Hampton v. State

Decision Date23 April 1906
Citation88 Miss. 257,40 So. 545
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
PartiesEZRA HAMPTON v. STATE OF MISSISSIPPI

April 1906

FROM the circuit court of Kemper county, HON. ROBERT F. COCHRAN Judge.

Hampton the appellant, was indicted, tried, and convicted of the murder of one Henry Welch, and sentenced to the penitentiary for life, from which conviction and sentence he appealed to the supreme court.

The facts upon which the case turned in the supreme court are fully stated in the opinion of the court.

Reversed and remanded.

G. J. Rancher, and George H. Ethridge, for appellant.

The language of the district attorney was a most flagrant abuse of right, unsanctioned by law or justice. He not only stated things to be facts which were not in evidence, but impeached the character of witnesses for defendant by his unsworn statements. The law provides the way in which to attack a witness, and when the attorney for the state failed to attack them as prescribed by law, he had no right to inject his unsworn statement as to their character. 1 Thompson on Trials, secs. 971, 972. It was the duty of the court to stop the district attorney at the request of counsel for defendant, and when counsel for defendant protested against the remarks of the attorney for the state and the court did not check him, it was only adding fuel to the flames, and without further comment we cite the following authorities: 1 Thompson on Trials, sec. 958; Ib., sec. 955; Ib., sec. 956; Ib., sec. 282; Ib., sec. 242; Ib., sec. 963 and note on page 747; 44 Wis. 282-282; Coleman v. State (Ala.), 6 So. 290; Cavanah v. State, 56 Miss. 299; Martin v. State, 63 Miss. 503; Lamar v. State, 65 Miss. 90 (s.c., 3 So. 78); State v. Thompson, 30 So. 895; Ragland v. State (Ala.), 27 So. 983; Scott v. State (Ala.), 20 So. 468; Lee v. State, 75 Miss. 625 (s.c., 23 So. 628); Anderson v. State (Ala.), 16 So. 108; Florence, etc., v. Field (Ala.), 16 So. 538; Jenkins v. State (Fla.), 18 So. 182; Dollar v. State (Ala.), 13 So. 575.

R. V. Fletcher, assistant attorney-general, for appellee.

The remarks of the district attorney complained of do not appear by special bill of exceptions, but only in the motion for a new trial. Such being the attitude of the record, this ground of error cannot be considered. Powers v. State, 83 Miss. 681 (s.c., 36 So. 6).

Argued orally by George H. Ethridge, for the appellant, and by R. V. Fletcher, assistant attorney-general, for the appellee.

OPINION

CALHOON, J.

It appears that the district attorney was permitted by the court to use the following language over objection: "The shirt was cut and fixed in the jail with Charley Stuart's knife." This is without support in the evidence. The district attorney further said to the jury these words "Not a negro in that great concourse of negroes who threaten to be respectable has dared to come here and testify in behalf of this mulatto" (at the same time pointing to the defendant). He further said to the jury that: "In any other commonwealth in this Union (pointing to the defendant) he would be hung without benefit of clergy." He further said to the jury, referring to the evils of miscegenation, the defendant being a mulatto, that "mulattoes should be kicked out by the white race and spurned by the negroes; that the defendant was whiter than himself, the counsel of defendant, or the judge, or any of the jury, but that they were negroes, and that as long as one drop of the accursed blood was in their veins they have to bear it; that these negroes (referring to the defendant and...

To continue reading

Request your trial
34 cases
  • Owen v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • December 14, 1936
    ... ... person, and that their verdict must be an honest and upright ... verdict, regardless of race or color, we would reverse the ... ease. This court has been particularly strict in requiring ... fair trials to all, regardless of race, color, creed, or ... condition. In Ezra Hampton v. State, 88 Miss. 257, ... 40 So. 545, 546, 117 Am. St. Rep. 740, involving an appeal by ... the prosecuting attorney to race prejudice, the language used ... being set forth in the opinion, the court wound up its ... opinion as follows. "Mulattoes, negroes, Malays, whites, ... millionaires, ... ...
  • Pullen v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • May 11, 1936
    ...32 So. 9, 18 L. R. A. (N. S.) 768; Whitley v. State, 78 Miss. 255, 28 So. 852; Fisher v. State, 145 Miss. 116, 110 So. 361; Hampton case, 88 Miss. 257, 40 So. 445. was an obstinate denial of any connection with the crime on the part of defendant always although the persistent demands of the......
  • Floyd v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • May 8, 1933
    ...153; Cavanah v. State, 56 Miss. 299; Cross v. State, 68 Ala. 476; Wolffe v. Minnis, 74 Ala. 386; State v. Smith, 75 N.C. 306; Hampton v. State, 40 So. 544; Bufkin v. 98 So. 455. There was not an actual proof of venue. There is no proof to show what is meant by the statement "in or near Flor......
  • Pruitt v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • March 7, 1932
    ...State, 100 Miss. 435, 56 So. 527; Clark v. State, 102 Miss. 768, 59 So. 887; Jones v. State, 21 Ala.App. 234, 109 So. 189; Hampton v. State, 88 Miss. 257, 40 So. 545. was not given a fair and impartial trial as is shown by the district attorney constantly attempting to show by state witness......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT