Franklin v. State, 54915

• Decision Date: 18 July 1984
• Docket Number: No. 54915,54915
• Citation: 460 So.2d 104
• Parties: Ronnie FRANKLIN v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 104

460 So.2d 104

Ronnie FRANKLIN v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 54915.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

July 18, 1984.

Rehearing denied Dec. 12, 1984.

Lawrence D. Arrington, Hattiesburg, for appellant.

Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Catherine Walker Underwood, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PATTERSON, C.J., and HAWKINS and PRATHER, JJ.

PRATHER, Justice, for the Court:

The defendant, Ronnie Franklin, was tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of Pearl River County, Judge R.I. Prichard, III presiding, of burglary of a dwelling. He appeals his conviction and sentence of ten years, arguing that:

(1) The court erred in admitting an oral statement made by the defendant at the time of his arrest that was not revealed after a purported verbal request for discovery; and

(2) The court erred in granting state's instruction on aiding and abetting the commission of the burglary.

We affirm.

I.

Margaret Siler and her husband, Ervin Siler, resided in a home located in Pearl River County, near Picayune. Residing with them was their oldest daughter, Ginger, and her son, Joshua. Their oldest son, Kirk Siler, held a job in Louisiana, but lived with his parents on the weekends where some of his personal belongings remained.

On February 5, 1982, at a time when Ervin Siler was out of town and Kirk was working in Louisiana, Margaret and her daughter and grandson left for Bogalusa, Louisiana. Before leaving they closed all windows and doors; however, the doors were not locked. Upon returning home, they discovered one of their dogs outside the house.

Upon Kirk's return home for the weekend, he discovered that his Browning .12 gauge shotgun was missing. Kirk's mother had last seen the gun three days earlier in Kirk's bedroom, and Kirk last saw it on the previous weekend when he showed it to a friend, C.T. Boone.

Detective Gary Hale of the Pearl River County Sheriff's Department was notified of the missing shotgun. Hale's investigation revealed that the defendant and C.T. Boone had taken the shotgun to a gun shop in Picayune where they sold the gun to the shop owner, Willie Ray Penton.

Detective Hale went to the Siler home and obtained a detailed description of the gun from Kirk. Kirk then accompanied Hale to the gun shop, but prior to being shown the gun, Kirk described in detail its case and the gun itself. Upon viewing, Kirk positively identified the case and the Belgium made Browning .12 gauge gun with identifying marks as his.

Penton told the authorities that on February 5, 1979, between 3:00 and 4:00 p. m., the defendant Ronnie Franklin and C.T. Boone, came into his shop with the Browning shotgun. Franklin claimed ownership of the gun, saying that his grandfather had given it to him. He sold it to Penton for $210.

With this information, Hale obtained an arrest warrant for Franklin, and on February 7th went to Franklin's home where he arrested Franklin and advised him of his Miranda rights.

After reading the Miranda rights from a card, but before he was able to ask Franklin if he understood the rights, Franklin voluntarily and without interrogation, advised Hale that he did not take the gun. However, he admitted that he drove the car to the Siler home with C.T. Boone, but that C.T. Boone went in and got the gun. Franklin then stated he and Boone sold the gun.

II.

The first issue raised by the defendant is whether his oral statement made to Detective Hale is admissible when not revealed pursuant to a verbal request by discovery made by defense counsel.

Our criminal discovery rule is Rule 4.06 of the Mississippi Uniform Criminal Rules of Circuit Court Practice, which pertinent part states:

The prosecution shall disclose to each defendant or to his attorney, and permit him to inspect, copy, test, and photograph upon request and without further order the following:

(1) Names and addresses of all witnesses in chief proposed to be offered by the prosecution at trial;

(2) Copy of any recorded statement of the defendants to any law enforcement officer;

(3) Copy of the criminal record of the defendant, if proposed to be used to impeach;

(4) Copy of crime lab reports or report or any tests made;

(5) Exhibit any physical evidence and photos to be offered in evidence; and

(6) Copy of any exculpatory material concerning defendant.

The question of whether a written request instead of an oral request for discovery must be made was raised and addressed by this Court in Morris v. State, 436 So.2d 1381 (Miss.1983). In Morris there were no written discovery requests made. The record revealed however, that a request was orally made for the discovery of the typed transcript of the defendant's statement taken during interrogation. We held prospectively that to be enforceable under Rule 4.06, the discovery request must be in writing. Id. at 1388.

Since the case sub judice came to trial before Morris was decided, the written request rule established in Morris, supra- , does not apply retrospectively. We, however, distinguish factually Morris...