Reversed.

Argued before CAMPBELL, C. J., and HOLT, EPES, HUDGINS, GREGORY, BROWNING, and CHINN, JJ.

Paul Johnson, of Roanoke, and B. A. Davis and B. A. Davis, Jr., both of Rocky Mount, for plaintiff in error.

John R. Saunders, Atty. Gen., for the Commonwealth.

EPES, Justice.

This is a writ of error to a judgment of the circuit court of Franklin county sentencing William Belcher to serve five years in the penitentiary for the murder of James Leslie Patterson.

The fundamental question raised upon this writ of error is, Did the court err in admitting an alleged confession of the accused to be introduced in evidence? The relevant facts are these:

For some months prior to December 26, 1931, James Leslie Patterson, an old man, had lived alone in a log cabin which was situated in a lonely place at the foot of Turkeycock Mountain, in Franklin county, Va. In this general locality a number of illicit stills had been destroyed by the officers, and on December 22, 1931, they had raided a still located near Patterson's cabin and arrested Noell Barbour, a white man, and Henry Beck er, a negro, as the operators of it.

The road leading to Patterson's cabin turns off from the "big road" at or near the home of a negro named Jesse Pinkard, runs by the home of Charlie Haynes, and then to or by Patterson's cabin.

James Leslie Patterson was last seen alive about 11 a. m., December 25, 1931. On the afternoon of the 26th his dead body was found lying across the bed in his cabin with wounds in its left side made by several hundred number six shot. The character of the wounds showed that he had been shot several times. Wads from shells for a 12-gauge shotgun were found in the yard of the cabin, and a pistol bullet had pierced the front door of the cabin, passed about a foot above his bed, and lodged in the wall. But no clue was found about the premises which pointed to the person or persons who had fired these shots.

In their search for the perpetrators of this crime, the officers proceeded upon the theory that he had been killed by persons who suspected him of having reported their still; and, after an investigation lasting approximately thirty days, they arrested four white men, Noell Barbour, William Belcher, Buster Patterson, and Leonard Mason, upon the charge of having murdered him.

William Belcher had been raised in this community, but had gone to Roanoke about seven years before this occurrence, and was at that time employed by the Norfolk & Western Railway Company. His father still lived in this neighborhood, and on December 25, Belcher had driven over from Roanoke in his automobile to his father's home to spend the Christmas holidays and go hunting. About 1J. o'clock that night he was seen with Noell Barbour at Jesse Pinkard's house, where a negro dance was going on. Buster Patterson and several other white people and the negroes, Henry and Lewis Becker, were also there. A little later William Belcher and Noell Barbour were seen driving off in Belcher's blue Chrysler touring car, going in a direction opposite to that of Patterson's cabin. About 1 a. m. a touring car was seento turn into the road leading from Jesse Pinkard's house to Patterson's cabin, and to pass the house of Charlie Haynes; but no witness was able to identify this car or tell who was in it. About 2 a. m. Charlie Haynes, and another person who was at his house, saw the lights of an automobile which was coming along this road from the direction of Patterson's cabin and going toward Jess Pinkard's house.

Horace Patterson, a son of the deceased, lived about five miles from his father's cabin. He testified that on December 26 William Belcher came by his home and told him that "he come by to let us know that Noell Barbour, Buster Patterson and some hunters had said they had gone by there and found my father dead over there"; but Belcher did not tell him anything about the cause of his father's death.

So far as the record discloses, these were about all the facts which were known to the officers and the commonwealth's attorney when the four men above named were arrested. Though they seem to have suspected that the negroes, Henry and Lewis Becker, were also implicated, they evidently had no evidence which they deemed sufficient to warrant their arrest.

William Belcher was arrested and lodged in jail in Rocky Mount on January 25 or 2G. On the same day his brother, Irving S. Belcher, who is a policeman of Roanoke, learned of his arrest and came to Rocky Mount, where ho had a conference with Mr. Carter Lee, the commonwealth's attorney of Franklin county. After this conference he went to see his brother in the jail, and soon thereafter called Mr. Lee into William's cell. There, in the presence of Irving Belcher, William made a statement to Mr. Lee regarding his knowledge of and connection with the killing of James Leslie Patterson. After he had made this statement he was released on $15,000 bail; Buster Patterson and Leonard Mason were released from custody; and Henry and Lewis Becker were charged with the murder of Patterson and committed to jail. In this connection it may be noted that Mr. Lee admitted that he knew at the time that the sureties on Belcher's bail bond were not worth the penalty of the bond.

