Moore v. State

Decision Date04 March 1974
Docket NumberNo. 47837,47837
Citation291 So.2d 187
PartiesRichard MOORE v. STATE of Mississippi.
CourtMississippi Supreme Court

Lawrence D. Arrington, Hattiesburg, for appellant.

A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Pete J. Cajoleas, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

RODGERS, Presiding Justice.

Richard Moore, the appellant, was indicted, tried and convicted in the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi, for the crime of burglary, and was sentenced to serve a term of five (5) years in the state penitentiary. He was placed on probation for three (3) years. He has appealed to this Court, and now contends that he is entitled to a new trial for the following reasons.

Appellant contends that the verdict of the jury is against the weight of the evidence and is contrary to the applicable law. He says that the evidence with reference to the use of electronic equipment was erroneously admitted in the testimony before the jury and that one of the state witnesses testified falsely.

The record in this case shows that Gamble's Drug Store in Petal, Mississippi (a community adjacent to Hattiesburg, Mississippi) was burglarized on the night of December 4, 1972. Entrance was gained through a ceiling fan on the roof. The burglary was discovered the next morning. An inventory was taken, and it was discovered that certain watches were missing, among which was a watch described as a Timex, and another described as a 17-jewel Dalton calendar watch. The drug case had been broken open and several bottles of narcotics, including amphetamines, codeine and cocaine were missing.

On the tenth of December, a narcotics officer of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, arrested one Gerald Barrett for the sale of cocaine. Barrett informed the officer that the drugs had been taken from Gamble's Drug Store. He also informed the officer as to the identity of others involved in the burglary. The narcotics officer, in conjunction with other officers, carefully searched the prisoner, gave him marked money, and sent him to the persons alleged to have been involved in the burglary for the purpose of buying stolen narcotics and watches. The officers put an electric transmitter ('bug') device on the person of the prisoner. When the prisoner went into a place of business known as the 'Lighthouse', the officers listened to the conversation between the prisoner, Gerald Barrett, and Richard Moore, the defendant. The officer related the conversation between the prisoner and Moore, the defendant, in which the purchase of a watch with the marked money was made.

The officers had previously obtained a search warrant for the Lighthouse describing the missing articles from the drugstore. They entered the Lighthouse and after a search, they found the marked money. The officers found a Timex watch in the cash register. They also found a new watch on the arm of the defendant after his arrest, later identified as a Dalton watch similar to the one taken during the burglary.

The main thrust of the appellant's argument, that the verdict is against the weight of the evidence, is based upon the credibility of the testimony of the coindictee Gerald Barrett. The appellant points out that the only two drug addicts interested in drugs involved in the burglary were state witness, Gerald Barrett, and Carroll Owens; that Owens has pleaded guilty and is now serving time in the penitentiary, and that although Gerald Barrett has pleaded guilty, he had not been sentenced at the time he testified. It is then argued that since their testimony is conflicting, the testimony of Barrett, an accomplice, is not worthy of belief.

Appellant cited several cases 1 in which this Court has pointed out that where conviction of a defendant depended upon the testimony of an accomplice, whose testimony was uncorroborated and impeached, or was contradictory and unreasonable, that this evidence was insufficient to convict. This is particularly true where it was shown that the witness was not worthy of belief and that the defendant was a person of good character whose defense was a strong alibi.

This Court made a careful study of the rule with reference to the testimony of an accomplice in the case of Feranda v. State, 267 So.2d 305 (Miss.1972), and there again we pointed out that the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice when reasonable was sufficient to sustain a verdict of the jury.

Although uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice is looked upon with suspicion in practically all courts, and some courts refuse to convict on uncorroborated...

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10 cases
  • Foster v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • April 28, 1994
    ...testimony of an accomplice." Culberson v. State, 379 So.2d 499 (Miss.1979); Rich v. State, 322 So.2d 468 (Miss.1975); Moore v. State, 291 So.2d 187 (Miss.1974); Young v. State, 212 Miss. 460, 54 So.2d 671 (1951). However, citing Burns v. State, 96 Nev. 802, 618 P.2d 881, 884 (1980), Foster ......
  • Brown v. State, 94-DP-00248-SCT
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • August 15, 1996
    ...] it is well settled that such testimony, although entirely without corroboration, will support a verdict of conviction. Moore v. State, 291 So.2d 187, 189 (Miss.1974). In Derden v. State, this Court held that: "clear law in the State of Mississippi is that the jury is to regard the testimo......
  • Culberson v. State
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • November 28, 1979
    ...an accused may be convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Rich v. State, 322 So.2d 468 (Miss.1975); Moore v. State, 291 So.2d 187 (Miss.1974); Young v. State, 212 Miss. 460, 54 So.2d 671 (1951); Larry v. State, 211 Miss. 563, 52 So.2d 292 (1951); Boutwell v. State, 165 M......
  • Jones v. State, 50944
    • United States
    • Mississippi Supreme Court
    • January 30, 1980
    ...an accused may be convicted on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice. Rich v. State, 322 So.2d 468 (Miss.1975); Moore v. State, 291 So.2d 187 (Miss.1974); Young v. State, 212 Miss. 460, 54 So.2d 671 (1951). Moreover, J. D.'s testimony appears consistent with the corroborating testim......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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