Holmes v. State, 37740
| Decision Date | 16 April 1951 |
| Docket Number | No. 37740,37740 |
| Citation | 51 So.2d 755,211 Miss. 436 |
| Parties | HOLMES v. STATE. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
James T. Bridges, C. M. Murphy, Jr., Belzoni, for appellant.
J. P. Coleman, Atty. Gen., Joe T. Patterson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Appellant, Charlie Holmes, was indicted and tried and convicted at the February 1950 term of the circuit court of Humphreys County on a charge of murder in the killing of L. B. Trawweek, and was sentenced to be executed. The killing occurred on Ruby Street in the Negro section of the town of Belzoni on the night of November 29-30, 1949. Death resulted from a pistol shot which entered the head just above the right eye, ranged downward and lodged in the left side of the backbone. The shooting occurred a short time before 3:00 o'clock a. m. No eye witnesses testified to the killing.
The appellant was arrested in Yazoo City on the following morning and only a few hours after the killing. At the time of his arrest he had in his possession $32.86 in money. A short time before his arrest he had called at the home of one Maggie Reasor and had left with her $160.00 in currency. The police officers, after making the arrest, recovered from one B. J. Harris, a Negro taxicab driver in Yazoo City, a pistol which was later identified as the pistol from which the fatal shot had been fired and which Harris stated the appellant had left in the glove compartment of Harris' taxicab about 9:00 o'clock a.m.
Herbert Harrington, also known as 'Blackie' Harrington, the chief witness who testified for the state, testified that Trawweek, Harrington and two other employees of the Telephone Company, whose names were Hunter and Wood, had spent several hours of the night on which the homicide occurred in visiting two or three Negro cafes or night spots in the northern outskirts of the town of Belzoni, and during that time had purchased and consumed several pints of whiskey; that while they were in front of 'Jake's Place' they ran into the appellant, engaged him in conversation and thereafter made use of his services in procuring drinks; that after leaving 'Jake's Place' the party went to 'Bea's Place', which appears to have been a Negro cafe and entertainment hall nearby; that Harrington gave to the appellant money to pay for drinks and in addition thereto let the appellant have several twenty dollar bills to 'flash' in the presence of other guests; that the party left 'Bea's Place' sometime after midnight and drove to Ruby Street which is in the Negro section of the town of Belzoni west of the railroad tracks; that while they were on their way to Ruby Street, Trawweek reached into the glove compartment of Harrington's automobile and took Harrington's pistol from the glove compartment and put it in his pocket; that when they arrived at Ruby Street, the appellant said to Trawweek, 'Cap'n or Boss, I want to talk to you'; that the appellant and Trawweek then got out of the car and went behind the car.
Harrington testified further that after Trawweek and the appellant left the automobile in Ruby Street Harrington and his two remaining companions went to sleep in the automobile; that when they awoke the roosters were crowing, although it was still dark; that he then drove the automobile to his boarding house and found that Trawweek was not in. Harrington testified that he did not see Trawweek again after he got out of the automobile on Ruby Street.
Neither Hunter, who drove the party from 'Bea's Place' to Ruby Street, nor Wood, the remaining occupant of the automobile, testified during the trial.
Jeanie Lee, who resided on Ruby Street, testified that he heard the pistol shot, went to the door and heard somebody 'up there' heaving; that he called Will Mason, who lived next door and that the two went immediately to the scene of the shooting and saw the deceased writhing in pain in the middle of the street. They immediately notified the officers and after the arrival of the officers the wounded man was placed in a truck and carried to a doctor's office, but died a short time thereafter.
Five alleged confessions or exculpatory statements made by the defendant were testified to by the witnesses for the state. Three of these confessions or exculpatory statements were made by the appellant to the officers in Yazoo City and Belzoni. One was made at the Highway Patrol office in the city of Jackson during the evening after the appellant had been arrested in Yazoo City. The remaining confession was made by the appellant to J. C. Kelly, deputy sheriff of Hinds County and chief of the Criminal Division in the sheriff's office of Hinds County, in the presence of J. T. Naugher, Chief Criminal Deputy, and Bob Thomas, Deputy Sheriff of the Criminal Division.
The appellant had been brought to the Hinds County jail on November 30 and was questioned by Kelly on the night of December 3. The questioning lasted about two hours. Before Kelly was permitted to tell the jury what was said, a preliminary examination was had before the trial judge and out of the presence of the jury for the purpose of determining whether the confession was free and voluntary. Kelly testified that the questioning took place in the criminal deputy sheriff's office on the basement floor of the Hinds County courthouse. Kelly testified that he did not talk to or attempt to question the appellant while he was in jail behind the bars. He said he did not know whether anyone else talked to him or not. Kelly was asked the following questions and made the following answers:
'
'
Kelly was further questioned as to what kind of treatment the appellant received while he was in the Hinds County jail. The witness answered that the appellant was not in his custody while he was in jail. The witness then testified that there were no threats or promises made to the defendant at any time during his questioning which lasted for about two hours. According to the record he was asked the direct question: 'Was he conscious the whole time you were questioning him?' The answer was: 'No Sir.' This answer may represent an error in the recording of the testimony, but the record shows the question and answer as stated above.
After the preliminary examination of Kelly had been completed, the court overruled the defendant's objection to the admission of the testimony. Neither Naugher nor Thomas was called upon to testify as to what took place at the time the confession was obtained or as to whether the confession was free and voluntary, but the jury was brought in, and Kelly testified to the following facts: That Charlie Holmes stated that he was in a place in Belzoni called 'Jake's Place' with Harrington, Trawweek and their two companions on the night of the alleged killing; that he had never seen them before; that they stopped out in front and called him and got him to go in and get some drinks for them; that they gave him some money in twenty dollar bills to buy the drinks with; that he asked them later to let him have some of the money to go in and 'flash' and show off, which they did; that they stayed around 'Jake's Place' until about 11:00 o'clock, left there and went to a place which he referred to as the 'Big Yellow Gal's Place', and went back into a side room where they sat down and had more drinks; that they let him keep the money that he was holding for them to pay for their drinks and things that they bought; that, as best he could recall, there was $160.00 in twenty dollar bills that he was holding; that when they left the 'Big Yellow Gal's Place', they all got in an automobile to take him home; that he didn't know the name of the street, but he said the street was back of the depot in Belzoni; that they parked their car there and that he and Mr. Trawweek got out of the car, and the other three boys were asleep in the car; that Mr. Trawweek, before he got out of the car, took the pistol out of the glove compartment of the car and put it in his pocket, and that they went down the street to the girl's house that they call Mary Frances, that he knocked on the door and talked to Mary Frances and after a while Mr. Trawweek went into the house; that Mr. Trawweek had been in the house only a short time when he heard a 'rukus' start and the door was flung open and Mary Frances and Trawweek were tussling with each other and she was fighting Mr. Trawweek with her straightening comb, a heavy iron comb with a handle like a fire poker that is used for straightening hair; that as they came out the door...
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...and when the confession was signed, or give an adequate reason for the absence of any such witness. See also Holmes v. State, 211 Miss. 436, 51 So.2d 755 (1951). Agee, 185 So.2d at This Court's decision in Agee was rendered in April, 1966, two months prior to the United States Supreme Court......
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