Buckley v. State

• Citation: 223 So.2d 524
• Decision Date: 02 June 1969
• Docket Number: No. 45219,45219
• Parties: Travis BUCKLEY v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi

Page 524

223 So.2d 524

Travis BUCKLEY v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 45219.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 2, 1969.

L. Percy Quinn, A. S. Scott, Jr., Laurel, for appellant.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

INZER, Justice:

Appellant Travis Buckley, an attorney, was indicted, tried and convicted of the crime of kidnapping in the Circuit Court of Jackson County. He was sentenced to serve a term of ten years in the state penitentiary and was disbarred from the practice of law in conformance with Section 8667, Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (1956). From this sentence he appeals. We reverse and remand.

Appellant and one Billy Roy Pitts were jointly indicted at the April 1967 term of the court. The indictment, omitting the formal parts, is in the following language:

That Travis Buckley and Billy Roy Pitts late of the County aforesaid, on the 4th day of March in the year of our Lord 1967, in the County aforesaid, did unlawfully, wilfully, feloniously and forcibly, and without authority of law, inveigle and kidnap one Jack Watkins, a human being, against his will, with the unlawful and felonious intent to cause the said Jack Watkins to be deprived of his liberty against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi.

Appellant was granted a severance and was tried at the April 1967 term of the Court. This trial resulted in a mistrial because the jury failed to agree. Pitts, the co-indictee, testified at this first trial on behalf of appellant. Prior to the January 1968 term of the court, Pitts plead guilty to the indictment and was sentenced to serve a term of five years in the state penitentiary. In the trial of this case he changed his testimony and testified on behalf of the state.

The principal witnesses for the state were Jack Watkins and Billy Roy Pitts. The substance of their testimony was that at about 9 P.M. on March 4, 1967, appellant and Pitts drove in Buckley's car to the home of Watkins in Pascagoula, where Buckley introduced himself as county prosecuting attorney of Jasper County. After introducing Pitts, Buckley told Watkins that he wanted him to do a job for him. Watkins went with him and they got into the car with Buckley and Pitts sitting on the front seat and Watkins on the back seat. After a short conversation, the subject of whisky was brought up and Watkins said he would like to have a drink. Buckley drove west on Highway 90 to Biloxi and stopped at the first package store. He got out and went into the store and came back with a fifth of 'Wild Turkey' and a fifth of 'Southern Comfort.' They then drove on to a filling station where they purchased gasoline and chasers. Buckley then made a left turn, drove across the median strip, and turned east on Highway 90 and drove back toward Pascagoula. He drove off the highway and parked in a beach parking area. At this time a Ford Falcon with three men in it parked behind them. Buckley got out of the car and went back and talked with these men. Pitts and Watkins began drinking; Watkins was drinking the 'Southern Comfort' and Pitts the 'Wild Turkey.' Apparently, Buckley did not do any drinking on this occasion. When Buckley came back, he told Watkins that he had information that Watkins and another person had kidnapped Lawrence Byrd and forced him to give a statement which was being used as a basis for the prosecution of some men that Buckley was defending. Watkins denied knowing anything about such an incident and asked Buckley to take him home. Instead of taking Watkins home, Buckley drove east on the highway and then turned north off the highway onto a remote dead-end road where he stopped. After he stopped the Ford Falcon pulled in behind his car and stopped. Buckley pointed a hunting knife at Watkins and told him if he did not give him the statement that he wanted he would turn him over to the three men in the car behind them. Watkins again refused to give the statement and two of the men, wearing hoods, got out of the Ford and came alongside Buckley's car. Pitts identified these men as Deavours Nix and Cecil Sessums. He identified the third man, who remained in the car, as Sam Bowers. Pitts said that they had all gotten together in Laurel and he told him that they were coming to Pascagoula to see a man. One of the hooded men jerked Watkins out of the car and threw him on the ground, pulled one of his arms behind his back, and the other man took a pistol, which they told Watkins had been unloaded except for one bullet in the cylinder, put it to Watkins' head, and told Watkins to give Buckley the statement that he wanted. Watkins refused and the man snapped the pistol several times. After other threats and Watkins' refusal to talk, the two men went into the woods, telling Watkins that they were going to dig his grave. Pitts then took Watkins off some distance and beat him. After a lapse of time, Buckley got the men to release Watkins, and they got back into the car and Buckley drove to Watkins' home. It was then about 2 A.M. Watkins did not tell anyone about the incident until several hours later. He first called Speed Henderson, one of the men that Buckley told Watkins had given him the information relative to the statement of Byrd. He then called Mr. Fagerty, a lawyer and a friend, for advice as to what to do. Later that day, an agent of the FBI came to Watkins' home and took his statement about the incident of the night before, and this prosecution resulted.

