Black v. State, No. 49263
| Decision Date | 07 September 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 49263 |
| Citation | 336 So.2d 1302 |
| Parties | James BLACK v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Andrew M. Gambrell, Hattiesburg, for appellant.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by John C. Ellis, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Before GILLESPIE, ROBERTSON and LEE, JJ.
LEE, Justice, for the Court.
James Black was convicted of armed robbery in the Circuit Court of Forrest County and was sentenced to serve a term of twenty (20) years in the state penitentiary. From that conviction and judgment he appeals.
The only error assigned is that the trial court erred in overruling a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict. Appellant requested a peremtory instruction of not guilty and we treat this assignment as a refusal to grant the requested instruction.
On February 6, 1975, at about 9:30 A.M., Darlene Anderson (armed with a shotgun), Gloria Moody and Princess Smith robbed James Fluker, manager of Pineview Apartments in Hattiesburg, of five hundred fifty-six dollars ($556.00). After the robbery, Fluker saw them drive off in a gray and black Buick automobile with tag number 555 CAW; there were more than three persons in the vehicle. Shortly thereafter, appellant and Darlene Anderson were arrested at the Highway Host Motel, and Princess Smith and Gloria Moody were arrested downtown later during the day. Princess Smith testified for the State at the trial of appellant, who introduced no evidence in his own behalf.
Appellant contends that his conviction results from the uncorroborated testimony of the accomplice, Princess Smith; that her testimony should be viewed with great caution and suspicion; that it is not reasonable; and that it is contradicted in several respects.
The trial judge instructed the jury that the law looks upon the testimony of an accomplice with suspicion and distrust, and that the jury should weigh the testimony of Princess Smith with great care and caution and look upon it with distrust and suspicion as if coming from a corrupt and polluted source. He also instructed the jury that, if it could reconcile the evidence upon any reasonable hypothesis consistent with the defendant's innocence, the verdict should be not guilty.
The law is settled in this state that the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice will support a guilty verdict, but the rule requires that such uncorroborated testimony should be viewed with great caution and suspicion, and that it must be reasonable and not improbable or self-contradictory, or substantially impeached. Hutchins v. State, 220 So.2d 276 (Miss.1969); Cole v. State, 217 Miss. 779, 65 So.2d 262 (1953).
The testimony of Princess Smith was not unreasonable, improbable, or contradictory, and it was corroborated in the following respects:
(1) She...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Jones v. State, 50944
...status as an accomplice affected the weight, not the competency of his testimony. Thomas v. State, 340 So.2d 1 (Miss.1976); Black v. State, 336 So.2d 1302 (Miss.1976); Fleming v. State, 319 So.2d 223 (Miss.1975). The jury had before it exhaustive attempts by the defense to impeach these wit......
-
Jones v. State
...(same); Simpson v. State, 366 So.2d 1085, 1086 (Miss.1979) (same); Thomas v. State, 340 So.2d 1, 2 (Miss.1976) (same); Black v. State, 336 So.2d 1302, 1303 (Miss.1976) (same); Hutchins v. State, 220 So.2d 276, 278 (Miss.1969) (same); Cole v. State, 217 Miss. 779, 785, 65 So.2d 262, 264 (195......
-
Jones v. State
...also be reasonable, not improbable, self-contradictory or substantially impeached. Thomas v. State,340 So.2d 1 (Miss.1976); Black v. State, 336 So.2d 1302 (Miss.1976); Hutchins v. State, 220 So.2d 276 (Miss.1969); Cole v. State, 217 Miss. 779, 65 So.2d 262 (1953); Young v. State, 255 So.2d ......
-
Williams v. State
...an accomplice's testimony which is uncorroborated by other evidence must be viewed with great caution and suspicion. Black v. State, 336 So.2d 1302, 1303 (Miss.1976) (citing Hutchins v. State, 220 So.2d 276 (Miss. 1969); Cole v. State, 217 Miss. 779, 65 So.2d 262 (1953)). See also Brown v. ......