Bennett v. State, 54837
| Decision Date | 16 May 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 54837,54837 |
| Citation | 451 So.2d 727 |
| Parties | James E. BENNETT, Jr. v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Duncan Lott, Langston, Lott & Langston, Booneville, for appellant.
Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Charles W. Maris, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Before WALKER, P.J., and DAN M. LEE and SULLIVAN, JJ.
This is an appeal from the Circuit Court of Tishomingo County wherein the appellant, James E. Bennett, Jr., was indicted in a two count indictment which charged him with aggravated assault and armed robbery. Bennett was tried on these charges in a single trial and was found guilty on both counts. He was sentenced to serve (7) years on the charge of aggravated assault and fourteen (14) with seven (7) suspended, on the charge of armed robbery. On this appeal, Bennett argues that his defense was impermissibly prejudiced because he was tried on the charges of armed robbery and aggravated assault at the same time. We agree and therefore reverse the conviction of aggravated assault.
This case is controlled by our recent decisions in Friday v. State, --- So.2d ----, No. 54,039, decided January 25, 1984 (not yet reported) and shortly before, Stinson v. State, 443 So.2d 869 (Miss.1983). In Stinson v. State, Stinson was tried for three separate counts of an indictment, aggravated assault upon a law enforcement officer, kidnapping and attempted escape from the Department of Corrections by violence. In addressing this triple count indictment we examined the history of Mississippi criminal jurisprudence as it relates to multi-count indictments and the consolidation of offenses for trial. To sum up our holding, we quoted Fondren, Mississippi Criminal Trial Practice Sec. 26-11 (1980), which reads:
Unlike the practice of the federal courts and many state courts, Mississippi law does not provide for multiple counts or charges in one indictment.
Our holding in Stinson was intended to make it plain that under our state's criminal jurisprudence a multi-count indictment is inherently defective.
Shortly after Stinson was decided, we handed down the Friday decision. In Friday the appellant was indicted under a four count indictment but tried for only two of the counts, kidnapping and rape, at once. We held:
Because of the inherent prospect of destroying a defendant's right to the presumption of innocence, Mississippi does not allow trial on separate charges to be consolidated where evidence of the crime would not be mutually admissible in separate trials and where the defendant is subject to receiving more than one sentence.
Based on our holdings in Stinson and Friday it is clear that the indictment which charged Bennett with aggravated assault and armed...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Burney v. State
...State, 483 So.2d 358 (Miss.1986); Thomas v. State, 474 So.2d 604 (Miss.1985); Johnson v. State, 452 So.2d 850 (Miss.1984); Bennett v. State, 451 So.2d 727 (Miss.1984); Friday v. State, 462 So.2d 336 (Miss. 1985). Mr. Burney was not indicted by multi-count indictment, but, rather, with two s......
-
McCarty v. State, 07-KA-58683
...So.2d 358 (Miss.1986); Thomas v. State, 474 So.2d 604 (Miss.1985); (Ezell) Johnson v. State, 452 So.2d 850 (Miss.1984); Bennett v. State, 451 So.2d 727 (Miss.1984); Friday v. State, 462 So.2d 336 (Miss.1985); Stinson v. State, 443 So.2d 869 (Miss.1983). This Court had veered away from appro......
-
Brown v. State, 58009
...this type of indictment. Appellant filed a demurrer to the indictment, citing Stinson v. State, 443 So.2d 869 (Miss.1983); Bennett v. State, 451 So.2d 727 (Miss.1984); Johnson v. State, 452 So.2d (Miss.1984); Friday v. State, 462 So.2d 336 (Miss.1985); Thomas v. State, 474 So.2d 604 (Miss.1......
-
Corley v. State, 07-KA-59449
...this type of indictment. Appellant filed a demurrer to the indictment, citing Stinson v. State, 443 So.2d 869 (Miss.1983); Bennett v. State, 451 So.2d 727 (Miss.1984); Johnson v. State, 452 So.2d 850 (Miss.1984); Friday v. State, 462 So.2d 336 (Miss.1985); Thomas v. State, 474 So.2d 604 (Mi......