Wood v. State
| Decision Date | 17 January 1972 |
| Docket Number | No. 46577,46577 |
| Citation | 257 So.2d 193 |
| Parties | J. W. WOOD v. STATE of Mississippi. |
| Court | Mississippi Supreme Court |
Travis Buckley, Laurel, Thomas G. Roberts, Bay Springs, L. Percy Quinn, Laurel, John Sims, Heidelberg, for appellant.
A. F. Summer, Atty. Gen. by John Kinard, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
J. W. Wood was tried in the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial District of Jasper County for the murder of Robert Lee Williams. He was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to serve twelve years in the penitentiary. From that verdict and sentence he appeals.
The record discloses that on the evening of September 19, 1970, Billy Ray Williams visited with his brother, Robert Lee, and his wife Lusille. During the visit Robert Lee's stepson and two other boys arrived and stated that several shots had been fired at them from the residence of Mrs. Shep Boyd.
Robert Lee, enraged by this statement, journeyed to the home of Mrs. Boyd, his brother Billy Ray accompanying him. Billy Ray testified that his brother carried a pistol with him for protection and that he, the witness, had an automatic shotgun. He nenied, however, that either of them had a club, or blackjack as it was sometimes described, with them.
Upon arriving at the Boyd residence they found, according to Billy Ray, J. W. Wood, Mrs. Boyd, Rheta Boyd and Donald Ray Boyd upon the porch of the residence. Billy Ray stated that his brother got out of the car and asked J. W. Wood, the appellant, who had been shooting at his stepson and that Wood responded by grabbing a chain and exclaiming. 'I'll show you something, you goddam son-of-a-bitch,' whereupon Robert Lee obtained his pistol from the car. He further testified that the two men then agreed to settle the matter without weapons. He stated, however, that once Robert Lee had disposed of his pistol, the appellant struck his brother with the chain and a struggle ensued. The testimony of Billy Ray indicates that Robert Lee got the best of the altercation and was returning the few steps to his automobile, apparently feeling the battle over, when he was shot. The witness stated that he had his back to the arena at the time, but upon hearing the shot turned to see his brother upon the ground and to observe the accused drop a shotgun and flee the scene. He was positive that Robert Lee did not have a pistol in his hand when he was shot since it was upon the seat of the car.
The remaining witnesses for the State were a doctor, who testified that the wound Robert Lee received from the shot was the cause of his death and the sheriff, who testified that upon examining the scene of the fight he found a pistol, a shotgun and a wooden club.
The defendant introduced Mrs. Robert Lee Williams as a witness. She is the widow of the decedent and also the sister of the appellant. She related the conversation of her son and the other boys with reference to shots being fired at them from the Boyd residence. She further testified that her husband and his brother, Billy Ray, left their home to go to the Boyd residence to investigate the matter and that they were armed with a pistol, a shotgun and a club. She identified the club and the pistol found by the sheriff as the ones in the possession of her husband when he departed for the Boyd residence.
Mrs. Lillie Mae Boyd testified for the defendant. She stated that the Williams brothers drove into the driveway of her home and parked their automobile a short distance from that of the defendant. Upon alighting from the car Robert Lee had a pistol in his hand and pointed it at the defendant exclaiming, 'You blond-headed son-of-a-bitch, me or you one's going to get whipped,' whereupon she requested Robert Lee to leave since she feared that there would be trouble. Her request being ignored, she testified that appellant then approached Robert Lee who reached into his car, obtained a club and struck the appellant a blow, knocking him to the ground. Whereupon she entered the house and observed no more of the fracas though she did hear a shot fired. Upon returning to the porch subsequent to the shot she saw that Billy Ray had gotten his brother into the car and that the defendant was lying bleeding on the edge of her porch. She stated that after administering first aid to the defendant, her son carried him to the hospital. She was positive in her testimony that the Williams brothers started the fight and that Robert Lee struck the first blow. She was equally certain that the defendant was not armed with a chain at the time.
The next witness for the defendant was Donald Ray Boyd, son of the foregoing witness, whe was nineteen years of age. His testimony was in accord with that of his mother, but was of greater importance since he witnessed the whole affray. He testified that Robert Lee struck the appellant with a club, knocking him to the ground and that when he regained his feet, he was again knocked to the ground and further beaten. He stated the appellant crawled away from his assailant, moving toward his car. At about the same time Robert Lee obtained his pistol from the seat of his car and pointed it toward the appellant who then seized a gun from his, appellant's, car and shot Robert Lee. He stated that immediately thereafter the appellant dropped the gun, ran to the side of the porch and fell down and that Billy Ray got his brother into the car and departed. He was positive the appellant did not have a chain at the time and that Robert Lee not only started the fight, but had a pistol in his hand when shot.
Billy Ray Williams testified as a rebuttal witness for the State. He stated that the pistol found upon the ground by the sheriff must have fallen from the car when he was attempting to aid his wounded brother and denied that his brother had a wooden club on the occasion.
The conflict of evidence is set out so that the assignments of error may be viewed from a proper perspective. The most cogent is that the trial court permitted the State to improperly impeach the defendant's witnesses on irrelevant matters. This necessitates review of some of the testimony and the method used to impeach them.
The first question by the State's attorney on the cross-examination of Mrs. Lucille Williams was:
'Q. Lucille, how many divorce cases have I represented you on?
Later, with reference to whether the witness, the widow of the decedent and sister of the defendant, would like to see her brother go free, responded that the decision was not hers to make, whereupon the following questions were asked:
'MR. ROBERTS: Objection.
Mrs. Williams was also asked why she did not want her husband to go to the Boyd place on the day of the fight and responded that she asked her husband to call the sheriff and let him tend to it. Thereafter, the following colloquy transpired:
'
Mrs. Lillie Mae Boyd was subjected to a similar type of cross-examination. She was asked when she was last in trouble with the youth court, to which she responded 'about a month ago.' It was then brought out that her daughter was confined by the youth court to the Columbia Training School. The following questions were asked:
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