Spurlin v. State
| Decision Date | 17 February 1969 |
| Docket Number | No. 45085,45085 |
| Parties | Edward E. SPURLIN v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Robert E. Jones, Henry W. Hobbs, Jr., Brookhaven, for appellant.
Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
Edward E. Spurlin, appellant, was convicted of manslaughter in the Circuit Court of Lincoln County, and was sentenced to serve ten years in the penitentiary. His defense was that the homicide was the result of an accident and was thus excusable under Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated section 2219 (1956). Since the jury's verdict was amply supported by the evidence, we affirm the conviction.
The shooting occurred at night at defendant's residence in Lincoln County. His wife and the deceased, his stepdaughter, Mrs. Edna Simmons, had just returned home after being out drinking whiskey, according to defendant. An argument arose between the defendant and Mrs. Simmons, and he ordered her to leave the house. When she refused he went into a back room and unlocked a chifforobe, took his pistol from a cigar box, and returned to the kitchen where his wife and stepdaughter were waiting. As to what happened at this point, the defendant made several statements, all partially inconsistent with each other.
One statement which defendant made was that he was attempting to scare his stepdaughter and did not know the gun was loaded. He was holding it about shoulder height, threatening her with it, and the gun went off. Another was that he was holding the gun down at his side, and that Mrs. Simmons, who was facing him, grabbed the gun and it went off, evidently when she was struggling to get it. Another version given at another time by defendant was that he and his stepdaughter had been arguing, and he went to a room to get the gun to make her leave his house; that as he was coming down the hall, she grabbed him from behind, spun him around, and as he turned the gun went off. Another statement by defendant was that he hit at Mrs. Simmons to make her be quiet, and the gun went off.
The bullet entered the lower left region of Mrs. Simmons' skull, and exited at a 45-degree angle from her forehead below the hairline. She lay on the floor until the ambulance arrived, and later that night she died without regaining consciousness. Within minutes after the shooting, Reverend Ennis, pastor of the defendant's church, arrived at the Spurlin residence in response to a telephone call from Spurlin's wife. Ennis drove defendant to the McComb City Hospital in his car. In reply to the minister's question as to who did the shooting, Ennis, the defendant's witness, testified that Spurlin said, 'I'm the one that is supposed to have done it;' that he was holding the gun and there was a struggle, and it was fired accidentally.
Spurlin went to the hospital, where Bobby Bellipani, a McBomb City policeman who doubled as an ambulance driver, placed him under arrest, after having been informed by telephone that a deputy sheriff and two highway patrolmen were on their way to the hospital. Bellipani testified that he took out a card, read Spurlin his Miranda rights, and asked him if he understood them, to which he replied that he did. This Spurlin denied. Bellipani did not interrogate defendant.
When Deputy Sheriff Smith and Highway Patrolmen Underwood and Gibson arrived, they took Spurlin into custody, and asked him if he had had his rights explained to him and if he understood them. He said that he did. After they left the hospital in Gibson's car, Spurlin asked if he could get a lawyer. Smith told him he could just as soon as they got to Brookhaven, and that he did not have to say anything if he did not want to. Smith then asked the defendant where the gun was, and he replied that it was at his home and he would take them to it. They then proceeded to his home, where Spurlin went into the back room, unlocked the chifforobe, and handed the gun to the officers. One cartridge had been fired, and a cartridge hull was stuck in the gun, which was admitted into evidence.
There was an evidentiary hearing to determine the admissibility of the several statements made by Spurlin. At the conclusion of the testimony by several officers and the defendant, the trial court concluded on ample evidence that defendant had been properly advised of his Miranda rights before any statements had been made by him; and all of his statements were voluntarily and knowingly made, after having waived the presence of an attorney, and thus were admissible in evidence. Defendant had stated that he was hard of hearing, but the court from the testimony of officers...
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Jolly v. State
...the defendant had been advised of his rights, including his right to a lawyer, and his right to remain silent. See also Spurlin v. State, 218 So.2d 876 (Miss.1969). Since the appellant in the instant case testified that he had freely and voluntarily made the statements which John Edwards, J......
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...848 (Miss.1970); Robinson v. State, 228 So.2d 373, 376 (Miss.1969); Boyles v. State, 223 So.2d 651, 654 (Miss.1969); Spurlin v. State, 218 So.2d 876, 878 (Miss.1969); Nevels, 216 So.2d at 530; see also Miranda, 384 U.S. at 478, 86 S.Ct. at 1630, 16 L.Ed.2d at Tolbert's "I shot her" statemen......
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Boyles v. State
... ... In Spurlin v ... State, 218 So.2d 876 (Miss.1969), this Court again recognized the rule that a statement of an arrested person freely and voluntarily given, without compelling influences, is a recognized exception set out specifically under the Miranda rule. This was a voluntary statement and is not ... ...