Williams v. State
| Decision Date | 13 December 1965 |
| Docket Number | No. 5135,5135 |
| Citation | 396 S.W.2d 834,239 Ark. 1109 |
| Parties | James WILLIAMS, Appellant, v. The STATE of Arkansas, Appellee. |
| Court | Arkansas Supreme Court |
Appeal from Circuit Court, Ashley County; G. B. Colvin, Jr., Judge.
Thomas L. Cashion, Eudora, for appellant.
Bruce Bennett, Atty. Gen., by Clyde Calliotte, Asst. Atty. Gen., Little Rock, for appellee.
Appellant James Williams was convicted of the crime of murder committed in the perpetration of the crime of rape. The jury fixed the punishment at death by electrocution. On appeal appellant argues several points, all of which we have carefully examined. In addition, we have examined the entire record. There is no error.
The evidence shows that on the morning of September 24, 1964, Mrs. Maudene Deggs, 25 years of age, and the mother of three children, was abducted from her home. The next day her body was found about three and one-half miles south of her house, near a dim, seldom used logging road in the woods, about one-quarter of a mile from the main highway. She had been raped and murdered. Although the evidence is circumstantial, it proves appellant guilty beyond any reasonable doubt. In most cases of this kind the State must rely on circumstantial evidence. Crimes of this nature are not ordinarily committed in the presence of witnesses other than the victim, and of course her lips are sealed by death. Circumstantial evidence is sufficient to sustain a conviction. Osburne v. State, 181 Ark. 661, 27 S.W.2d 783; Jefferson v. State, 196 Ark. 897, 120 S.W.2d 327; Smith v. State, 227 Ark. 332, 299 S.W.2d 52; Walker v. State, 229 Ark. 685, 317 S.W.2d 823.
The evidence, which is uncontradicted, shows that Mrs. Deggs lived with her husband and three children, about five miles south of Crossett, Arkansas. On the morning of September 24, 1964, she drove her two older children to the school bus stop. Later, about 11:30 that morning, Mrs. Emma Lee Miller, who lived about four and one-half miles from the Deggs' home, saw a little boy walking in the road in front of her home. Upon investigation she found that the child was Mrs. Deggs' four year old son. She took the child to the home of Mrs. W. S. Cooty, the child's grandmother. Mrs. Miller, along with Mrs. Cooty and the child, then drove to the Deggs' home. Neither Mrs. Deggs nor anyone else was there. A flat iron was on the ironing board, and it was still connected to the electricity. Garments which Mrs. Deggs was apparently in the process of ironing were there. The bedroom was somewhat disarranged, and one of Mrs. Deggs' shoes was on the floor. There was no trace of Mrs. Deggs.
The peace officers of the county and state were notified, and a general alarm of Mrs. Deggs' disappearance was broadcast. Many people gathered and began a wide-spread search for her. The next day her body was found about three and one-half miles southeast of her home, as heretofore indicated. Pictures were made of the body before it was distrubed and removed from the place where it was found. Upon examination of the body by medical authorities, it was found that death was caused by a crushing of the skull by a heavy blow with a hard object. Male spermatazoa was found in the vagina.
In the investigation for clues, it developed that at about 8:15 or 8:30 a. m. on the morning Mrs. Deggs disappeared, Mrs. Ed Phillips was driving past the Deggs' home, and that she saw a black and white Buick automobile, 1956 model, coming out of the Deggs' driveway. Mrs. Phillips expected the car to stop before entering the road, but it did not do so, but entered the road at a rather high rate of speed, turned south, and passed by Mrs. Phillips. A colored man was driving. Mrs. Willie Claude Kelly and Mr. Bobby Stell, who were working on the telephone lines, also saw the black and white Buick on the road which passes by the Deggs' home.
The appellant, who worked nearby, owned a black and white Buick that fitted the description of the car seen coming from the Deggs' home on the day of the murder. An officer questioned him soon after obtaining that information. At that time, a small burn was noticed on the appellant's chest. Appellant stated that he was burned by the muffler of the chain saw he was operating in the woods, where he said he had worked on the day of the murder. About two weeks later, after obtaining additional information to the effect that appellant did not go to work at the time and place he claimed to have worked on the day of the murder, he was again questioned. The burned black skin on his chest had peeled off, and there on his chest was a scar made by a burn from an object the size and shape of the flat iron Mrs. Deggs was using when apparently she was first attacked in her home. Moreover, there was found at the scene of the rape and murder, a shoe which matched the one found in Mrs. Deggs' bedroom, and a wrench which the evidence indicates was the murder weapon. The wrench was identified as belonging to appellant. It was also later shown that it would not have been possible for the scar on appellant's chest to have been caused by a burn from a chain saw muffler.
It is hard to imagine any set of circumstances that would more surely point to guilt than that shown by the evidence in this case. The evidence of appellant's guilt is substantial, and is fully sufficient to sustain the verdict of guilty. In fact, it is hard to see how the jury could have arrived at any other verdict.
Appellant argues that the trial court erred in overruling his motion for a change of venue. The motion alleged that the people of Ashley County are so prejudiced against him that he could not get a fair and impartial trial in that county. This motion was supported only by the affidavits of Prewell G. Wilson and Bessie L. Taylor. There are no other supporting affidavits. Wilson and Taylor are not identified, and there is nothing to show that they are residents of Ashley County or that they were in a position to know how the people in the county felt. In support of the motion, appellant introduced evidence that a local newspaper had published some of the facts regarding the murder. But no witnesses, except the two who gave to aforementioned affidavits, stated that the...
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Berry v. State
...an extreme indifference to the value of human life, Gruzen, supra; and to show that the victim had been raped, Williams v. State, 239 Ark. 1109, 396 S.W.2d 834 (1965). Because of the trial court's carte blanche acceptance of these graphic and repetitive pictures into evidence, it is necessa......
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Williams v. State, 5742
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Urquhart v. State, CR
...687, 550 S.W.2d 778 (1977), a defendant was required to speak so his voice could be recorded for identification. In Williams v. State, 239 Ark. 1109, 396 S.W.2d 834 (1965), a photograph of a scar on the defendant's chest was admitted. In determining whether evidence is testimonial in nature......