Cofer v. Henderson
| Decision Date | 15 December 1930 |
| Docket Number | 29243 |
| Citation | 160 Miss. 53,131 So. 421 |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
| Parties | COFER v. HENDERSON, SHERIFF |
BAIL. Habeas corpus. In habeas corpus proceedings trial judge is trier of facts and passes on weight of testimony; judgment of trial court must be affirmed in habeas corpus cases if evidence is sufficient to sustain it; trial judge held justified in denying bail in murder case, on ground circumstances and incriminating statements would be sufficient to sustain conviction.
In habeas corpus proceeding the trial judge is the trier of the facts and passes upon the weight and worth of the testimony and if the evidence is sufficient to sustain his judgment the Supreme Court must affirm the case. The evidence considered in this case sufficient to justify the judge in denying bail.
APPEAL from circuit court of Quitman county, HON W. A. ALCORN, Judge.
Habeas corpus proceedings by Ellerson Cofer, opposed by Clint Henderson, Sheriff, to procure bail. From a judgment denying bail, petitioner appeals. Affirmed.
Affirmed.
Stone & Stone, of Coffeeville, Gore & Gore, and A. A. Pogue, all of Marks, and Creekmore & Creekmore, of Jackson, for appellant.
Leaving out all consideration of the fact that this man has been in jail nearly three years, has averaged more than one trial a year, on the cold, hard facts of the testimony when properly considered this is not a case that calls for the denial of bond.
Here is a case of murder admittedly based mainly on statements attributed to Ellerson Cofer by the witness or witnesses. The alleged incriminating statements are based almost entirely on the testimony of one witness, Johnnie Kehoe.
Johnnie Kehoe, the basis of this prosecution, is impeached by about ten or twelve witnesses from all walks of life in Yalobusha county, officers, neighbors, business men, each one of whom testifies positively that Kehoe's general reputation in the community where he lives is bad concerning the truth and veracity.
Even if a court had discretion in this matter, the refusal to grant bail in this case would be such abuse of discretion as to call for a reversal.
The decision of a circuit judge is subject to reversal by the court even where the circuit judge has heard the witnesses and has observed their demeanor on the stand.
Parker v. Tullos, 150 Miss. 680.
W. A. Shipman, Assistant Attorney-General, for the state.
The evidence shows that the court below in the exercise of a sound discretion vested in it by law committed no error in refusing the appellant's application for bail on the habeas corpus hearing.
The finding of the court below is equivalent to the verdict of a jury and is to be so considered by the appellate court, and the same principles of law applied in such case as are applicable to findings of fact by chancellors and judges generally as triers of the facts.
Street v. State, 43 Miss. 1; Ex Parte Pattison v. State, 56 Miss....
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Motley v. Smith
...... evidence is sufficient to sustain his judgment, the Supreme. Court must affirm the case. . . Cofer. v. Henderson, Sheriff, 160 Miss. 53, 131 So. 421; Lee v. Hudson, Sheriff, 165 Miss. 756, 144 So. 240. . . It has. been held that in a ......
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Motley v. Smith
...testimony, and if the evidence is sufficient to sustain his judgment, the Supreme Court must affirm the case. Cofer v. Henderson, Sheriff, 160 Miss. 53, 131 So. 421; Lee v. Hudson, Sheriff. 165 Miss. 756, 144 So. 240. It has been held that, in a prosecution for murder it is not indispensabl......
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Hoye v. State
...... evidence will not be disturbed, unless his finding is. manifestly and clearly contrary to the weight of the. evidence. . . Cofer. v. Sheriff, 131 So. 421, 160 Miss. 53; Parker v. Tullos, 150 Miss. 680, 116 So. 531; Stokes v. Terrell, 154 Miss. 230, 122 So. 470; Lee v. ......
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