Barnes & York v. State

229 S.W.2d 484, 217 Ark. 244, 1950 Ark. LEXIS 402
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMay 1, 1950
Docket4604
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 229 S.W.2d 484 (Barnes & York v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnes & York v. State, 229 S.W.2d 484, 217 Ark. 244, 1950 Ark. LEXIS 402 (Ark. 1950).

Opinion

Dunaway, J.

Appellants, Barnes and York, were convicted of the crime of grand larceny and their punishment was assessed at five years’ imprisonment in the State Penitentiary. This is the second appeal in this case. On the first appeal, Barnes and York v. State, 215 Ark. 781, 223 S. W. 2d 503, a similar judgment was reversed because of the introduction of prejudicial hearsay testimony, and the cause was remanded for a new trial.

These facts were established by the undisputed testimony: On the night of November 4, 1948, the store building of Moore Brothers, located on the outskirts of Blytheville, Arkansas, was forcibly entered and a metal safe containing in excess of $1,000 in cash and a number of checks was stolen. The safe was found in a Negro cemetery about one mile from town on Sunday, November 7. A large hole had been made in one side of the safe and the money taken. During the course of an investigation by the Blytheville police, an abandoned automobile was found on the highway running from Blytheville to Hayti, Missouri. In that car was a sales slip for merchandise purchased at the Moore Brothers’ Store, which slip of paper liad been in tlie safe the night of the crime. The investigation also disclosed that the night of the offense, several Negroes had hired a taxicab to take them to Hayti, Missouri.

As a result of information furnished to law enforcement officers in Hayti, appellants and another Negro, Wilton Austin, were apprehended as suspects. On November 19, in response to a call from the Hayti officers, the Sheriff of Mississippi County, one of his deputies and the Chief of Police of Blytheville went to Hayti where they talked to appellants and Austin. The suspects denied ever having been in Arkansas.

The Sheriff and others testified that appellants agreed to accompany them to Blytheville, with the understanding that if it developed that they were not the persons wanted for the commission of the offense under investigation, they would be returned to Hayti. Appellants ’ testimony was to the effect that they did not know they were being taken to Arkansas, but only agreed to go to another town and if not there “identified” as the criminals sought, they would be returned. They were taken by the officers to Blytheville, where they were placed in the county jail.

Upon their arrival there, appellants were questioned briefly and again denied ever having been in Arkansas before. Appellant York and Austin were then locked in the jail, while appellant Barnes was taken in an automobile by the Sheriff and his deputy, who drove past Moore Brothers’ Store and the cemetery where the stolen safe had been found. Barnes denied having seen either place before. The officers testified that Barnes was shown a “field,” and was not told by them that it was a cemetery; and that because of the darkness and high grass growing there it was impossible to see any tombstones to identify the place as a cemetery.

They then returned to the jail, where according to the officers, Barnes was questioned only a few minutes. The trip and questioning took approximately fifteen minutes, the officers testified. Barnes’ testimony was that he was taken to a cemetery, after which he was interrogated for about three hours. Barnes was then locked in the jail for the night, still denying any knowledge of the affair.

The following morning about nine o’clock, the jailer informed the Sheriff, upon his arrival at the jail, that Barnes wanted to talk to him. Barnes was brought downstairs and asked that York be brought down too. Both appellants then made detailed statements in which they admitted their participation in the crime, and said they had each received $300 for acting as watchmen during the burglary and for assisting in removing the safe in an automobile, in company with two other men.

These oral confessions by appellants were not mentioned by the State, and no attempt was made to introduce them in evidence. It appears that before the trial commenced, on motion of the defense, the State was instructed by the trial court not to mention these oral confessions ; the ground being that a wire recording of the original oral confessions was so garbled as to be incomplete. Although this evidence was not presented to the jury, it further appeared from the pre-trial proceedings, that the garbled wire recording had been “erased” by the Sheriff after the first trial since it had been ruled inadmissible at that time because of its incompleteness.

On December 6, 1948, similar statements were made by appellants in the presence of the Sheriff, Prosecuting Attorney, Austin and Miss Eunice Brogdon, a deputy sheriff and collector. Appellants told in detail how the crime was committed and that the safe was left in the cemetery where the officers had found it. These statements were reduced to writing by Miss Brogdon. The testimony on the part of the State, by the Sheriff, Austin and Miss Brogdon was that Miss Brogdon took down in shorthand the statements as dictated by the Prosecuting Attorney; that the Prosecuting Attorney dictated the substance of what appellants were then relating as to the occurrence of the crime. The State’s witnesses said that prior to the writing down of these statements, the appellants were advised that they were not required to make any statement, and that any statements made could be used against them. Recital of these facts was made in the statements.

When the confessions were typed by Miss Brogdon, the Circuit Clerk, County Treasurer, and a local real estate dealer were called into the room to witness appellants’ signatures. These witnesses all testified that the statements were read to appellants in their presence, that appellants at that time said the statements were true, and affixed their signatures thereto. These three men then signed the statements as witnesses. Miss Brog-don signed the statements as Notary Public, having first sworn the appellants.

The written confessions of both appellants were submitted to the jury under appropriate instructions that they must have been freely and voluntarily made before any consideration could be given them. This was done over appellants’ objections, and after a preliminary hearing on the question of the voluntary nature of the confessions in- chambers out of hearing of the jury.

The defendants testified that the statements introduced were not true and insisted that the confessions had been made as a result of promises of suspended sentences by the Sheriff and fear of physical mistreatment. They did not testify that there had actually been any mistreatment at any time by anyone while they were in custody. They did not say there were any threats or promises at the time the written confessions were made. Their testimony was that the Sheriff had promised leniency before the initial oral confessions were made, and that they were afraid because at that time a deputy sheriff was present with a black-jack asking the Sheriff to let him see if he could make them talk. The officers flatly denied that any threats or promises had ever been made to induce appellants to make a confession. There was no testimony of constant interrogation over an extended period of time. The defendants did not say they had been questioned in the interim between the making of the oral confessions and the ones later reduced to writing.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Tucker v. State
549 S.W.2d 285 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1977)
Watson v. State
501 S.W.2d 609 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1973)
Binns v. State
344 S.W.2d 841 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
229 S.W.2d 484, 217 Ark. 244, 1950 Ark. LEXIS 402, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnes-york-v-state-ark-1950.