A few days later Mr. Lee came to Roanoke where he saw Irving Belcher and got him to get his brother William to meet him at the office of a Mr. Johnston, the finger print expert of the city police department. There, in the presence of Mr. L. R. Morris, a lieutenant of the city police force, and Irving Belcher, William Belcher again made his statement to Mr. Lee, who made written memoranda of what he told him. Morris made no memoranda of what was said, and testified from his memory, which he stated was incomplete and not clear on a number of points. According to his testimony, William Belcher made the following statement to Mr. Lee:

He (William Belcher) came from Roanoke to Franklin county on Christmas afternoon and brought with him his gun to go hunting. At Rocky Mount he met up with Noell Barbour, who asked him if he would "carry him down the road somewhere" that night, and he told him he probably would. He saw Barbour that night at a dance and Barbour asked him "was he going to carry him on this trip, " and he told him he would. He and Barbour got in his (Belcher's) car and drove off, and soon thereafter they stopped and picked up Henry Becker and Lewis Becker, each of whom had a shotgun with him. He (Belcher) still had his gun in his car. He asked Barbour where he was going, and Barbour told him that he was going to James Patterson's house to shoot around in the woods away from the house to scare the old man out of the neighborhood. They drove to Patterson's and got behind a corn crib, and about that time he (Belcher) "heard a shot fired, and he hollered don't shoot that man." When this happened he ran to his car, and, after he got in the car, he heard two more shots fired back there in the dark. He then told the others that they had better come on and get out of the way, that the dogs were barking, and somebody would be down there. They then left and went towards Rocky Mount.

Morris further testified that Belcher said something about his having given the negroes one or two shells, but that he still had all the shells he carried down there; that he did not shoot; and that after the shooting was over he broke his gun and showed the others that he had not shot; and-that something was said by Belcher about a still, but that his (Morris') recollection was not clear as to just what he said about the still.

On February 1, 1932, Noell Barbour, Henry and Lewis Becker were indicted for the murder of James Leslie Patterson; but the record does not show whether they were jointly or severally indicted. On the same day William Belcher was severally indicted for the same offense. On February 13, Noell Barbour was tried, and William Belcher, who was introduced as a witness for the commonwealth, testified against him. The jury found him guilty of murder, and fixed his punishment at twenty years in the penitentiary, and he was sentenced accordingly. Henry and Lewis Becker both pleaded guilty, and were sentenced by the court to serve terms of twenty years in the penitentiary.

On February 18, William Belcher was placed upon trial. He pleaded not guilty. In the course of his trial the commonwealth offered to prove by L. R. Morris the statements which had been made in his presence to the commonwealth's attorney by William Belcher.

The accused objected to the introduction of this testimony, on the ground that he had been induced to make these statements by a promise made to him by the commonwealth's attorney that, if he would tell what he knew about the killing of the deceased and testify against the others implicated, he would not be prosecuted. The commonwealth denied that this was true. The evidence relating to the admissibility of the confession, which was heard by the court out of the presence of the jury, was, in effect, as follows:

The commonwealth introduced Mrs. Cribb, the stenographer who had reported the evidence given by William Belcher on the trial of Noell Barbour, and asked her this question: "State whether or not the question was asked by me of William Belcher at that trial (Noell Barbour's) as follows: 'Has any promise of immunity, or hope of light punishment been made to you by anyone if you would testify in this case?'" After.reference to her notes, she replied that this question had been asked, and that William Belcher's answer was, "No, sir."

The commonwealth then introduced Mr. L. R. Morris, by whom the commonwealth proposed to prove William Belcher's confession. He testified as follows:

Direct Examination.

"Q. Prior to the time he made that statement (the alleged...