Hill v. State

749 So. 2d 1143, 1999 WL 562780
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedAugust 3, 1999
Docket97-KA-01466-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 749 So. 2d 1143 (Hill 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
Hill v. State, 749 So. 2d 1143, 1999 WL 562780 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

749 So.2d 1143 (1999)

Jermaine HILL a/k/a Poncho D.J. Hill a/k/a Jermaine Poncho Dereo Hill a/k/a `Poncho', Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 97-KA-01466-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

August 3, 1999.

*1145 Carrie A. Jourdan, Columbus, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Jolene M. Lowry, Attorney for Appellee.

BEFORE KING, P.J., PAYNE, AND THOMAS, JJ.

*1146 PAYNE, Judge, for the Court:

PROCEDURAL POSTURE AND ISSUES PRESENTED

¶ 1. This case is before the Court on appeal from the judgment of the Lowndes County Circuit Court of conviction of one count of murder and one count of armed robbery and sentence of concurrent terms of life imprisonment and fifteen years. After an unsuccessful effort to gain a new trial, the appellant perfected this appeal raising the following three issues:

I. WHETHER THE APPELLANT'S CONFESSIONS WERE OBTAINED IN VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHTS AS GUARANTEED BY THE 5TH, 6TH, AND 14TH AMENDMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 3, § 14, 26, AND 28 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION AND WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT'S FAILURE TO SUPPRESS THE STATEMENTS FURTHER DENIED HIS RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS OF LAW AS GUARANTEED BY THE 14TH AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 3 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION?
II. WHETHER THE APPELLANT WAS DENIED HIS RIGHT TO EFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL AS GUARANTEED BY THE 6TH AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 3, § 26 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION?
III. WHETHER THE VERDICT WAS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WEIGHT AND SUFFICIENCY OF THE EVIDENCE?

Upon review of the record and the submitted arguments, we find no error warranting reversal. Accordingly, we affirm the conviction and sentence in this case.

FACTS

¶ 2. On the morning of April 28, 1995, Hill and three cohorts, Lee Dancer, Oliver Reed Miller, and Uron Bush robbed Charlie's One Stop, a small grocery store located in Columbus, Mississippi. During the course of the robbery, Blanche Welch, the 72 year old clerk on duty, was brutally stabbed and slashed to death, a total of sixteen stab wounds and three slash wounds inflicted on her person.

¶ 3. The events leading up to the murder of Welch were outlined by Hill in his statement to Columbus Police Investigators David Turner and Selvain McQueen. According to Hill's own statement, he chose to not attend school on April 28 at Joe Cook Middle School because he did not want to participate in previously scheduled field days activities. Hill was at the Bell Avenue Grocery store where he encountered Uron Bush. Hill and Bush began walking toward Floyd Dancer's house when they met Dancer and Oliver Reed Miller, the fourth member of the group. Dancer made the comment that he was about to go do "this." Bush asked Dancer if he were serious, while Hill inquired as to what "this" entailed. Hill was informed that Dancer was supposed to be killing someone. Hill and his three companions went to Charlie's One Stop. Bush entered first to see if there were customers, and he came back out. All four then entered the store. Bush instructed Hill to be the lookout. Welch's back was turned away from her young assailant, Bush, and when she turned around he stabbed her in the chest. She fell behind the counter, and then Dancer began kicking her and took the knife from Bush and began stabbing her. Bush opened the cash register and took money, gave Hill $10, and Hill took some bubble gum and a soft drink. Bush threw the knife behind the store, and the four went their separate ways with their respective shares of the loot from the heist.

¶ 4. Following his indictment, Hill was initially tried in September 1996. However, the jury deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared. Subsequently, Hill was retried and convicted of his confessed participation in the robbery and murder. Following *1147 the denial of his motion for JNOV, this appeal was filed.

ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

I. WHETHER THE APPELLANT'S CONFESSIONS WERE OBTAINED IN VIOLATION OF HIS RIGHTS AS GUARANTEED BY THE 5TH, 6TH, AND 14TH AMENDMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 3, § 14, 26, AND 28 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION AND WHETHER THE TRIAL COURT'S FAILURE TO SUPPRESS THE STATEMENTS FURTHER DENIED HIS RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS OF LAW AS GUARANTEED BY THE 14TH AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION AND ARTICLE 3 OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION?

¶ 5. As his first assignment of error, Hill maintains that his statements given to law enforcement investigators were obtained in violation of his constitutional rights under the Mississippi and United States Constitutions. Hill asserts that the statements were coerced and involuntary on his part and that the waivers of rights he signed were not understood by him. Further, he says that he was denied access to his parents and that both his parents and his attorney attempted to invoke his constitutional rights on his behalf, but to no avail.

¶ 6. First, we find Hill's claim that he had a right to have access to his parents because of his young age to be without merit. While the Mississippi Code[1] provides for the presence of parents in a youth court environment when a child is interrogated, the supreme court has on two occasions in the last five years held that when a minor is charged with an offense over which the circuit court has jurisdiction, the child's age is not a relevant factor in determining his ability to voluntarily give statements and waive his constitutional rights.

¶ 7. In Blue v. State, 674 So.2d 1184, 1204 (Miss.1996), Blue was convicted of capital murder. At the time of his arrest and interrogation, he was seventeen years old. On appeal, he maintained that he was entitled to have a parent present during the interrogation. Blue was read his rights on June 6, 1992, after which he gave a video and audio taped statement. On June 7, Blue was interrogated again; however, this statement was not recorded. The police officer testified that at the second statement, Blue acknowledged his understanding of his rights, and that no threats or coercion were employed. Also, the officer said he could discern the below average IQ (67), and that Blue commented that he was "used to" being advised of his rights. Another detective testified about the June 6 statement, corroborating the officer's testimony.

¶ 8. In addition, a doctor testified that while Blue was mildly retarded and would not understand a waiver of rights placed before him on paper, he would understand a verbal explanation in elementary terms. The doctor testified that the contents of the statement were more sophisticated than Blue was capable of giving; however, the doctor, on reviewing the videotape of the first statement, saw no indications of pressure or coercion and opined that Blue knew the serious nature of the charges against him.

¶ 9. The trial court ruled that Miss.Code Ann. § 43-21-303(3) did not apply because Blue was not in youth court. Further, the trial judge ruled that the typed rendition of the June 6 statement was inadmissible because it failed to show the prompting of the police officer; thus, the video statement and not the typed version was admitted into evidence. A portion of the June 7 statement was read into the record as it contained additional information. The supreme court held that since the youth *1148 court had no jurisdiction over the case,[2]

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
749 So. 2d 1143, 1999 WL 562780, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-state-missctapp-1999.