Jordan v. State, 56627

• Decision Date: 23 September 1987
• Docket Number: No. 56627,56627
• Citation: 513 So.2d 574
• Parties: Henry Paul JORDAN v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 574

513 So.2d 574

Henry Paul JORDAN v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 56627.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Sept. 23, 1987.

Boyce Holleman, Michael B. Holleman, Gulfport, for appellant.

Edwin Lloyd Pittman, Atty. Gen. by Charles W. Maris, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before ROY NOBLE LEE, P.J., and DAN M. LEE and SULLIVAN, JJ.

DAN M. LEE, Justice for the Court:

Henry Paul Jordan was indicted for murder for the November 12, 1981, killing of Robert L. Hargett. Hargett was the Jordan family's minister, and he was shot with Jordan's gun after Jordan discovered him having sex with Jordan's wife, Florence. Jordan's defense was that of self-defense; he claimed that he and Hargett scuffled, and his gun went off during the struggle. Florence Jordan was also wounded in the incident.

The jury found Jordan guilty of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to 10 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Jordan appeals, assigning the following as error:

I.

The court erred in not directing a verdict of not guilty at the conclusion of the State's case.

II.

The verdict of the jury must rest exclusively on the testimony of the Defendant and his wife who were the sole eyewitnesses to the events which transpired in the room where the decedent met his death, and not being inconsistent with physical facts, said testimony should be accepted as true and the defendant should have been granted a directed verdict of not guilty.

III.

The court erred in not declaring a mistrial on the Motion of the Defendant made at the time of the selection of the jury when the name of the Defendant's wife was called in open court for the reason that the State of Mississippi had placed her name on the indictment against this Defendant contrary to law, and as a result of said action, said Defendant was forced to place his wife on the stand as a witness.

IV.

The court erred in permitting the witness, Henley, to testify to incriminating statements alleged to have been made by the Defendant's wife in the hospital.

V.

The court committed grievous error in permitting the witness, Henley, to place into testimony alleged statements made by the Defendant to his wife, which statements were admitted by virtue of the testimony of the witness, Henley, over the objection of the Defendant. The Defendant alleges that said error could not be cured by the court because of the highly prejudicial nature of the statements and that to permit the out of court hearsay statement, based upon hearsay, was erroneous.

We find no reversible error herein, therefore, affirm the judgment below.

This case involves primarily three long-time residents of Waveland, Mississippi Henry Paul Jordan; his wife, Florence Jordan; and their pastor, Reverend Robert L. Hargett. At the time of the shooting, Jordan was a 30-year-old railroad welder, and an auxiliary policeman with the Bay St. Louis police department. He had known Florence since they were children attending the Lizana Baptist Church, and they were married there in 1971.

Florence and Paul Jordan had been married for about five years when, in 1976, she went to their pastor, Reverend Hargett, for marriage counselling. At about the same time, she began working for Hargett as a secretary in his construction business. She worked for him until 1980, and it was during this time that she and Hargett became intimate with each other. Their affair was made easier by the fact that Florence was active in the church and sang in the choir. Jordan testified at trial that he knew nothing about the relationship, and that no one ever discussed it with him.

On November 12, 1981, the day of the shooting, Jordan worked his regular 7-4 shift at the railroad, came home and ate supper, and then went to work a ball game for the police department. Florence had planned to take the children with her to choir practice. However, the piano player didn't show up, so she asked her sister-in-law to keep the children, and she went to Hargett Construction Company to meet Robert Hargett. She parked her car in back of the building, and sat inside the dark office for a while with Hargett, talking, before they partially undressed and had sex on the sofa.

In the meantime, Jordan checked in to work the ballgame at 6:30 p.m., and stayed at the stadium until about 9:20. At about that same time, Charles James, of the Waveland Police Department, was patrolling the area around Hargett Construction when he saw a Ford Thunderbird parked behind it. He radioed the tag number in and discovered that the car was registered to Jordan. Jordan was riding back to the Bay St. Louis police station with three other officers when he heard the dispatcher responding to Officer James, and he heard James respond that someone needed to tell Jordan to come move his car. He got on the radio and said that he would come check on the automobile.

