Caldwell v. State

381 So. 2d 591
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 27, 1980
Docket51698
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 381 So. 2d 591 (Caldwell 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
Caldwell v. State, 381 So. 2d 591 (Mich. 1980).

Opinion

381 So.2d 591 (1980)

George Edward CALDWELL
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 51698.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

February 27, 1980.

*592 Bridgforth, Woods & Buntin, Taylor Buntin, John G. Zizmann, Southaven, for appellant.

A.F. Summer, Atty. Gen. by Billy L. Gore, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PATTERSON, BROOM and COFER, JJ.

BROOM, Justice, for the Court:

Capital murder is the offense for which the appellant George Edward Caldwell (defendant) was convicted in the Circuit Court of DeSoto County.[1] After the jury was unable to agree upon the punishment, a life sentence was imposed against the defendant and he appeals, arguing that the court erred in (1) jury selection procedures, (2) instructing the jury, and (3) in not directing his acquittal. We reverse.

The record established that the defendant, after having an argument with the assistant manager of a supermarket in Hernando concerning payment for a pack of cigarettes, shot and killed Police Officer Key outside the supermarket. The dispute between the defendant and the assistant manager centered around whether the defendant should stand in line in order to receive his change. When the assistant store manager indicated that he might call the police, the defendant, who was armed, replied, "Call the police, Marines, the Army or anybody. I will be out here waiting... ." When Policeman Key arrived, the shoot-out erupted (who fired first is unclear) and the defendant fatally shot the officer with a pistol. In the affray, the defendant and the supermarket assistant manager were also wounded.

In qualifying the prospective jurors, the trial judge asked whether the state "... ever had to prosecute or present or handle any matter against any member of your family or a close personal friend?" There was no response to this question and in due course both the state and the defendant were allowed to make their voir dire examination of the prospective jurors. A jury was accepted and the twelve together with two alternate jurors were seated to try the case, after which the court recessed proceedings for lunch. Before the taking of testimony commenced one of the jurors, Mrs. Busby, was asked to come before the court. She, together with the attorneys for both sides, went into chambers where Mrs. Busby was questioned by the trial judge. The court's examination of her brought forth information that her son, Jimmy Lee Busby, was under indictment in DeSoto County in a criminal matter, and that along with her son, she had been in the DeSoto County Youth Court on a prior occasion.

Further questioning by the circuit judge brought forth from Mrs. Busby her explanation that she remained mute to the court's question on voir dire simply because she did not understand the question. At that time, over objection of the defendant, the state was permitted to peremptorily challenge and excuse Mrs. Busby after which the court replaced her with alternate *593 juror Nails. In that posture, the defendant sought to peremptorily challenge juror Nails (the alternate which had moved up), but the court refused to permit the requested challenge.

DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN ALLOWING THE STATE TO PEREMPTORILY CHALLENGE JUROR BUSBY AFTER THE JUROR HAD BEEN PRESENTED TO AND FINALLY ACCEPTED BY BOTH THE STATE AND THE DEFENDANT?

Regarding the action of the trial court in allowing the state to peremptorily challenge juror Busby, and in refusing to allow the defendant to similarly excuse alternate juror Nails, Mississippi Code Annotated § 99-17-3 (1972) is germane. The statute says:

[A]ll peremptory challenges by the state shall be made before the juror is presented to the prisoner. In all cases the accused shall have presented to him a full panel before being called upon to make his peremptory challenges.

Permitting the state to peremptorily challenge juror Busby after her acceptance by both sides is argued by the defendant to be "in direct violation of the statute and in violation of his constitutional rights ..."

Argument of the state is that whether a juror is fair and impartial is a judicial question, and that the judge on his own motion could have rightly excused Busby. According to the state, our statutes concerning jury selection are directory rather than mandatory. Thorne v. State, 348 So.2d 1011 (Miss. 1977); Russell v. State, 220 So.2d 334 (Miss. 1969); Upshaw v. State, 231 Miss. 158, 94 So.2d 337 (1957); and Jefferson v. State, 52 Miss. 767 (1876) are relied upon by the state.

When measured according to the facts, the cited cases are hardly analogous to the situation here. Russell upheld the action of a trial judge in excusing a juror after a trial had begun where it was discovered that the juror had participated as a juror in the justice court trial of the cause. Our action there was founded largely upon the logic that a trial judge has considerable discretion in such matters absent any showing of prejudice. The "abstract right" of the judge to change the makeup of the jury was discussed in Jefferson which upheld the trial judge's excusing of a juror who subsequent to the beginning of the trial arose and made it known that he served on the grand jury which returned the indictment against the defendant.

According to the state, it is "permissible, if not mandatory, for the trial court to set aside incompetent jurors. The question is a judicial one... ." Indeed, much of the state's argument here is premised upon the theory that juror Busby (removed peremptorily by the state) was "incompetent." We are not persuaded by the state's argument for the reason that the record does not show that juror Busby was "incompetent." Without citing any authority on "incompetency", the state takes the position that Busby lacked competency merely because her son was under indictment and additionally she had at some time been in youth court with him. We know of no authority holding that one whose son was under indictment and had been in youth court is an incompetent juror. Of course, such events in her son's life may be factors but the test should be — is the juror fair and impartial or shown to be disqualified. To hold that Busby was here shown to be an incompetent juror would be a strained interpretation. This is true because the record shows that before the jury was empanelled the court asked the jurors if they could be considered "fair and impartial" in this particular trial. Additionally, the jurors were asked by the attorneys if they could give both sides a fair trial. Juror Busby having made no indication that she could not be fair and impartial (on voir dire or when she was subsequently excused), we think she was before the court as a competent juror absent some indication that she was rendered incompetent because of some fact or circumstances. We cannot presume as a matter of law that her son's indictment and her past experience of having attended youth court with him would cause her to be prejudiced as a juror.

*594 According to the defendant after the court permitted the state to peremptorily challenge and excuse Busby, then the defendant should have been permitted in like manner to challenge alternate juror Nails.

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381 So. 2d 591, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caldwell-v-state-miss-1980.