Boyd v. State

475 S.W.2d 213, 4 Tenn. Crim. App. 687, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 442
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedAugust 20, 1971
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 475 S.W.2d 213 (Boyd v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boyd v. State, 475 S.W.2d 213, 4 Tenn. Crim. App. 687, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 442 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1971).

Opinion

OPINION

O’BRIEN, Judge.

This appeal comes from the Criminal Court of Shelby County, Tennessee. Plaintiff in error was indicted for the offense of 1st Degree Murder and convicted of Involuntary Manslaughter by a jury. Punishment was fixed at one day in the County jail. Plaintiff in error will be referred to by name, or as appellant.

On October 5th, 1967, Lon Chaney Boyd was a patrolman on the Memphis Police Department, assigned to the Detention Division and employed as a turnkey on the 5th floor of the Memphis City jail. On that date, one Morgan (Morge) Scott was arrested on a drunkenness charge by the City of Memphis Police and transported to the City jail at approximately 3:00 o’clock P.M. Patrolman Boyd had just started working an eight hour shift when the series of events began, resulting in the death of Morgan Scott, and the conviction of appellant.

It appears that Morgan Scott was arrested for public drunkenness at the rear of the Memphis Union Mission, which was only a few blocks distant from the Police Station in the City of Memphis. While disembarking from the police patrol car in the basement of the Police Station, Scott, in his drunken condition, fell, striking his nose on the door of the car, scraping the outer surface of his nose, and causing some internal nose bleeding. There is some evidence in the record that his nose might have been broken. He was taken to the 2nd floor of the jail, searched, and then removed to the 5th floor, where he was logged in and incarcerated. The evidence indicates he was in an advanced state of drunkenness, although still ambulatory. He exhibited a degree of belligerency because of his arrest, in conjunction with which he expressed himself in a somewhat profane manner toward several of the police officers. There is evidence that during the administrative procedure leading to his confinement, Scott was struck by appellant for his refusal to cooperate, and because of his belligerent attitude. At approximately 3:00 P.M. he was placed in solitary confinement in what is commonly referred to as a “dry cell”. There is testimony in the record to the effect that he was observed, within the cell, by various members of the police department, including appellant, during the course of the next eight hours. At approximately 12:30 A.M., the following morning, he was found dead in the cell. An autopsy disclosed that the cause of death was internal bleeding into the abdominal cavity, due to a torn liver.

We find eleven assignments of error. Nos. I, II, III, IV, and VIII, contend that the evidence preponderates [215]*215against the verdict, and attacks the weight and sufficiency of the evidence.

The record in this case is voluminous, however, the facts appear to be clear. Officers Dunaway and Scarborough testified they found Scott in a drunken condition, lying on a bench in a shed, in the rear of the Memphis Union Mission. Although in an advanced state of drunkenness, he was able to walk under his own power. He was transported to the jail in the rear seat of a patrol car. In endeavoring to climb from the patrol car, which was parked in the basement of the police headquarters, he fell against the open door of the vehicle and injured his nose, causing it to bleed. Patrolman Scarborough testified he was able to prevent Scott from striking the floor and the only apparent injury which he sustained was the blow to his nose. This was corroborated by Patrolman Dunaway. The incident was reported to the Lieutenant on duty. At this point, no one, including Scott, considered this injury serious enough to require medical attention. Officer Dunaway took Scott to the 2nd floor of the jail in the elevator, accompanied by two other prisoners, and Patrolman Butler, who was the elevator operator. The prisoners were turned over to the detention personnel and the last time he saw Morgan Scott he was alive and well, except for the nose injury.

Patrolman Phillip D. Cook testified he was assigned to searching prisoners on the 2nd floor of the jail on the date in question. That he searched Morgan Scott upon his arrival on the 2nd floor of the jail. Scott’s physical condition indicated he was very drunk. His only apparent injury was a slight nose bleed. Scott walked from the elevator to the search area without assistance. He was subjected to a search in the customary manner which required prisoners to raise their hands and hold onto the bars which encompassed the area occupied by the desk lieutenant’s office. After the prisoners, including Scott, were searched, they were transported to the Sth floor on the elevator. He did not see Morgan Scott again.

Lieutenant Carroll W. Richards, of the Memphis Police Department, testified he was commanding officer of the 3:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. shift in the Detention Bureau on October 5th, 1967. At approximately 3:00 P.M. on that date, three or four prisoners were checked in at his station on the 2nd floor of the jail. He identified Scott as one of the prisoners, who was cursing in a belligerent manner and who had sustained an injury to his nose. Upon inquiry, he was informed by the officer who brought Scott in that he had stumbled, causing the injury. After the prisoners were transported to the 5th floor, he was informed by one of the turnkeys that Scott had been placed in the dry cell. In the course of his tour of duty, he checked the cell block about 4:30 or 5:00 P.M., and again about 9:00 or 9:30, at which time he observed Scott in the dry cell, and he appeared to be sleeping.

Officer Thomas L. Butler testified he was employed in the Detention Division on October 5th, 1967, on the 3:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. shift. His duties included assisting on the 2nd and 5th floors, and operating the elevator. In the course of this work he transported Morgan Scott up to the 5th floor at 3:00 or a little later. There was at least one other male, white prisoner, and possibly two others. Scott’s conduct was abusive in that he was cursing the police department and one of the prisoners on the elevator with him. Butler left the prisoners in the charge of Officer Boyd and returned to the elevator to answer another call. While transporting Scott in the elevator, Butler observed blood smears on the bridge of Scott’s nose, and just above the upper lip. After leaving Scott and the other prisoners in the custody of Officer Boyd, Butler then transported a prisoner to the 2nd floor to be searched and processed, prior to being taken to the 5th floor. Butler arrived back on the 5th floor about ten or fifteen minutes after 3:00. When he arrived on the 5th floor, [216]*216he observed Officer Boyd dragging Morgan Scott down a corridor toward the east wing. He followed Boyd down to the dry cell behind the prisoner. At this point, we consider it essential to quote Butler verbatim from the record: “When we got to the dry cell, Officer Boyd asked the subject to take off his shoes, remove his shoes. He did not say anything, and he uttered incoherently, as a drunk will. Officer Boyd removed his shoes and reached under and to his side and took him by the belt of the pants and lifted him up and then placed him in the dry cell and closed the door.” Butler’s further testimony was that Boyd stated to him that after he had gone from the floor Boyd attempted to get the information necessary to complete the information in the jail book. That Scott gave Boyd verbal abuse, cussed him out and told him he didn’t have any right to ask him any questions, that he refused to answer them and he backed against the wall and sat down. Officer Boyd told him to get up, so he could go to his cell, and he refused to do so, and Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
475 S.W.2d 213, 4 Tenn. Crim. App. 687, 1971 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 442, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boyd-v-state-tenncrimapp-1971.