Jordan dropped the other officers off at the police station, and drove his father's car out to Hargett Construction to investigate. He stated that he had no idea what his car would be doing there. Jordan parked in the back and walked around the building to the door of Hargett Construction. Although there was no moonlight that night, or lights in the building's parking lot, there was some light from a bar across the street. He saw Hargett's car, and, through the window of the building, he could see what looked to him like two people "tussling" on the couch. According to Florence, she and Hargett were sitting on the couch, partially nude, when Hargett pulled her onto his chest. At that moment, she looked up through the window and saw Jordan coming around the building.

According to Jordan, his instinctive reaction when he saw signs of a possible struggle inside the building was to kick the door in. His wife immediately jumped up from the couch, and he stood, staring in shock, at the sight of her--naked from the waist down. At that point, Hargett jumped off the couch, ran to Jordan, and grabbed him from behind. They began struggling over his gun, which was in its holster. During the struggle, the gun went off, and Florence fell to the floor. The struggle continued, and the gun went off several more times. Ultimately, Hargett fell to the floor, dead. Jordan immediately called the Waveland Police and told them there had been a shooting. He then went to his wife, who was unconscious from a flesh wound. Florence came to and asked Jordan to help her get her clothes on before the police got there. When Jordan complied with her request, he found that she was bleeding on the left side. A few minutes passed before help arrived, and, in the interim, Jordan attempted unsuccessfully to hail a passing county patrol car. He also called the police again; however, officers arrived before he completed the call.

Florence's story essentially corroborated her husband's. She testified that she jumped off the couch as soon as she realized Jordan was outside the building, and ran around the coffee table. She also testified that Jordan kicked the door in, and then stood for a moment, staring at her. Then, Hargett ran to him and they wrestled for the gun. She felt a tingle when the gun went off, and then she passed out. When she came to, Jordan was standing over her, and they both were crying. After Jordan helped her put her clothes on, she saw Hargett's body, and passed out again.

Officer James testified that he got a signal to return to Hargett Construction at about 9:54 p.m., to respond to a report of a death. Hancock County Deputies also heard the dispatch, and went to back up James. They found Jordan standing at the window of the building, talking on the phone. When he saw the police arrive, Jordan immediately exited the building and surrendered. He holstered his weapon, handed it to the officers, identified himself, and stated that he had shot Hargett and his wife.

The officers found Florence conscious, dressed, and with a gunshot wound in her left side. Hargett was dead at the scene. The room was in a state of disarray--the coffee table had been overturned, the glass on it was broken, a lamp was turned over, an ashtray was in the middle of the floor, and magazines were scattered about the floor. Additionally, one bullet was recovered from the east wall of the office, one from the west wall, and one lying beside Hargett. Hargett had a bullet wound in the palm of his right hand, in the left side of his face, below his right armpit, and in the left side. The bullets which struck Hargett on the left side of his face and on his left side were still lodged in his body.

Jordan was taken into custody and given his Miranda warnings. At the Waveland Police Station, he gave the following statement to Officer Robert Tartavoulle (note: these statements were not taken down, verbatim, as Jordan made them, but were notes that Tartavoulle recorded the next day). Jordan had been working the football game. He was on his way to the station when he heard his car registration over the radio. He entered the conversation and told the Dispatcher that he would come to get the car. Jordan checked out at the Police Department and drove to Hargett Construction. There was no light on in the building, so he kicked the door in. Florence jumped up off the couch, and he shot her first. Then, Hargett jumped up and came at him. Jordan shot Hargett and kept shooting. He then called Waveland to send the police. As he waited for the police, he called the dispatcher again, but saw the police car coming, so he hung up. Jordan stated that he had a feeling that his wife was having an affair, and thought he could catch them. Although Jordan made this oral statement, he would not give a statement in writing until he talked to a lawyer.

Florence also made a statement after the incident to Officer Sandra Henley of the Waveland Police Department, who interviewed Florence in the hospital. She said that she was standing in front of the sofa when Jordan shot her, and...