Langston v. State, 51401

Decision Date25 July 1979
Docket NumberNo. 51401,51401
Citation373 So.2d 611
PartiesBooker T. LANGSTON v. STATE of Mississippi.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Edmund L. Baugh, Jr., Aberdeen, for appellant.

A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen. by Calvin Coolidge Williams, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PATTERSON, C. J., and SUGG and WALKER, JJ.

PATTERSON, Chief Justice, for the Court:

Booker T. Langston was convicted in the Circuit Court of Monroe County for grand larceny and sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

There are two cardinal issues on appeal, the first being whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying the appellant severance and second, whether it committed error in admitting a statement of the codefendant into evidence.

On August 3, 1978, Billy Earnest, a Northeast Mississippi Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Inc. employee, parked his delivery truck in the alley behind Fred's Dollar Store in Amory, Mississippi. Earnest then absented himself from the truck to make a delivery to Wax's Seed Store. While returning to the truck, he noticed two individuals crossing the parking lot, one of whom was holding his hands in front of himself as though "toting something." Earnest became suspicious and when he observed the money bag he had left in the truck was gone, gave chase to the two individuals and called for assistance. An off-duty policeman joined in the pursuit and Langston was apprehended some short distance away.

At the scene of his capture Langston was asked the whereabouts of the money. After first denying any knowledge of it, he was asked again, and directed Earnest and the off-duty officer to the place where he had dropped the money bag. While they were retrieving it, appellant again fled the scene but was subsequently recaptured.

Sanderson, the arresting officer, testified that he had an occasion to talk with Emanuel Johnson, the coindictee and codefendant, on August 5, 1978, at the Aberdeen Police Station. Over objection of Langston, Sanderson was permitted to testify that Johnson told him he had brought Langston to Amory and left him in the vicinity of Wax's Seed Store on the day of the larceny. We note that counsel for the appellant had the opportunity to cross-examine Sanderson but elected not to do so.

Codefendant Johnson took the stand in his own behalf after the state had rested its case and was cross-examined by Langston's attorney.

I.

Did the trial court abuse its discretion in not granting the motion for severance?

We have often held the granting or denying of a severance when filed after arraignment is in the sound discretion of the trial court. Miss.Code Ann. § 99-15-47 (1972). Brown v. State, 340 So.2d 718 (Miss.1976); Ivory v. State, 336 So.2d 732 (Miss.1976); Dueitt v. State, 225 Miss. 254, 83 So.2d 91 (1955); Bolin v. State, 209 Miss. 866, 48 So.2d 581 (1950). From these authorities we are unable to state the trial court abused its discretion in denying severance.

II.

Did the court commit error in admitting a statement of a codefendant into evidence?

Langston contends the statement of the codefendant introduced by Officer Sanderson was prejudicial and should not have been admitted into evidence.

The record reveals that the appellant was not denied his right of confrontation of the witness as guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. In Brown v. State, 340 So.2d 718 (Miss.1976), this Court, followed Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968), and Nelson v. O'Neil, 402 U.S. 622, 91 S.Ct. 1723, 29 L.Ed.2d 222 (1971), in holding that when a jury hears statements made by the codefendant, the defendant must constitutionally have an opportunity to confront such a witness.

In Brown we set forth a procedural rule for use in the trial of codefendants. We did so because of the difficulties frequently arising because of the conflicting interests and rights of codefendants. The statement of one codefendant to a police officer implicating the other codefendant deprives...

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5 cases
  • Mitchell v. State, 55746
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 24 Septiembre 1986
    ...error when it overruled Mitchell's objection to admission of the Wells statement. Brown v. State, supra, 340 So.2d at 721; Langston v. State, supra, 373 So.2d at 613. In summary, when the Circuit Court overruled Mitchell's objections to introduction of the statement made by Wells on the mor......
  • Walker v. State, 96-KA-00938-SCT.
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 12 Noviembre 1998
    ...the maker of the statement. Introduction of such evidence denied Walker his right to confront witnesses against him. See Langston v. State, 373 So.2d 611 (Miss.1979). ¶ 17. Although the trial judge was within his discretion in denying Walker's pre-trial motion for a severance, Walker's defe......
  • Jones v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 16 Abril 1998
    ...that the granting or denying of a severance when filed after arraignment is in the sound discretion of the trial court. Langston v. State, 373 So.2d 611, 612 (Miss.1979). The decision of the lower court to grant or deny a motion for severance is reversible only where it constitutes an abuse......
  • Tillman v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • 19 Agosto 1992
    ...556 (Miss.1988); Duckworth v. State, 477 So.2d 935, 937 (Miss.1985); Cardwell v. State, 461 So.2d 754, 758 (Miss.1984); Langston v. State, 373 So.2d 611, 612 (Miss.1979). In Duckworth the Court stated that the criteria used to determine whether a denial for a motion for severance is proper ......
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