Stevens v. State

• Decision Date: 17 October 1984
• Docket Number: No. 54435,54435
• Parties: Edward J.C. STEVENS v. STATE of Mississippi.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Page 726

458 So.2d 726

Edward J.C. STEVENS v. STATE of Mississippi.

No. 54435.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

Oct. 17, 1984.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 14, 1984.

J. Kennedy Turner, III, Philadelphia, for appellant.

Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Catherine Walker Underwood, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before WALKER, P.J., and ROY NOBLE LEE and PRATHER, JJ.

PRATHER, Justice, for the Court:

The appellant, Edward J.C. Stevens, was charged with and convicted of murder of his wife, Louise Stevens in the Circuit Court of Neshoba County and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Mississippi Department of Corrections.

Stevens appeals, assigning as error:

(1) The admission of appellant's confession where his mental, physical and intoxicated condition allegedly prevented a knowing, voluntary, and intelligent waiver of his privilege against self-incrimination and right to counsel;

(2) The admission of photographs depicting the inside of appellant's home and the body of the deceased;

(3) The granting of the State's "malice aforethought" instruction;

(4) The refusal of the appellant's manslaughter instructions.

We affirm.

I.

On the morning of February 5, 1982, appellant Edward J.C. Stevens, his wife Louise, and Louise's nephews, Tommy and Terry Wright, drank beer together. Around 11:00 a.m., Edward, Louise and Tommy drove to Phillip's Grocery in Lauderdale County to buy more beer. After purchasing two cases of beer, Edward, Louise and Tommy returned to the appellant's home and continued drinking. Around 2:00 that afternoon, Terry picked Tommy up from the appellant's house. Appellant Stevens and Louise remained at the house drinking beer.

Around 8:00 p.m. that evening, appellant carried his badly beaten wife to the Neshoba County Hospital. Louise had been dead for two or three hours. Her death was the result of massive blood loss resulting from multiple bruises and abrasions to her entire body and deep lacerations of her scalp and labia.

Appellant was placed in custody at the Union City Jail. A blood alcohol test performed on the appellant at 8:15 p.m. revealed a blood alcohol content of .16. While at the Union City Jail, appellant fell from his bed and hit his head on the bars of his cell and suffered a broken arm. Dr. Wm. Davis, who treated the appellant, testified that the appellant appeared malnourished, emaciated, smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech, but was not irrational or disoriented. Following treatment of his injuries, the appellant was transported to the Neshoba County Jail.

Around 11:30 p.m. that evening, Neshoba County Sheriff J.A. Phillips read appellant Stevens his rights. Stevens signed a statement waiving his right to counsel and privilege against self-incrimination. On this occasion, appellant's speech was slurred, and his gait suggested that he was under the influence of alcohol. Appellant complained that his arm hurt and cried about his wife being dead, but otherwise made no statement and was returned to his cell.

The following morning, February 6, 1982, Sheriff Phillips was notified at 7:00 a.m. that the appellant wished to speak to him. Around 9:55 a.m. Sheriff Phillips, accompanied by Deputy Sheriff Dwight Griffin, and Investigator Larry Myers, spoke with appellant Stevens at the jail. Phillips again informed appellant of his rights, and appellant signed another waiver form. Stevens then told the sheriff that on the previous day, he, Louise and Tommy Wright went to Lauderdale County to buy beer, then returned to his home. Louise accused the appellant of "going with somebody". The appellant accused Louise of "going with somebody". Louise told the appellant that she "wanted to go with three men" and named them. The appellant became enraged and chased his wife throughout the house, beating her repeatedly with a firepoker. According to Deputy Sheriff Dwight Griffin, at the time of his statement, appellant's speech and walk appeared normal.

Prior to trial, appellant moved to suppress the statement on the ground that it was obtained from the appellant without a voluntary, knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to counsel and the privilege against self-incrimination. This motion was overruled and Sheriff Phillips was permitted to testify to the contents of the statement at trial.

At the trial, appellant Stevens testified that, after Tommy and Terry Wright left their house, he and Louise continued to drink. Later that afternoon he left the house to buy more beer. When he returned, he found his severely beaten wife lying on the floor of the living room, but did not realize that she was dead. Stevens drove to Tommy Wright's house and asked for his help but was told by Tommy that he didn't want to get involved. Stevens then returned to his house, placed his wife in the car and drove to the Neshoba County Hospital.

