Robinson v. State, 39585
| Decision Date | 28 February 1955 |
| Docket Number | No. 39585,39585 |
| Citation | 223 Miss. 303,78 So.2d 134 |
| Parties | Homer ROBINSON v. STATE. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
W. M. Broome, Crystal Springs, for appellant.
J. P. Coleman, Atty. Gen., by Wm. E. Cresswell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
The appellant, Homer Robinson, was indicted for murder in the killing of George Taylor, who is referred to in the record as 'Steve' Taylor, at the July 1954 term of the Circuit Court of Copiah County, and was tried and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to imprisonment in the state penitentiary, and from that judgment he prosecutes this appeal.
The killing occurred on April 2, 1954, about 4 o'clock a. m., in the appellant's home about three miles northwest of the Town of Crystal Springs. There was an audiphone or juke box in the room where the killing occurred, and a table and several chairs. The testimony indicates that several people had congregated in the house during the night and some of them had been drinking heavily. There had also been some gambling.
Eddie Powell, who was in the room at the time of the killing, testified as the first witness for the State. He stated that there had been 'a bunch of us' there during the night. Some of the boys had been gambling, playing 'Skin'. At the time of the shooting Eddie was sitting in a chair in the room and was asleep. He was awakened by a gunshot, and saw the deceased falling to the floor. The appellant had a pump gun in his hand. After the gun was fired and the deceased had fallen to the floor, the appellant called to him and said, 'Wake up Steve'; and the appellant then pulled the dying man into an adjoining room and told his wife, who was asleep at the time of the shooting, that he had shot Steve. The appellant later pulled the body back into the room where the shooting had occurred, and the appellant's wife, Elnora, told the appellant to 'call the law.' Eddie stated that he looked around for his hat and could not find it, and that he left bareheaded to go to the home of Steve's mother to tell her what had happened. When Eddie returned about an hour later, the officers had arrived for the purpose of investigating the shooting. After that the undertakers came and Eddie helped them put the body in a basket; and when the body was moved, Eddie found his hat and a knife lying under Steve's right arm. He did not know whose knife it was, but the knife was closed when he found it. He gave the knife to Louise Taylor and left word with her to give the knife to the constable.
Jesse Cooper, who is referred to in the record as 'Fantoe', testified that he was at the appellant's house during the night and at the time of the killing, but that he was drunk and asleep and knew nothing about the killing. He stated that he did not hear the gun when it was fired, but the appellant and his wife awakened him sometime later. He stated that he owned a knife and kept it in his left pocket, but he did not have the knife when he left the appellant's house the next morning, and did not see the knife again until the constable showed it to him a dav or two later.
Plez Burney, constable and deputy sheriff, and Boyce Ferguson, the city marshal of Crystal Springs, were notified of the killing and went to the house about an hour after the killing had occurred for the purpose of making an investigation.
Burney testified that the appellant and Lewis Brewer were standing on the porch when he arrived. Burney found the dead man lying on the floor just inside the door. He asked the appellant who killed the deceased, and the appellant said that he did. Burney then asked him what with, and the appellant said, The appellant told the officers that he did not know the gun was loaded, that he 'jugged' it against Steve's chest and pulled the trigger and the shell was in there and it fired. The appellant admitted that he had carried the body into the other room and had then brought it back into the room where the killing occurred before the officers arrived. Burney stated that he examined the body found a bullet hole in the chest to the right of the heart. He searched the pockets of the deceased and found no weapon of any kind, and he found no weapon on the floor or near the body. That was about one hour or one hour and a half before the undertakers arrived. Burney identified the shotgun that he found in the house, which was a 28-gauge pump shotgun, and a knife that had been turned over to him by Louise Taylor the day after the killing, and Burney stated that Jesse Cooper told him later that the knife was his. Burney stated that the hat and knife referred to by Eddie Powell and other witnesses were not under the arm or shoulder of the deceased at the time he examined the body, and Burney stated that the appellant said nothing to him about having had an argument with the deceased, or about having to defend himself in the encounter with the deceased at the time of the killing.
Boyce Ferguson, who was present at the time Burney questioned the appellant, also testified that the appellant made no statement with reference to the deceased advancing on him with a knife, or with reference to his having to shoot the deceased in self-defense.
The appellant, testifying as a witness in his own behalf, stated that he and Steve were laughing and talking before the trouble started. They got into an argument, and then both started to cursing. The appellant told Steve that he would have to get out. Steve said to the appellant, 'If you are bad, put me out.' Isaiah Wilson, who was in the room at the time, got between them, and told them to sit down. The appellant sat down, and then looked up and saw Steve coming toward him with a knife, and Steve told him that he would 'pull his head off.' The appellant walked into the bedroom and got the shotgun from under the mattress and came back. The appellant told Steve to get out. Steve looked up at him and told him, 'I will pull your head off,' and made a long step toward the appellant. Appellant told him to get back. Steve then made a short step, and then 'lent' toward the appellant, 'and that is when I shot.' The appellant was asked by his own attorney why he shot Steve and his answer was, 'Because he was coming on me with a knife.' On cross-examination the appellant admitted that Steve never did cut at him with a knife. He was asked the direct question, 'But, you can't say he made one pass at...
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Brown v. State
...Nonetheless, prior cases demonstrate that this omission can be—and, in this case, was—harmless. In Robinson v. State , 223 Miss. 303, 309, 78 So. 2d 134, 136 (1955), our Supreme Court held that the omission of the same phrase from the jury instruction on heat-of-passion manslaughter was "ha......
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Kelly v. State, 54542
...is the omission of the statutory phrase "by use of a dangerous weapon". Miss.Code Ann. Sec. 97-3-35 (1972). In Robinson v. State, 223 Miss. 303, 78 So.2d 134 (1955), appellant challenged a manslaughter instruction on the same grounds, i.e., the omission of the words "by the use of a deadly ......
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Mallette v. State, No. 49882
...cruel or unusual manner or by the use of a dangerous weapon" was not included and that it was fatally defective. In Robinson v. State, 223 Miss. 303, 78 So.2d 134 (Miss.1955), the Court held that omission of the words "by the use of a dangerous weapon," did not constitute reversible error. ......
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King v. State, 43225
...of passion', this Court held the instruction was not harmful but in fact advantageous to defendant. In the case of Robinson v. State, 223 Miss. 303, 78 So.2d 134 (1955), where a shotgun was used to effect the death of deceased, the Court said that leaving out the phrase 'by the use of a dan......