Bennett v. State

211 So. 2d 520
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJune 10, 1968
Docket44940
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 211 So. 2d 520 (Bennett v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bennett v. State, 211 So. 2d 520 (Mich. 1968).

Opinion

211 So.2d 520 (1968)

Robert A. BENNETT
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 44940.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

June 10, 1968.
Rehearing Denied July 8, 1968.

*522 Johnston & Johnston, John M. Sekul, Biloxi, for appellant.

Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., and Laurence Y. Mellen, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

BRADY, Justice:

The appellant appeals from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Harrison County wherein he was convicted of receiving stolen goods, fined the sum of $250 and costs, and disbarred from the practice of law. His disbarment was suspended and he was placed on probation for a period of five years. Prior to the trial on the merits, appellant filed a motion to quash the indictment, a motion for return of the seized property and a motion to suppress the evidence. The grounds upon which these three motions were predicated were that the evidence procured and obtained against the defendant was incompetent, was obtained in an unlawful and illegal manner without search warrant and without a warrant for the arrest of defendant.

As will be reflected in the statement of facts and in the opinion, the lower court was correct in overruling appellant's three preliminary motions. The demurrer to the indictment was properly overruled because the indictment was properly drawn under Mississippi Code 1942 Annotated section 2249 (1956) and stated a violation of said section.

The trial court sustained the motion of the State to amend the indictment so that the name of the watch described in the indictment could be changed from "one silver EPEC watch" to "one silver EBEL watch." The act of the trial court in permitting the amendment is assigned as one of the seventeen errors in support of a reversal. The trial court properly permitted the amendment for the reason that the variance was not material to the merits of the case and the defendant was not prejudiced thereby in his defense on the merits. The amendment permitted did not constitute a new indictment or a new description which would prevent the appellant from understanding the offense with which he was charged. Miss.Code 1942 Ann. § 2532 (1956); Jones v. State, 215 Miss. 355, 60 So.2d 805 (1952); Horn v. State, 165 Miss. 169, 147 So. 310 (1933); Davis v. State, *523 146 Miss. 322, 111 So. 564 (1927); and Freeman v. State, 108 Miss. 818, 67 So. 460 (1915).

On the night of November 8, 1966, Homer B. Alexander, a resident of Dallas, Texas, and a traveling salesman, registered at a motel on the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was assigned to room 125. After having dinner he proceeded to visit several nightclubs, imbibing freely of sundry alcoholic beverages. He met a girl named Linda Bailey, also known as "Gigi" (Marquette), with whom he drank and for whom he purchased a bottle of champagne to be consumed in the room at the motel. She accepted his proposition and they went to his motel room. He had squandered all of his money in his riotous living except $20. The record discloses that $25 was the price which his Dulcinea expected.

Upon reaching his motel room and lying down upon the bed he was overcome by his alcoholic intake and remembered nothing. When he awoke about 10:00 o'clock the next morning and reached for his watch, valued at $75, to see what time it was he found it was gone; also his diamond ring valued at $350 and his cigarette lighter of a value of $14 were missing. His shirt and tie, the $20 he had when he went to sleep, and a bottle of Scotch whisky were also missing.

Mr. Lawrence Taylor, the manager of the motel, arrived at work around 6:00 A.M. After he had parked his car he saw a woman come out of room 125 with several articles in her hands. She was in a hurry and was rushing to get into a taxicab which was parked in an area prohibited by the motel. Mr. Taylor tried to stop the cab driver but was unsuccessful. However, he did succeed in getting the cab's license number. After discovering that the above named articles had been stolen, Mr. Alexander telephoned the office and reported to Mr. Taylor that he had been robbed. Mr. Taylor then called for the police who came to the motel and Alexander told them what had happened, and gave them a description of his missing articles. Mr. Taylor furnished the police with the license number of the cab and told them to find out who the driver was. The driver revealed the name of the young woman whom he had transported from the motel. Shortly thereafter the police officers of Biloxi picked up the young woman and brought her to the motel where she was identified by Mr. Alexander as the woman whom he had taken into room 125 the night before. Subsequently, Mr. Alexander made an affidavit charging her with stealing his ring, his watch, and his cigarette lighter, of the aforesaid values. "Gigi" was arrested and placed in jail.

After conducting his business for the day, Mr. Alexander returned to his room around 5:30 and found that the message light in his room was on. Upon calling the desk he ascertained that there had been a call from an attorney named Bennett who wanted to talk with him and who had left his number. He telephoned Bennett, the appellant, who advised him that "Gigi" was not his client but that he was acting as a favor for a friend and that Alexander had identified the wrong girl. Alexander replied that as far as he was concerned she was the right girl and what he wanted was to get his merchandise back. He inquired as to what his chances were of getting the merchandise back. Alexander testified that Bennett replied "they are slim or nothing, I am going to have to charge them $500 to represent them, and they will either have to sell the merchandise to pay for that fee or they will throw it in the ocean one. You will never see it. Are you going to be in town tomorrow?" Alexander further testified that in about twenty or thirty minutes appellant called back to the motel and stated that he would like to see him in the lobby of the motel about 8:00 P.M., advising him "there might be a possibility of your getting your stuff back."

*524 When Alexander returned appellant's call appellant was at the police station seeking to obtain "Gigi's" release. Mrs. Thelma Jean Kenniston had called appellant asking him to secure "Gigi's" release and had furnished $100 in cash in order to obtain the $1,000 bond. "Gigi's" release was effected and appellant and his wife drove his client to the trailer where she had been living, in order that she could check and be sure that all of her belongings had been removed. After determining that all her belongings had been removed she then went to her fiance's car and from the back seat she took Alexander's ring, watch, and lighter and gave them to appellant. Appellant then locked them in the trunk of his car.

Appellant drove to the motel and met Mr. Alexander in the lobby. The substance of this conversation was that Alexander could get his belongings back but the appellant would have to charge him $500 or $1,000; that "Gigi" wanted to sue Mr. Alexander for false arrest. Mr. Alexander went to the office of the motel and asked if they would cash his check for $500. Mr. Taylor refused to cash the check but told Mr. Alexander that he would cash a check in the morning. Mr. Alexander advised appellant that he would have to call his wife and be sure that his check was honored, and he asked Bennett how he planned to get the merchandise back. Although the appellant had the merchandise at this time in the trunk of his car, he advised, according to Mr.

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

Related

Justine Lynn Nations v. State of Mississippi
199 So. 3d 1265 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2016)
Stradford v. State
771 So. 2d 390 (Court of Appeals of Mississippi, 2000)
Govan v. State
591 So. 2d 428 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Davis v. State
586 So. 2d 817 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1991)
Evans v. State
499 So. 2d 781 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1986)
State v. Douglas
349 N.W.2d 870 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1984)
Hancock v. State Ex Rel. State Real Estate Commission
331 N.W.2d 526 (Nebraska Supreme Court, 1983)
State v. Van Antwerp
591 P.2d 844 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1979)
Brewer v. State
351 So. 2d 535 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1977)
Johnson v. State
347 So. 2d 358 (Mississippi Supreme Court, 1977)
State v. Ware
557 P.2d 1077 (Court of Appeals of Arizona, 1976)
State v. Beale
299 A.2d 921 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
211 So. 2d 520, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bennett-v-state-miss-1968.