Terry Wright testified that appellant came to his house at around 8:00 p.m. on February 5, 1982. According to Terry, appellant Stevens did not ask for any help getting Louise to the hospital, but offered Terry $20.00 to go to the house and see if Louise was dead.

Dr. Glen Anderson, psychiatrist at Whitfield, testified that appellant Stevens had an IQ of between 76 and 78, thus falling into the sub-average category with respect to intellectual function. Proof supported the fact that appellant was a chronic alcoholic with a third grade education and was approximately 54-58 years of age.

II.

The first issue is whether the confession given by the appellant on the morning of February 6th was obtained after a voluntary, knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to counsel and his privilege against self-incrimination. Appellant argues that a combination of factors--intoxication, severely deteriorated physical condition, and sub-standard I.Q. and educational level--prevented a voluntary, knowing and intelligent waiver of appellant's rights.

With respect to the effect of intoxication on the voluntariness of a confession, this Court has held that where the defendant was in "an acute, rampant state of intoxication equivalent to mania," any waiver of constitutional rights could not be voluntary and intentional and the defendant's statement should be excluded. State v. Williams, 208 So.2d 172, 175 (Miss.1968).

In the case sub judice appellant Stevens' blood alcohol content was .16 at the time of his arrest. The execution of the waiver of rights, however, took place the following morning, some thirteen hours later. Dr. Davis testified that as a chronic drinker the ability of the appellant's body to degrade alcohol in the blood would be increased. Deputy Sheriff Dwight Griffin testified that at the time appellant executed the second waiver his speech and gait were both normal.

With respect to sub-normal intelligence and educational level, this Court has held that mental weakness in and of itself will not invalidate a confession unless it is shown that the weak minded person has been over-reached. Williamson v. State, 330 So.2d 272, 276 (Miss.1976). In each case, the totality of the circumstances must be considered to determine whether the mentally deficient defendant has been exploited. Neal v. State, 451 So.2d 743 (Miss.1984) (upholding admission of confession given by defendant with IQ of 60 even though scrutiny was heightened since case involved death penalty).

Significantly, in the case sub judice, it was the appellant who requested that the sheriff be summoned so that he could make a statement. The appellant, prior to making the statement, told Sheriff Phillips that he had something he had to get off his conscience. Sheriff Phillips testified that appellant read the waiver form and that he read the waiver form to the appellant. Investigator Meyers testified that the appellant stated that he understood the waiver. No evidence was presented by the defense to suggest that there was any threats, coercion or promises of leniency surrounding the execution of the waiver and the statement in this case.

No Mississippi case is found which invalidates a confession because of the deteriorated physical condition of the defendant. In the case sub judice, appellant's physical disabilities consisted of a general malnourishment, a broken arm and a head injury. The only medication administered by Dr. Davis to the appellant was a local anesthetic to permit suturing of the scalp laceration, which required three stitches (R. 47).

This Court concludes that the trial court's admission of the confession under these circumstances was proper. The proof failed to substantiate appellant's claim that appellant's prior intoxication, physical condition, or intelligence level, or the combination of these factors, operated to prevent a voluntary, knowing, and intelligent waiver of constitutional rights. The admission of the confession was proper.

III.

Whether the trial court erred in admitting (A.) photographs of the deceased and (B.) of the inside of the appellant's house?

IIIA.

At trial eight photographs of the deceased were offered into evidence. The defense objected to the introduction of the photographs on the ground that any probative value would be outweighed by the prejudicial impact of the pictures upon the jury. The defense further offered to stipulate to "anything the District Attorney could reasonably hope to prove by the photographs ..." The court overruled the objection and admitted some of the photographs into evidence.

Admissibility of photographs rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge and will be upheld absent a showing of abuse of discretion. Edwards v. State, 413 So.2d 1007 (Miss.1982); Steed v. State, 396 So.2d 625 (Miss.1981); Irving v. State, 228 So.2d 266 (Miss.1969). The fact that a photograph of the deceased in a homicide case might arouse the emotions of jurors does not of itself render it incompetent evidence as long as its introduction serves some useful evidentiary purpose. Butler v. State, 320 So.2d 786, 789 (Miss.1975); May v. State, 199 So.2d...