Summerville v. State, 5725
| Decision Date | 04 September 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 5725,5725 |
| Citation | 253 Ark. 16,484 S.W.2d 85 |
| Parties | Floyd SUMMERVILLE, Appellant, v. STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Louis W. Rosteck, Little Rock, for appellant.
Ray Thornton, Atty. Gen., by Jay N. Tolley, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
Appellant Floyd Summerville was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for the slaying of W. W. Dobbs. For reversal he contends that the court erred in admitting into evidence a confession and four .22 caliber slugs.
The record shows that on the night of September 18, 1970, after W. W. Dobbs had gone to bed, he answered a knock on his front door. After requesting his wife to bring him a gun, he was shot at three times through the storm door on his front door. Two of the bullets entered the body of Dobbs; and he died before his wife could help him to the bed. At about the same time or within a few minutes thereafter, four other neighbors of Dobbs received a knock on their door from a man wanting to get a drink of water or to get some battery jumper cables to start an automobile. Three members of the Onstott family identified appellant as the person calling on their home and as the person shooting at Mr. Onstott. Two of the .22 bullets involved were recovered from Dobbs' body, the third from the Dobbs' home and the fourth from the Onstott home. A ballistics expert identified the four bullets as being of the long-rifle type and as having an identical lubricant coating on them consistent with Remington brand ammunition.
The trial court determined the voluntariness of the confession in a 'Denno Hearing' upon the testimony of Deputy Sheriff George Littles. George Littles testified that he advised the appellant of his constitutional rights before interrogating him and that appellant read the 'Miranda Rights' form which was signed in the jail at approximately 5:45. The confession was given in the sheriff's office starting at 8:45, after the officers had explained to appellant the evidence connecting him with the murder.
The objection in the trial court to the introduction of the .22 caliber slugs into evidence was as follows:
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