McLaurin v. City of Greenville, 43429

• Decision Date: 13 June 1966
• Docket Number: No. 43429,43429
• Citation: 187 So.2d 854
• Parties: Charles McLAURIN v. CITY OF GREENVILLE.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 854

187 So.2d 854

Charles McLAURIN v. CITY OF GREENVILLE.

No. 43429.

Supreme Court of Mississippi June 13, 1966.

R. Jess Brown, Jackson, Jack Greenberg, Melvyn Zarr, New York City, for appellant.

Bogen, Wilkes & McGough, Robertshaw & Merideth, Greenville, for appellee.

INZER, Justice.

Appellant, Charles McLaurin, was convicted on a charge of disturbance of the public peace in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated section 2089.5 (Supp.1964) in the Municipal Court of the City of Greenville. He appealed to the County Court of Washington County, where he was tried de novo before a jury. This trial resulted in a conviction, and he was sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and serve a term of ninety days in the city jail. From this conviction, he appealed to the circuit court, wherein the conviction was affirmed. The circuit judge allowed an appeal to this Court because of the constitutional question involved.

When this case reached this Court, it was consolidated with three other cases for the purposes of argument and submission to the Court. They are Cause No. 43,436, Cobb v. City of Greenville, Miss., 187 So.2d 861, which is a similar charge against Charles Cobb; Cause No. 43,497, Miss., 187 So.2d 861, which is a charge against this same appellant, Charles McLaurin, for resisting arrest; and Cause No. 43,498, Miss., 187 So.2d 860, which is a similar charge against Charles Cobb. The cases will be disposed of by separate orders. After the cases were submitted, it was discovered that the affidavits upon which these charges were based were not a part of the record, although they had been so designated by appellants in their notice of designation of record. The attention of counsel for the City and appellants was directed to this defect. The City suggested a diminution of the record, which suggestion was sustained. The affidavits are now a part of the records in all four cases.

The applicant's assignment of errors is as follows:

I. The court below erred in affirming a judgment of conviction which punishes conduct in the exercise of the right of free speech guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

II. The court below erred in approving the refusal of the trial court to give appellant's instruction that the jury could not find appellant guilty of breach of the peace if the police officers had made no reasonable effort to calm or disperse appellant's audience.

III. The court below erred in affirming a judgment of conviction based upon no evidence of guilt.

IV. The court below erred in affirming a judgment of conviction under a statute so vague and indefinite as to permit the punishment of the exercise of the right of free speech guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

V. The court below erred in approving the denial by the trial court of appellant's motion to quash the jury panel on the ground of systematic exclusion of Negroes therefrom through prosecutorial abuse of peremptory challenges.

The proof on behalf of the City is sufficient to show that on July 1, 1963, a large crowd of people were present at the Municipal Court in the City of Greenville where two Negro girls were being tried on a charge of disorderly conduct. The courtroom which is in the municipal building seats about 300 people, and it was filled to capacity. About one-half of the people in the courtroom were Negroes, and one-half were white. There was also a large crowd, consisting of mostly Negroes, on the outside of the courtroom. Appellant was present at the trial, but was not in the courtroom. He had gone into the courtroom prior to the trial and was directed to a seat by Officer Willie Carson; however, he did not sit where Officer Carson directed him to sit, and when Carson spoke to him about it, McLaurin protested that the courtroom was segregated. He then went out of the courtroom and protested to the chief of police about the courtroom being segregated. When he returned to enter the courtroom, it was filled to capacity, and he was not allowed to enter again.

