Mathews v. State
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi |
| Writing for the Court | REED, J. |
| Citation | 102 Miss. 549,59 So. 842 |
| Parties | JOHN MATHEWS v. STATE |
| Decision Date | 04 November 1912 |
59 So. 842
102 Miss. 549
JOHN MATHEWS
v.
STATE
Supreme Court of Mississippi
November 4, 1912
March, 1912
APPEAL from the circuit court of Claiborne county, HON.H. C. MOUNGER, Judge.
John Mathews was convicted of larceny and appeals.
The facts are fully stated in the opinion of the court.
Reversed and remanded.
R. B. Anderson, for appellant.
The alleged confessions to Mr. Magruder which were admitted in evidence were inadmissible on two grounds, to-wit:
First. Because the first confession made to Mrs. Heath, being tainted with the effect of threats, persuasion and violence would be presumed in law to make illegal and impertinent any second confession. This court has repeatedly held to this proposition, and I hesitate to cite authorities to sustain such a well-known principle of the law of evidence. Banks v. State, 47 So. 437; Wigmore on Evidence, 986; State v. Smith, 72 Miss. 420; Harvey v. State, 20 So. 837; McMaster v. State, 34 So. 156; Blalock v. State, 79 Miss. 517.
Second. The alleged confessions were inadmissible because they were in no wise free and voluntary.
To say that the town marshal could obtain a free and voluntary confession from a boy of fourteen years, after telling the boy that "it would be better" to tell the truth; and that "all Mrs. Heath wanted was her pin," and the child having been flogged until he cried, taken into an outhouse by two men and there beaten into saying he had taken the pin but had lost it, is to the unbiased mind, an absurdity. The assertion is here ventured that with the "bribery," the "persuasion," the flattery," the "flogging" and the "fear" (all appearing in the record), this court has scarcely met with a case where the rules of evidence were so utterly riddled as in admitting this testimony. Now, furthermore, Mrs. Heath says that she heard Mr. Magruder trying to frighten the little negro, and the defendant, himself, testifies that he was scared by the marshal. On page fourteen of the record, it will be seen that Mrs. Heath said in reply to counsel that Mr. Magruder told him, "You tell me the truth about this and we will not do anything to you," and on page 15 she says that she told him, "I would not do a thing with him."
Claude Clayton, assistant attorney-general, for the state.
Mr. Magruder, the marshal, testified that the young negro was not frightened or crying; that he offered him no inducement, such as immunity from prosecution, etc.
Sarah Moore, the cook...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Brown v. State, 31375
...Coffee v. State, 6 So. 493; Frank v. State, 39 Miss. 705; Peter v. State, 4 S. & M. 31; Simon v. State, 37 Miss. 388; Mathews v. State, 59 So. 842; Banks v. State, 47 So. 437; State v. Smith, 18 So. 482; White v. State, 91 So. 150; Sweat Box case, 32 So. 9; 28 So. 852; Stubbs v. State, 114 ......
-
Jones v. State, No. 2001-KA-00819-SCT.
...told by the sheriff that it would be "best for him to tell all about it." Mitchell, 24 So. at 312 (Miss.1898). In Matthews v. State, 102 Miss. 549, 59 So. 842 (1912), a black defendant fourteen years of age accused of stealing an item of jewelry had been told by the town marshal that it wou......
-
Warren v. State, 31716
...State, 47 So. 545; Jones v. State, 133 Miss. 684, 98 So. 150; White v. State, 91 So. 903; Fisher v. State, 110 So. 361; Matthews v. State, 59 So. 842. We maintain that it is not simply a question here on review of whether or not the confession was admissible, as much as that enters into the......
-
Fisher v. State, 25903
...Even the act of third persons may amount to a threat excluding confession though no objectionable words are spoken." In Mathews v. State, 102 Miss. 549, 59 So. 842, the defendant, a negro boy fourteen years old, was charged with stealing a diamond pin and denied any knowledge of the whereab......
-
Brown v. State, 31375
...Coffee v. State, 6 So. 493; Frank v. State, 39 Miss. 705; Peter v. State, 4 S. & M. 31; Simon v. State, 37 Miss. 388; Mathews v. State, 59 So. 842; Banks v. State, 47 So. 437; State v. Smith, 18 So. 482; White v. State, 91 So. 150; Sweat Box case, 32 So. 9; 28 So. 852; Stubbs v. State, 114 ......
-
Jones v. State, No. 2001-KA-00819-SCT.
...told by the sheriff that it would be "best for him to tell all about it." Mitchell, 24 So. at 312 (Miss.1898). In Matthews v. State, 102 Miss. 549, 59 So. 842 (1912), a black defendant fourteen years of age accused of stealing an item of jewelry had been told by the town marshal that it wou......
-
Warren v. State, 31716
...State, 47 So. 545; Jones v. State, 133 Miss. 684, 98 So. 150; White v. State, 91 So. 903; Fisher v. State, 110 So. 361; Matthews v. State, 59 So. 842. We maintain that it is not simply a question here on review of whether or not the confession was admissible, as much as that enters into the......
-
Fisher v. State, 25903
...Even the act of third persons may amount to a threat excluding confession though no objectionable words are spoken." In Mathews v. State, 102 Miss. 549, 59 So. 842, the defendant, a negro boy fourteen years old, was charged with stealing a diamond pin and denied any knowledge of the whereab......