Dobbs v. State

726 So. 2d 1267, 1998 WL 906438
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedDecember 30, 1998
Docket97-KA-00315 COA
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 726 So. 2d 1267 (Dobbs v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Dobbs v. State, 726 So. 2d 1267, 1998 WL 906438 (Mich. Ct. App. 1998).

Opinion

726 So.2d 1267 (1998)

Danny DOBBS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 97-KA-00315 COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

December 30, 1998.

*1268 Raymond M. Baum, Winona, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General By Deirdre McCrory, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellee.

Before BRIDGES, C.J., and HERRING, HINKEBEIN and KING, JJ.

HERRING, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. Danny Dobbs appeals to this Court from his conviction in the Circuit Court of Choctaw County, Mississippi, as an accessory after the fact to burglary of a dwelling. Dobbs challenges his conviction on the basis that the trial court erred in: (1) denying a motion to suppress a written statement; (2) unduly restricting cross-examination of a witness for the State; (3) refusing to grant his request for a new trial; (4) failing to give him *1269 an opportunity to examine the State's previously undisclosed evidence; and (5) denying his motion to quash the indictment. We find that these assignments of error are without merit, and therefore, we affirm.

A. THE FACTS

¶ 2. On October 16, 1996, Jerry Robinson approached his neighbor, Finesse Kimbrough, and inquired about the possibility of acquiring a puppy. After a brief discussion, Kimbrough informed Robinson that the puppies belonged to another neighbor. Robinson then left the Kimbrough residence, and Kimbrough departed for the local store to run an errand for his elderly mother, who lived with him. As Kimbrough proceeded to the store, he noticed Robinson walking down the highway. Shortly thereafter, Kimbrough returned to his residence and discovered that someone had stolen his .22 rifle. Kimbrough notified the Choctaw County Sheriff's Office and questioned his mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, about the disappearance of his rifle. Mrs. Kimbrough informed her son that a young boy stopped by the residence and asked for him. Sheriff Mike Hutchinson obtained a general description of the individual from Mrs. Kimbrough, and Mr. Kimbrough told the sheriff about his discussion with Jerry Robinson earlier that morning.

¶ 3. The next day, the sheriff questioned Robinson, and Robinson admitted that he had returned to the Kimbrough residence, opened the door, and stolen the rifle. Robinson informed the sheriff that Danny Dobbs sawed the stock off the rifle and offered to help him sell the weapon. Thereafter, Robinson stated that he, along with Dobbs and another individual, carried the weapon to a store where Dobbs sold it to an individual named Charles Parrish. Sheriff Hutchinson then recovered the rifle from Parrish and obtained a statement from Dobbs, in which he admitted his involvement in the crime. Subsequently, Robinson was charged with burglary of a dwelling, and Dobbs was indicted as an accessory after the fact. Robinson was adjudicated as a delinquent child on the crimes of larceny and shoplifting. Following a trial, a jury in the Circuit Court of Choctaw County convicted Dobbs as accessory after the fact to burglary of a dwelling. He was sentenced to serve three years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections with two years suspended and one year to serve and fine of $1,000.

B. THE ISSUES

¶ 4. Dobbs raises the following assignments of error which are taken verbatim from his brief:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN OVERRULING DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS A STATEMENT WRITTEN IN THE HAND OF SHERIFF OF CHOCTAW COUNTY AND SIGNED BY THE DEFENDANT AS THE STATEMENT WAS NOT FREELY AND VOLUNTARILY GIVEN; THE STATEMENT WAS PRACTICALLY ILLEGIBLE AND THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT MAKE A FINDING ON THE RECORD THAT THE STATE HAD MET ITS BURDEN OF PROOF FOR ADMISSIBILITY BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN UNDULY RESTRICTING CROSS EXAMINATION AND IMPEACHMENT OF THE SHERIFF WHO WAS THE PRIMARY WITNESS AGAINST THE DEFENDANT.
III. THE VERDICT OF THE JURY WAS AGAINST THE OVERWHELMING WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE.
IV. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED WHEN IT FAILED TO GIVE THE DEFENDANT A REASONABLE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH UNDISCLOSED EVIDENCE WHICH WAS NOT PROVIDED TO THE DEFENDANT PURSUANT TO HIS DISCOVERY MOTION PRIOR TO TRIAL.
V. THE TRIAL COURT SHOULD HAVE SUSTAINED DEFENDANT'S *1270 MOTION TO QUASH THE INDICTMENT, OR DIRECT A VERDICT IN FAVOR OF THE DEFENDANT BECAUSE THE DEFENDANT DID NOT AID OR ASSIST A "FELON" WHO HAD COMMITTED A "FELONY" AS REQUIRED BY STATUTE, BUT RATHER, DID SOME ACTS WITH A DELINQUENT CHILD WHO HAD COMMITTED A DELINQUENT ACT.

C. ANALYSIS

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FAILING TO SUPPRESS A STATEMENT OBTAINED FROM DOBBS BY SHERIFF HUTCHINSON?

¶ 5. Dobbs asserts that the trial court erred in failing to suppress a statement which he made to Sheriff Mike Hutchinson during the course of the investigation. He contends that the illegible confession was not freely and voluntarily given because the sheriff induced him to give the statement with threats of incarceration. As a result of this alleged inducement, Dobbs argues that his statement to the sheriff was inadmissible at trial. Additionally, Dobbs claims that the trial court failed to make an on-the-record finding that the State established the voluntariness of the confession beyond a reasonable doubt.

¶ 6. The determination of whether or not a confession was freely and voluntarily given is a finding of fact for the trial court. Layne v. State, 542 So.2d 237, 239 (Miss. 1989). A confession obtained as a result of promises, threats, or other inducements is not admissible at trial. Chase v. State, 645 So.2d 829, 837-38 (Miss.1994). The trial court must resolve "whether the accused has been adequately warned, and whether, under the totality of the circumstances, he has voluntarily and intelligently waived his privilege against self-incrimination." Id. The State has the burden of proving all facts relevant to the admissibility of the confession beyond a reasonable doubt. Blue v. State, 674 So.2d 1184, 1204 (Miss.1996). We will not reverse the decision of the trial court in this regard unless it is manifestly in error, or its decision is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence. McGowan v. State, 706 So.2d 231, 235 (Miss.1997). Furthermore, where the evidence presented is contradictory, we must generally affirm the trial court's decision. Crawford v. State, 716 So.2d 1028, 1038 (Miss.1998).

¶ 7. Prior to the commencement of the trial, the court conducted a suppression hearing outside the presence of the jury to determine whether Dobbs's statement to the sheriff was admissible. Sheriff Mike Hutchinson testified that he obtained a voluntary statement from Dobbs on October 17, the day after the crime. The sheriff stated that he advised Dobbs of his Miranda[1] rights and that Dobbs signed a voluntary statement form which advised him of his right to remain silent, to consult with an attorney, and also acknowledged that he waived such previously explained rights. According to the sheriff, Dobbs did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and no threats, rewards, or other promises of leniency were made to Dobbs. Sheriff Hutchinson further testified that he accurately transcribed Dobbs's statement of the events that transpired the previous day and then read the statement "word for word" along with Dobbs before he permitted Dobbs to sign the form. On cross-examination, the sheriff acknowledged that he did not use the assistance of an audio or video recorder during the confession.[2]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
726 So. 2d 1267, 1998 WL 906438, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/dobbs-v-state-missctapp-1998.