Griffin v. State, 47721
| Decision Date | 25 March 1974 |
| Docket Number | No. 47721,47721 |
| Citation | 292 So.2d 159 |
| Parties | James G. GRIFFIN, Jr. v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Michael D. Jonas, Aberdeen, for appellant.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen. by John C. Underwood, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Appellant James G. Griffin, Jr. and his brothers, Johnny Frank Griffin and David Griffin, were jointly indicted in the Circuit Court of Monroe County for the crime of murder in the killing of Sallie Loreen Barker. Appellant was granted a severance and on trial was convicted. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. From this conviction and sentence he appeals. We affirm.
The proof on behalf of the state established that at about 10 p.m. on July 14, 1972, appellant and his brothers forcibly seized Sallie Loreen Barker and forced her into the 1971 black and white Buick automobile. While she was screaming and hollering, they drove away from the scene. On the following morning, the body of Sallie Loreen Barker was discovered in a ditch alongside a county road in the Darracott Community of Monroe County. She was nude, and her clothes were not found at the scene. An autopsy was performed, and the pathologist testified that Sallie Loreen Barker died as a result of a hemorrhage over the brain caused by multiple injuries to the head, scalp, face and the base of the skull and neck. It was his opinion that the injuries were inflicted by a long, wide or round object. The pathologist also testified that he found numerous sperm cells in the victim's vagina indicating sexual intercourse had occurred within 48 hours of her death.
The sheriff's office put out an item on the Griffin brothers, and appellant and his brother Johnny Frank Griffin were arrested in Utah in July 21, 1972. They were subsequently returned to Monroe County to face a charge of murder.
Both appellant and Johnny Frank Griffin testified at the trial. Johnny Frank testified that he and his two brothers had been drinking and riding around Aberdeen all day. At the time they saw Sallie Loreen Barker, he was driving. James remarked that he knew her and directed him to slow down so he could talk with her. James then asked her to come and go with them. She agreed and willingly got into the car. He testified that they then drove to a point near Daniel Baptist Church where his brother David got out of the car. Johnny Frank said that he had been drinking and driving all day and was tried. He told his brother, the appellant, to drive the car. He then got in the back seat, and James and Sallie Loreen got in the front seat. They drove away, and in a short time, he went to sleep. He said that he did not wake up until about sunup the next day, and at that time, he and his brother were in Memphis, Tennessee. They left Memphis and drove to San Francisco, California, and then back to Utah where they were arrested. He said the first time he knew that Sallie Loreen Barker was dead was when he was arrested in Utah, and his brother never told him what had happened.
Appellant testified on his own behalf. He stated that he knew Sallie Loreen Barker and when he saw her, he had Johnny slow down so he could talk with her as she was walking down the street. His version as to what happened is as follows:
And so she said she really had to go around to her sister's house. I said, 'Well, come on go with me.' And she said that-'Okay,' and during this time I had pulled up to Evergreen-Johnny had pulled up to Evergreen, and he stopped, went on across the street and when he got across the street, he stopped and she stopped. And we were doing a whole lot of laughing and hollering and all that stuff.
And so she gets in the car. She said, 'Wow, ya'll must have had a lost to drink.' And I said, 'We have.' And so she got up in front with Johnny and I was in the back, me and David.
So he drives on to-to Daniel Baptist and my brother said, David said, So, he gets out. Johnny said, I said 'Okay,' so, I get up front. He gets in the back.
So we was going on down old 25. And so we gets to the intersection, the turn on this gravel road, and that's where I turn off at. And so I was driving and got on the other side of Tobbs (phonetically), that means you can go back to Darracott or either go straight. So I goes on straight and gets to this intersection that goes toward Artan (phonetically).
I told her, She said, 'Where are you going?' I said, 'I ain't got no destination.' She said, 'Wow, I wish I could leave.' I said, 'Well, I'm fixing to get ready to leave.' I said, 'And I'm going to take you back to where you was going.' She said, I said, 'Well, I'm-I'm-I'm-not going to take you to no truck stop 'cause I'm ready to leave.' She said, 'Well, you made me miss my date around my sister's house. I said, 'Well, I'm-I'm-I'm not going to go to no truck stop.'
And so she said, 'Well, okay.' She reached in her pocketbook and got a long knife out and when she opened it, I stopped the car and jumped out. And so she started around and I pulled the jack handle out and I told her to get back. So, she started coming and that's when I struck her.
James admitted striking Sallie Loreen several times with the jack handle, but he denied having sexual intercourse with her, or that he left her nude. He did not know exactly where he left Sallie Loreen, but he stated that it was somewhere down that 'Darracott road.' He testified that he took the knife with which she had attacked him away from the scene and threw it away in Memphis. He further testified that his brother Johnny Frank was asleep on the back seat of the car when the fight occurred, he remained saleep until they reached Memphis, and he (appellant) never told his brother what happened.
Appellant assigns as error several grounds for reversal of this case. We will only discuss those that, in our opinion, merit discussion.
Appellant first urges that the trial court was in error in overruling his motion for a change of venue. The basis of his motion for a change of venue was that local prejudice was such that he could not get an impartial jury in Monroe County. In support of his motion, appellant introduced two newspaper articles published in local newspapers and two witnesses who testified that the general concensus among the members of the black community in Aberdeen was that the appellant was guilty. The state introduced four witnesses who testified that in their opinion, appellant could get a fair and impartial trial in Monroe County. These witnesses were regularly in contact with the broad spectrum of the populace of the county, and they were not aware of any prejudice against the appellant.
Appellant argues that because of the prejudice and feeling in the black community, he was forced to exclued all blacks from the jury and this amounted to a forced systematice exclusion of blacks from the jury. The record does not reflect the recial compostion of the jury that tried the case, neither does it reflect whether appellant was forced to exhaust his peremptory challenges. In any event the trial court in overruling the motion stated:
The evidence presented by the defendant in this case appears to the Court to be confined to a very small portion of the overall areas from which the jury will be drawn.
Defense counsel argues that he would be denied the right to have blacks on the jury that would try these defendants because he feels he must exclude blacks which prejudged this case or inflamed about it.
However, the only testimony showing that any blacks are anyway inflamed or that they have prejudged these defendants are confined to the two witnesses, Roger Cooperwood and L. C. Cook both of whom reside and work and obtain their information in the City of Aberdeen.
Therefore, it's hard for this Court to believe that counsel will have to exclude blacks from all over the county, and they will be drawn from all over the county. The jury lists are...
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