Buckley testified in his own behalf and stated that he had information he considered reliable that Watkins and another person had kidnapped Lawrence Byrd and forced him to give a false statement which was being used to prosecute some men he was defending. He said that he got Pitts to go to Pascagoula with him to talk to Watkins, and all he wanted Watkins to do was tell the truth so he could properly defend his clients. He said that he and Pitts went to the home of Watkins and there told Watkins that he had a job he wanted him to do; that they all got in his car, and after a short conversation, Watkins asked if he had a drink, and he told him he did not but he would get him one; that they then drove to Biloxi where he purchased the two fifths of liquor, and after purchasing gasoline and chasers, drove back to Pascagoula to the beach parking area. He denied that any other car followed them or that he got one of the car. He said he then told Watkins that he knew a man that had broken into a store in Stringer, and he wanted Watkins to get a confession out of him like he had gotten one from Byrd. Watkins told him that he had the law on his side when he did that, and they had something to offer by not prosecuting him for a burglary. Watkins told Buckley that he would do anything that he wanted him to do except to testify about Byrd, because if he did they would send him back to the penitentiary. Buckley said during this time, Watkins was drinking heavily and that they left the parking area, and after driving some distance, he drove off the highway so Watkins could take another drink. They parked on a road, and after some further conversation, Pitts and Watkins got out of the car. They got into an argument and Watkins swung at Pitts with a small knife. Pitts avoided the knife and hit Watkins several times, blooding his nose. Buckley stopped Pitts from hitting Watkins, and after Watkins had stumbled and fell over a wire, he got them back into the car. He then drove Watkins home and let him out of the car. Watkins was drunk, having consumed almost all of the 'Southern Comfort.'

Buckley denied that the Ford Falcon followed them, or that any other persons were present at any time during the night. He said that Watkins went with them willingly and never at any time asked to be taken home, nor was he in any way restrained.

Appellant assigns as error several grounds for reversal of this case, but we will only discuss those we deem necessary for the disposition of this appeal. It is urged that the indictment on which appellant was tried was void and that the evidence on behalf of the state was not sufficient to constitute the crime of kidnapping. It is contended that the indictment is fatally defective because it fails to state that Watkins was forceably seized and confined, or that he was secretly confined or imprisoned in the state. The indictment is based upon Section 2237, Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (1956) and reads as follows:

Every person who shall, without lawful authority, forcibly seize and confine any other, or shall inveigle or kidnap any other with intent to cause such person to be secretly confined or imprisoned in the state against his will, or to cause such other person to be sent out of this state against his will, or to cause such other person to be deprived of his liberty, or in any way held to service against his will, shall upon conviction, be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding ten years; and upon the trial of any such offense the consent of the person so kidnapped or confined shall not be a defense, unless it appear that such consent was not extorted by threats or duress.

As we construe the statute, the indictment in this case comes within its terms. The statute not only makes it a crime to forceably seize and confine another, but it also makes it a crime to inveigle another and then kidnap such other person with the intent to cause such other person to be deprived of his liberty. This is what the indictment in this case charges. It was also argued orally that the indictment is void because it charges that the appellant forcefully inveigled and that it is not possible to inveigle someone by force. It is apparent from the face of the indictment that what is intended to be charged is that the appellant inveigled Watkins and then forcefully kidnapped him. Appellant did not demur to the indictment, and this defect, if it is a defect, appears on the face of the indictment and the...