Reed v. State, 40274
| Decision Date | 10 December 1956 |
| Docket Number | No. 40274,40274 |
| Citation | 91 So.2d 269,229 Miss. 440 |
| Parties | Willie C. REED v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
A. S. Scott, Jr., Laurel, for appellant.
Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by John H. Price, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Indicted for the murder of Louvenia Knight, appellant was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to serve a term of twelve years in the State penitentiary. There is very little dispute in the testimony.
The deceased, Louvenia Knight, lived in a three-room house in Laurel, and rented the middle room to Frank Jones. Her sister, Juanita Knight, occupied the front room. Appellant was not married to Juanita, but he stayed with her two or three nights a week and had been doing so for some months prior to the events about to be related. Appellant paid no rent to Louvenia for the partial use of the front room, nor did he bear any of the expenses of the establishment.
On November 3, 1955, appellant took Juanita in his car to her parents' home in the county, and he went hunting with Juanita's brothers later in the afternoon. Late that afternoon, appellant took Juanita back to Laurel and they went to a picture show where they met Louvenia. They left the show about 8:30 P.M. and went to an establishment known as the Honey House, where they all got 'high' drinking whiskey and beer. Juanita, Louvenia and appellant left the Honey House in appellant's automobile, but it is not clear whether they were going directly to Louvenia's house or to He-Haw's Place, where appellant wanted to go. Appellant was driving too fast to suit Louvenia and she said she wanted to get out of the car. Juanita also told appellant to stop and he did so, at which time Louvenia and Juanita got out of the appellant's car and took a taxi to Louvenia's home. Frank Jones, occupant of the middle room of Louvenia's house, opened the back door and let them in and the door was again latched. Shortly thereafter, appellant drove up, parked his car in front, and came to the back door. Louvenia told appellant that she was not going to let him in because he was drunk. Appellant then opened his Arkansas switch-blade knife and opened the screen door, then proceeded to kick the two latches off of the wooden door, and when the door came partly open, Louvenia was standing in the back room with a hammer and Juanita was holding a razor. Appellant jumped back out of the door and returned to his car where he got the shotgun he had used in hunting earlier in the day. In the meantime, Louvenia told appellant if he tried to come in again she would have him arrested, and as appellant walked from his car back to the rear door, Louvenia saw him with the gun and told Juanita that appellant was coming with a gun and for Juanita to run. Juanita did run to the middle room and jumped in bed with and behind Frank Jones. Frank got out of bed and put on his pants. While appellant was going to his car, Louvenia renailed the wooden latch to the back door, but when appellant again came to the back door he kicked it open and entered the house with the shotgun in his hand. When he reached the middle room, Louvenia grabbed the gun and she and appellant went into the back room wrestling over the gun. A few seconds later, the gun went off and Louvenia came into the middle room where Frank and Juanita were and said, 'Juanita, W. C. done shot my arm off.' Louvenia's arm was hanging by small bits of tissue.
Appellant then came into the middle room with the gun and said there was nothing in it, but when he manipulated the gun, another shell fell out. Appellant then offered to take Louvenia to the hospital, and he, Juanita and Louvenia got into appellant's car and started to the hospital. When they were going through the business district of Laurel, appellant was driving at a high rate of speed and the car started zigzagging, and Juanita looked over and appellant was not in the car, and she did not know how he got out. The car went a short distance and wrecked. Louvenia and Juanita were thrown out of the car. After an interval, they were all taken to the hospital, where a policeman asked appellant why he shot Louvenia, known as 'Big Mama', and appellant's reply was that Juanita was his girl friend and he wasn't trying to shoot 'Big...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lynch v. State, No. 1998-DP-01149-SCT.
...pertinent to the issue and tending in connection with other facts to prove his guilt." Mack, 481 So.2d at 795 (citing Reed v. State, 229 Miss. 440, 91 So.2d 269 (1956)). ¶ 24. At the outset, we must determine whether this is a purely circumstantial evidence case. Lynch argues that, accordin......
-
Conner v. State, 90-DP-927
...pertinent to the issue and tending in connection with other facts to prove his guilt." Mack, 481 So.2d at 795 (citing Reed v. State, 229 Miss. 440, 91 So.2d 269 (1956). The direct evidence in the record now before the Court, consisting principally of Stevens' eyewitness testimony and Gulley......
-
Walters v. State, 96-KA-00400-SCT
...and circumstances surrounding the killing." Blanks, 547 So.2d at 33 (citing Tigner v. State, 478 So.2d 293 (Miss.1985); Reed v. State, 229 Miss. 440, 91 So.2d 269 (1956)). In the case sub judice, since there were no eyewitnesses other than the accused, this presumption is applicable, but "[......
-
Mack v. State
...his mother about the crime, denied any knowledge of it. Instructive of the defendant's conduct vis-a-vis the crime is Reed v. State, 229 Miss. 440, 91 So.2d 269 (1956) cited by the State. The Reed court defined an admission as a statement by the accused--it may be direct or implied--of fact......