Cuevas v. State, 49213
| Decision Date | 09 November 1976 |
| Docket Number | No. 49213,49213 |
| Citation | 338 So.2d 1236 |
| Parties | Julian CUEVAS v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Dannye L. Hunter, Forest, for appellant.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Wayne Snuggs, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Before PATTERSON, SUGG and WALKER, JJ.
Julian Cuevas was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to thirty years in the state penitentiary. He appeals from this conviction and sentence by the Circuit Court of Scott County. The present issue is whether asportation was sufficiently proved to sustain the charge of kidnapping.
On the morning of April 17, 1975, Cuevas, a prisoner in the Scott County Jail, confronted Joe Townsend, the jailer, with a pistol and directed that he be accompanied downstairs to the sheriff's office. On reaching the office Townsend escaped, leaving Cuevas in the presence of several people, one of whom was Donald Gladney, a highway patrolman. Cuevas forced Gladney to accompany him to an automobile in a nearby lot where Gladney also escaped.
Cuevas then crossed the street to a building occupied by an automobile agency. He there encountered Hardin and McKee, employees of the agency, engaged in conversation at the service entrance to the building. He accosted them with the pistol demanding transportation, but before this could be accomplished, Jimmy Derrick arrived on the scene and McKee escaped. Hardin was then directed, at gunpoint, to the 'parts department' of the building where he and another employee were held as Cuevas' prisoners for nearly two hours. During this time they were visible through a plate glass window.
Once inside, Cuevas spoke to someone on the telephone, apparently his wife, and during this conversation advised his victims: No other threats were directed to the hostages although both later expressed continuing fear for their lives during the ordeal.
The sheriff responded to the situation and in conjunction with a minister finally succeeded in effectuating Cuevas' surrender by assurances of safe conduct to the county jail. The appellant was convicted for kidnapping Hardin, precipitating this appeal.
The record reveals that Hardin was directed at gunpoint to move from the entrance of the service department to the 'parts department' of the building. The distance is uncertain, but was confined to the premises occupied by the automobile agency.
In support of his contention that an essential of kidnapping had not been proved because Hardin was not removed from the premises, the case of Aikerson v. State, 274 So.2d 124 (Miss.1974), is cited. In Aikerson the appellant was charged with kidnapping by an indictment designating the unlawful acts, '. . . did . . . forcibly seize and confine one Mary Angelo, a human being, without the consent and against the will of the said . . .' We noted particularly that a clause of the kidnapping statute, 'with intent to cause such person to be secretly confined or imprisoned against his or her will,' was omitted from the indictment. We observe no such omission in this indictment. Aikerson dealt largely with the construction of our kidnapping statute necessitated by the omission of a 'comma' in the enactment leaving the legislative intention somewhat ambiguous. We held the 'comma' could be inserted by the Court in order to make the legislative intention clear, stating:
We are constrained, therefore, to hold that a comma should have been placed in Section 2238, Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated (1956) after 'or shall inveigle or kidnap any other person (,)' so that the following clause 'with intent to cause such person to be secretly confined or imprisoned against his or her will,' is a part of the entire sentence and refers to 'forcibly seize and confine' as well as to the clause 'or shall inveigle or kidnap any other person.' Moreover, it is clear that in order for one...
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