Brown v. State

450 S.W.2d 35, 1 Tenn. Crim. App. 739, 1969 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 298
Court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee·Decided October 22, 1969·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION

HYDER, Judge.

Plaintiffs in error were convicted of voluntary manslaughter; James Lewis Ault was sentenced to the penitentiary from two to ten years, and William Riley Brown was sentenced to the penitentiary from two to four years. They are represented by retained counsel and they have appealed their judgments and sentences to this Court.

The Grand Jury of Anderson County indicted the defendants Ault and Brown on September 25, 1967, charging them with murder in the first degree of Jesse Byrge, Jr. Their trial in the Criminal Court in October, 1967, resulted in convictions. The jury found Ault guilty of murder in the second degree, fixing his punish[741]*741ment at eighteen years; and found Brown guilty of voluntary manslaughter and fixed his punishment at eight years. Motion for new trial was sustained by the trial judge upon a showing that the alternate juror had entered the jury room during the jury deliberations at the conclusion of the case; and the judgments were set aside.

On January 23, 1968, defendants filed a Motion asking the trial court to postpone the setting of a trial date in this cause until such time as they have been furnished with a transcript of the evidence and proceedings of the first trial. It was stated in this motion that the testimony of the witnesses at the former trial is essential to their preparation for a re-trial of the case. Defendants say in the motion:

“That they are aware of the Court Reporter’s work load and do not insist upon immediate delivery of said transcript but do insist upon a postponement of the trial of this cause until a reasonable time after the furnishing of said transcript.”

On January 24, 1968, an order was entered overruling the motion, and the defendants saved their exceptions.

The case now before us was then tried in the Criminal Court of Anderson County on May 28, 29 and 30, 1968, resulting in the convictions of both of the defendants of voluntary manslaughter. No motion was made by the defendants at the May, 1968, term of court for a continuance for any reason or purpose, nor was any reference made at that term of the motion made and overruled at the January, 1968 term.

Defendants’ first two assignments of error contend that the trial judge erred in failing to sustain the motion [742]*742for continuance of this trial upon the ground of fadure of the State Court Reporter to furnish a copy of the transcript of the former trial; and that the trial court erred in fading to furnish them with a transcript of their former trial as required by TCA f 40-2037.

The motion made for a continuance untd furnished a transcript of the former trial was made and overruled four months prior to the date the instant case was actuady tried.

Defendants do not cite any authority to support their theory that they are entitled to a copy of the transcript of the former trial except the provision of the Tennessee Code Section. In their brief they say that the failure of the official court reporter to furnish them a copy of the transcript, which they agreed to pay for, resulted in great prejudice to them since they needed it to prepare their defense, and that this fadure entitles them to a new trial.

In reply to these two assignments the State says that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion in denying the motion, that the defendants made no motion on the trial date in May, and that Section 40-2037 of the Code does not apply to, nor was it intended to apply to, transcripts of proceedings other than that on which the defendant is basing his appeal. In support of this position, the State cites an unreported opinion of the Supreme Court of Tennessee: Harry Brown v. State, Hamilton Criminal, released March 22, 1968.

Harry Brown, an indigent with appointed counsel, assigned as error the refusal of the trial court to provide him with the transcript of the previous trial upon the [743]*743same charge that he was later convicted of, and said that the transcript was necessary in order to obtain a fair trial. He said that the denial of the transcript deprived him of due process and equal protection of the laws as guaranteed by the United States Constitution. In their opinion affirming the judgment of the trial court our Supreme Court said:

“There are no allegations as to any discrimination or prejudice resulting to defendant by failure to have the transcript of the previous trial. It is abundantly clear that no violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights of equal protection or due process resulted from the trial court’s refusal to provide a transcript of the previous trial under a prior indictment.”

The matter of granting a continuance is largely one of discretion on the part of the trial judge; and he will not be put in error for denying a continuance unless it be shown that he has abused his discretion in doing so. Bass v. State, 191 Tenn. 259, 231 S.W.2d 707; Moorehead v. State, 219 Tenn. 271, 409 S.W.2d 357.

The motion made by defendants on January 23, 1968, was that the Court postpone the setting of a trial date in this cause until such time as defendants have been furnished with a transcript of the former trial. This motion was overruled on January 24, 1968, as we have stated, and no further motion was made on the subject. The case was not tried for four months. No petition nor motion was made to the trial court for an order directing that the court reporter prepare a transcript of the former trial.

We do not believe that the trial judge abused his discretion in overruling the motion. Nothing was developed [744]*744in the trial which shows that the defendants might have been prejudiced in any way by the refusal to grant the motion, and we do not feel that they were so prejudiced. We do not feel that the ruling of the court violated any Constitutional or legal rights given to the defendants. We overrule the first two assignments of error.

In their third, fourth and fifth assignments of error the defendants claim that the evidence preponderates in favor of their innocence and against their guilt. The defendant Ault contends that he was not responsible for the death of Byrge; and the defendant Brown contends that he was a peace-maker, that he was a non-participant in the altercations, and that struggling with Byrge the gun discharged without any intentional act on his part.

The proof established that on August 19, 1967, Jesse Byrge, Frank Lowe and C. P. Phillips were together. They rode around in the Phillips car and drank quite heavily, of beer, gin, and white whiskey. Byrge became highly intoxicated. They had car trouble on Frost Bottom Road and had to push the Phillips car once or twice to get it started. The last time, when Byrge and Lowe were pushing the car to start it, C. P. Phillips drove off and left them stranded about four miles from their homes. Byrge and Lowe continued towards home on foot and were met by the car of James Lewis Ault, who had as his passengers: William Riley Brown; Mrs. Irene Ault, the former wife of James Lewis Ault; and five children of the Ault marriage, all of them being mentally retarded in varying degrees.

Mrs. Linda Duncan and her granddaughter, Abigail Phillips, were walking along the road in view of the scene of this meeting, and they testified for the prosecution.

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Brown v. State, 450 S.W.2d 35, 1 Tenn. Crim. App. 739, 1969 Tenn. Crim. App. LEXIS 298 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1969).

450 S.W.2d 35 (Brown v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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