The trial resulted in the conviction of the two girls being tried, and most of the people then departed from the courtroom. Thereafter, although court was still in session, McLaurin went outside the building and after talking with some of the people who were present at the trial, he began to shout in a loud voice, attracting the attention of the people who were leaving, and many turned and came back. He backed up on the steps of the building, and in a loud voice began exhorting the crowd of about 200 people, mostly Negroes, which had gathered around him in front of the building. The crowd blocked the sidewalk all the way to the street and the entrances to the building. Officer Carson was on the outside of the building after the trial, and he testified that the crowd around McLaurin appeared to be upset over the outcome of the trial. Officer Carson is a Negro and had been employed on the police force in the City of Greenville for over thirteen years prior to the trial. He holds the rank of detective and has had experience as a military policeman in the armed forces. He said that McLaurin said in a loud voice, 'What you people going to do about this; this is wrong, the White Caucasian, this law is wrong; you going to take it; you going to let them get away with it.' The crowd began to mutter and say that it wasn't right. It appeared to Officer Carson that the situation was very tense and anything could happen. It was his opinion that McLaurin was exciting the crowd in order to get them to do something about the court's decision. Carson made his way through the crowd to where McLaurin was standing and told him he would have to stop, and that he could not block the sidewalk. McLaurin continued to talk, and once again Carson told him to stop. McLaurin refused, and Carson placed him under arrest. After he was arrested, McLaurin kept pulling back and talking over Carson's shoulder to the crowd, saying, 'He's arresting me, what are you going to do about it.' In order for Carson to get McLaurin into the building and out of the crowd, it was necessary for him to use all of his strength.

Captain Harvey Tackett, also a member of the City Police Force, was in front of the police station after the trial. He said that the first time he saw McLaurin, he was in the middle of the sidewalk in front of the station, and McLaurin started waving his arms and shouting in a loud voice to the people that were leaving. Most of the people immediately came back and gathered around McLaurin who then 'jumped' upon the steps of the building and continued to shout and holler, asking the people what they were going to do about what had happened. The crowd started mumbling and saying something that he could not understand, but they appeared to be agreeing with McLaurin. It was his opinion that the crowd was about to take the situation into their own hands, and he thought that a breach of peace was imminent. He had had long experience in police work, and it was his opinion that McLaurin would have to be removed or there would likely be a riot. He started over to where McLaurin was standing, but before he reached him, Officer Carson reached McLaurin and said something to him, which Captain Tackett could not hear. McLaurin kept shouting and hollering and waving his arms, and Carson said something else to him; however, McLaurin continued shouting. Then he saw Carson take McLaurin by the arm and forcibly carry him inside the building. During this time McLaurin was still shouting to the crowd.

Chief of Police W. C. Burnely was also present at the scene and saw and heard what transpired. He had been on the police force in Greenville for seventeen years and was a graduate of the FBI National Academy. He had received special training in methods relative to dealing with crowds. It was his opinion that the situation on the outside of the building was very tense. He saw McLaurin 'jump' to the steps of the building and begin to shout and wave his arms in an emotional manner. He saw the people gather around him and many that were leaving turned and came back. He heard McLaurin shout, 'Are you going to take this; what are you going to do about it,' repeating these words over and over and other statements that he could not remember. It was his opinion that the speech of McLaurin was having an emotional effect upon the already tense crowd, and that any moment a riot or some other violence could take place.

Charles Cobb who was a Field Secretary employed by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee testified in behalf of appellant. It was his testimony that he saw McLaurin when he entered the courtroom and saw Officer Carson go up to him and say something. McLaurin then left, and Cobb went out to ascertain why McLaurin had left. He went with McLaurin to protest to Chief Burnley relative to segregation in the courtroom, and when they returned, they were not allowed to enter the courtroom. When the trial was over, he left McLaurin and went outside. When he next saw McLaurin he was standing on the sidewalk saying something to the people gathered there. He estimated that there were about 100 Negroes on the sidewalk in front of the municipal building. As McLaurin was talking he backed up the steps of the building, and although he was only twenty to thirty feet from McLaurin, he said he could not hear what McLaurin was saying. He saw one of two police officers say something to McLaurin, who continued talking. The officers then carried McLaurin into the municipal building. It was his opinion that the crowd did not appear to be so upset that they would do anything violent; he thought that they were mostly curious.

Appellant testified in his own behalf and said that he had been in Greenville off and on for about nine and one-half months. He was a Field Secretary for the Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee, and had been engaged in voter...