United States v. Edwards

• Decision Date: 18 June 1964
• Docket Number: No. 21036.,21036.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Jonathan R. EDWARDS, Jr., Sheriff of Rankin County, Mississippi, Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

333 F.2d 575 (1964)

UNITED STATES of America, Appellant, v. Jonathan R. EDWARDS, Jr., Sheriff of Rankin County, Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 21036.

United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit.

June 18, 1964.

Robert E. Hauberg, U. S. Atty., Jackson, Miss., Harold H. Greene, Bernard J. Haugen, Alan G. Marer, Attys., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., Burke Marshall, Asst. Atty. Gen., D. Robert Owen, Atty., Dept. of Justice, Washington, D. C., for appellant.

W. E. McIntyre, Jr., Brandon, Miss., Will S. Wells, Asst. Atty. Gen., Peter S. Stockett, Spec. Asst. Atty. Gen., Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., William A. Allain, Asst. Atty. Gen., of the State of Mississippi, Jackson, Miss., for appellee.

Before BROWN, MOORE^* and GEWIN, Circuit Judges.

GEWIN, Circuit Judge:

The United States (appellant) filed a complaint and a motion for a preliminary injunction in the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi under Part IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1957¹ against Jonathan R. Edwards, Jr., Sheriff of Rankin County, Mississippi (appellee). The complaint alleged that the appellee had "threatened, intimidated, and coerced and attempted to threaten, intimidate, and coerce non-registered Negro citizens of voting age in Rankin County for the purpose of discouraging them from registering to vote and from voting for candidates for federal office." Factually, the complaint charged that appellee struck and beat a Negro named Grim who was standing in the Circuit Clerk's Office waiting for two other Negroes to finish registering to vote, and at the same time, two other people, believed to be the appellee's deputies, struck two Negroes who were registering. The complaint further charged that "On February 1, 1963, and continuing to the time of the filing of this complaint, the defendant threatened, intimidated, and coerced and attempted to threaten, intimidate, and coerce non-registered Negro citizens * * *." The preliminary injunction was sought on the basis of the described incident and the allegation that, "The defendant will, unless enjoined by this Court, continue to engaged in acts and practices similar to those set forth in this complaint." The complaint was not filed until May 6, over three months after the incident complained about. A hearing was held, evidence taken, and the preliminary injunction was denied.

Briefly summarized, the trial court found: The mentioned assault and battery occurred on the last day for the payment of taxes without a penalty and the Sheriff, who collects taxes in Mississippi, was busily engaged serving citizens who waited until the last day to pay their taxes, and the Sheriff's Office was heavily burdened with telephone inquiries. It was necessary for the Sheriff to go to the Registrar's Office across the hall repeatedly, to examine records to ascertain in which precinct taxpayers resided and to answer numerous inquiries on the final day for the payment of taxes. Grim was already a registered voter but he accompanied two other Negroes, Davis and Carr, to the Registrar's Office and was a spectator while the latter two were registering. The Registrar's Office was small and crowded, and because of the crowded condition the door to the office was kept closed to allow more space. Grim stood inside of the office with his back to the door and it was necessary for him to move in order for the door to be opened. On several occasions before the incident in question, when the Sheriff and other persons entered the Registrar's Office on official business it was necessary to request Grim to move. Finally the Sheriff asked Grim to come out of the office and be seated on benches in the hall. Grim failed or refused to do so and the assault and battery occurred. Grim was required to obtain medical attention but his wounds were not serious. The two other Negroes, Davis and Carr, were working on their applications to register and did nothing to provoke any assault or battery. But while the Sheriff was ejecting Grim from the office, a sheriff's deputy, J. B. Collum, "excitedly entered the Registrar's Office and started striking these two Negroes who were registering." The Court concluded that the deputy was not truthful in his statement of the occurrence and that his participation in the assault and battery on Davis and Carr resulted because he was "vexed at the crowded condition in the Registrar's Office and officiously entered the office without justification and vented his feelings upon these two Negroes who just happened to be registering at the time." One of the Negroes informed the Court that he had not since tried to register, but that he was not afraid to return to register, and that such an incident probably would not happen again. The Court concluded that the difficulty had no connection with the subject of registration, the assaults and batteries were not planned, were not intended to interfere with registration, were an isolated occurrence, and that there was no reasonable justification to believe that such an incident would ever occur again. As a conclusion of law, the Court stated:

"It is the considered judgment of this Court that an injunction would not be proper on account of this past event because the Court is satisfied that it will not happen again. It is purely a local grievance for which these Negroes are probably entitled to redress for the acts of this deputy but injunctive relief is not suggested."

Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were notified of the foregoing facts immediately and pictures of Grim were taken the following day, on February 2, 1963. The record demonstrates that the United States was informed of the events complained about within four or five days following the occurrence. The complaint was filed on May 6, a hearing on motion for preliminary injunction was heard on May 18 and concluded on May 25. Findings of fact and conclusions of law were filed on July 23 and an order denying the injunction was entered on August 6, 1963. Notice of appeal was not filed until October 2, 1963.

The Government states in its brief, with reference to cases under the Civil Rights Statute, that proof of the following is necessary:

"This statute, then, requires proof of two ultimate facts: (1) that there was an intimidation, threat or coercion or an attempt to intimidate, threaten or coerce; and (2) that the intimidation was for the purpose of interfering with the right to vote."

While in effect conceding that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52(a) is applicable to our review, the Government launches a two-pronged attack against the findings of the trial court and contends that the testimony of the appellee, Edwards, is not credible because he is (a) unworthy of belief, and (b) "his testimony was inherently incredible."² In support of its argument the Government contends that the testimony of Edwards should be rejected in toto, and if so the inferences drawn from the evidence, and the conclusions reached by the trier of the facts cannot be supported. Much emphasis is laid on background, purpose, motive, intent, and design, and it is suggested that where such factors are involved there is in effect an exception to the "clearly erroneous" rule. As to the preliminary injunction, it is contended that there was a causal connection between the voter registration efforts and the beatings, and if so, "there is no reason for believing that this will not recur."³

In reaching our decision we must decide whether the Court was clearly erroneous in its findings of fact, and whether the Court abused its discretion in denying the motion for a preliminary injunction. We affirm.

As to the facts and the credibility of the witnesses we find nothing in the record which should cause us to depart from Rule 52(a). Credibility is to be determined by the trier of the facts, and a review of the record convinces us without question, that the facts found by the trial judge are supported by substantial evidence. The same rule applies in the determination of motive, purpose, design, or intent, because such determination is dependent upon the evidence before the trial court and the credit which the trier of the facts gives to the witnesses and the evidence. Such determinations are not to be tried by us de novo. This issue was settled in United States v. Yellow Cab Company, 338 U.S. 338, 70 S.Ct. 177, 94 L.Ed. 150 (1949):

"Findings as to the design, motive and intent with which men act depend peculiarly upon the credit given to witnesses by those who see and hear them. If defendants\' witnesses spoke the truth, the findings are admittedly justified. The trial court listened to and observed the officers who had made the records from which the Government would draw an inference of guilt and concluded that they bear a different meaning from that for which the Government contends.

"It ought to be unnecessary to say that Rule 52 applies to appeals by the Government as well as to those by other litigants. There is no exception which permits it, even in an antitrust case, to come to this Court for what virtually amounts to a trial de novo on the record of such findings as intent, motive and design."

See also the recent decision of this Court in United States of America v. Board of Education of Greene County, Mississippi, (5th 1964) 332 F.2d 40.

As to the preliminary injunction, it is enough to say that the universal rule is that the granting or denying of a preliminary injunction rests in the sound discretion of the trial judge. The action of the trial court will not be disturbed on appeal unless there is a clear abuse of discretion. The rule is succinctly stated in Meccano v. Wanamaker, (1919) 253 U.S. 136, 40 S.Ct. 463, 64 L. Ed. 822:

"The correct general doctrine is that whether a preliminary injunction shall be awarded rests in sound discretion of the trial court. Upon appeal, an order granting or denying such an injunction will not be disturbed, unless contrary to some rule of equity, or

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