Jefferson v. State, 51836
| Decision Date | 30 July 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 51836,51836 |
| Citation | 386 So.2d 200 |
| Parties | Willie JEFFERSON v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Morris & Pritchard, Charles E. Morris, Jr., Biloxi, for appellant.
Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Carolyn B. Mills, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Before ROBERTSON, P. J., and WALKER and BOWLING, JJ.
Appellant was indicted, tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial District of Harrison County for the crime of breaking and entering the dwelling house of Mrs. Buelah Ann Pickens, in the night time, while occupied by her, armed with a deadly weapon, with intent to commit the crime of rape. There was a co-indictee listed. The indictment obviously was under the provisions of Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-17-23 (1972). Appellant assigns as error, the following:
1. The lower court committed reversible error in allowing testimony of prior crimes committed by the appellant, other than the one that he was indicted for.
2. The verdict was contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence and the applicable law.
3. The lower court committed reversible error in not directing a verdict for the appellant, in that this was a weak circumstantial evidence case, and there being no corroboration of complaining witness.
4. The original indictment is defective in that it charges two separate and distinct crimes, attempted rape not being a substantive offense of burglary.
It should be noted at the outset that appellant's primary defense was an alibi. Two witnesses placed him approximately 200 miles from the scene of the alleged crime a few hours prior to and after the incident occurred. The primary witness for the state was Buelah Ann Pickens, who resided in Biloxi, Mississippi, with her three small children. She testified that during the early morning hours of August 24, 1978, she awoke to find two men sitting on her bed, one had a knife and attempted to place a pillow over her face, and both attempted to remove her nightgown. Mrs. Pickens had a pistol under her pillow, which she managed to secure and shoot the co-indictee in the shoulder. This person ran from the room. The other man fought with Mrs. Pickens for possession of the gun. He finally took it from her and carried it with him out of the residence. She testified that she found a window fan had been removed and the window opened; that she was hysterical and screamed out the window for help from her neighbors. The police arrived shortly thereafter.
Mrs. Pickens positively identified the appellant as the assailant who tried to place the pillow over her face, and who took the gun from her.
A Biloxi police officer testified that he interviewed the co-indictee at a local hospital where he was being treated for a bullet wound in the shoulder.
A detective for many years with the Biloxi Police Department testified regarding a photographic lineup of persons of a similar age, sex and race as appellant, and that Mrs. Pickens readily selected appellant as the assailant she was not able to shoot.
After the defense introduced testimony of the two alibi witnesses, the state, in rebuttal, called three witnesses. The first witness testified that he lived in an apartment in the same four-apartment building with appellant and his family; that he was awakened in the early morning hours by a policeman who was looking for appellant. Upon receiving directions as to which apartment appellant lived in, the policeman knocked on the door but received no response. After the policeman left, the witness testified that he saw appellant's mother signal him from the apartment window; that appellant came from across the street, placed two suitcases in a car, and left hurriedly.
The police officer referred to above testified and corroborated the witness' testimony regarding his visit to appellant's apartment.
Another Biloxi policeman testified that he and his partner were on patrol in an area in Biloxi after midnight on the morning in question and saw appellant with others on the street. He testified that he knew appellant well.
Regarding the first assignment of error, that is, that testimony was allowed concerning prior crimes of appellant, the testimony of Mrs. Pickens revealed that she had been raped only once in her life and that was by appellant a few weeks prior to the incident...
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Randall v. State, No. 1999-DP-01426-SCT.
...the door for the prosecutor's comments regarding the defendant's failure to subpoena a confidential informant. We said: Jefferson v. State, 386 So.2d 200, 202 (Miss.1980) is authority for the proposition that where opposing counsel "opens the door," the prosecution may enter and develop a m......
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