Thomas v. State
| Decision Date | 06 February 1957 |
| Citation | 92 So.2d 621 |
| Parties | Jimmie Lee THOMAS, Appellant, v. STATE of Florida, Appellee. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Ernest D. Jackson, Sr., Jacksonville, for appellant.
Richard W. Ervin, Atty. Gen., and George R. Georgieff, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Jimmie Lee Thomas was indicted, tried and convicted for rape in Duval County, his conviction having taken place July 21, 1955. The extreme penalty (death by electrocution) was imposed and this appeal was prosecuted from that judgment.
The first point urged for reversal is whether or not a certain statement made by appellant to the assistant state attorney, while in jail and written by the latter, was freely and voluntarily made.
It appears that in the course of investigation by enforcement officers appellant made five statements which were offered in evidence: (1) statement made to police officers shortly after his arrest; (2) statement made to police officers in homicide department Monday morning following his arrest; (3) statement made while in jail to assistant state attorney Tuesday morning after his arrest and recorded by the court reporter; (4) statement made in the county jail Tuesday night after arrest to assistant state attorney, written by the latter and signed by appellant; (5) statement made in county jail Tuesday night to assistant state attorney and recorded by the court reporter. All these statements were admitted in evidence but the third. The state insists that none of them amounts to a 'confession,' but that at least two of them were admissions against interest, if not clearly inculpatory. The appellant in the fourth and fifth statements admitted having intercourse with the victim but claimed she consented to the act. The first and second statements contained conflicting accounts by the appellant as to his whereabouts at the time of the alleged crime, the clothing he was wearing, and his movements before and after the alleged act, until the time of his arrest.
We are concerned here with the fourth statement made in the county jail after questioning by the assistant state attorney. Appellant contends that this statement was involuntary but the evidence taken incident to it shows conclusively that it was freely and voluntarily given. There was nothing in the way of coercion shown; it was made after one hour of questioning and there is not the slightest show of force or threat to extract it. We have read the cases relied on by appellant but we do not think they strengthen appellant's contention.
We have also considered appellant's contention that during questioning in the jail on Tuesday morning the assistant state attorney repeatedly called him a liar and exhorted him to tell the truth. It is contended that such conduct was harmful error. It is true that it was a crude and very undignified method by which to conduct an examination of this kind but we cannot see that it was harmful. The statements made by the appellant Tuesday morning during this interrogation were ruled inadmissible by the court following the proffer by the state in the absence of the jury, and therefore, had no influence on the jury in reaching its verdict. Exhortations to tell the truth, while under arrest, absent duress, threats, compulsion, hope of reward or benefit, do not render a statement involuntary. Smith v. State, 248 Ala. 363, 27 So.2d 495.
It is next contended that the admission in evidence of appellant's statements to the assistant state attorney in the county jail Tuesday night constituted a denial of fair trial, in that it compelled him to testify against himself contrary to Section 12, Declaration of Rights, F.S.A., and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
In support of this contention, appellant cites Williams v. State, 156 Fla. 300, 22 So.2d 821, wherein this court held a confession inadmissible because it was secured after ten hours of continuous questioning was indulged by different counsel in an attempt to force a confession. We are confronted with no such ordeal here, the questioning in this case did not exceed an hour and was conducted by one counsel in an orderly manner and no fear or threats were imposed.
Before admissions made by a party under arrest can be introduced in evidence the court should determine the important question of whether they were free and voluntary, and the court must make this determination before permitting the admission to go to the jury. This question is for the court and is not a matter of opinion of witnesses. This investigation should be made in the absence of the jury. If it clearly appears that such admissions were voluntarily made, they are admissible, but the question of voluntariness should be more stringently examined when the party is in custody. Louette v. State, 152 Fla. 495, 12 So.2d 168.
We have carefully examined the record and it clearly reveals that the trial court strictly followed this rule as to all statements by the appellant which were introduced in evidence. We find no error...
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