Hubbard v. State

437 So. 2d 430
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 14, 1983
Docket53828
StatusPublished
Cited by75 cases

This text of 437 So. 2d 430 (Hubbard 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
Hubbard v. State, 437 So. 2d 430 (Mich. 1983).

Opinion

437 So.2d 430 (1983)

George Horace HUBBARD and Billy Dean Hubbard
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 53828.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 14, 1983.
Rehearing Denied October 5, 1983.

*432 Duncan Lott, Langston & Lott, Booneville, Harry L. Kelley, Jackson, for appellants.

Bill Allain, Atty. Gen. by Billy L. Gore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before PATTERSON, C.J., and HAWKINS and PRATHER, JJ.

PRATHER, Justice, for the Court:

George Horace Hubbard was charged with murder of Walter Eugene Hall, convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to twenty years in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Billy Dean Hubbard and George Horace Hubbard were charged and convicted of aggravated assault on William Kyle Livingston and each sentenced to twenty years. From these convictions in the Circuit Court of Tishomingo County, the defendants appeal assigning the following errors:

(I)
Limitation of the defendants' right of cross and re-cross examination of several state witnesses.
(II)
The Court's admonishment against defense counsel before the jury panel.
(III)
The admission into evidence of guns not used in the commission of the crimes charged.
(IV)
The introduction of gruesome photographs of the deceased.
(V)
The allowance of testimony of a state witness, whose name nor report was provided to defense attorneys under the pretrial discovery.
(VI)
The denial of a motion for mistrial due to a prejudicial statement made by a state's witness.
(VII)
The submission of an instruction on manslaughter.
(VIII)
The granting of an improper instruction regarding the rights of bail bondsmen *433 and the failure to instruct as to the obligation of bail bondsmen to adhere to state laws.
(IX)
The denial of motion for mistrial or the failure to instruct the jury to disregard state attorney's reference to the non-existent testimony.
(X)
The denial of defendant Billy Dean Hubbard's motion for acquittal of aggravated assault for lack of evidence.

We affirm the convictions on all charges.

On August 11, 1979, George Horace Hubbard was arrested for parading without a permit during a "klan" march in Montgomery, Alabama. Bail bond was posted by William Kyle "Sonny" Livingston for his release. For Hubbard's failure to appear in court, a bond forfeiture was taken in the amount of $2,000.00.

Livingston, with two employees, A.C. Chapman and Walter Eugene "Buddy" Hall, came to Mississippi on January 19, 1980, to return Horace Hubbard to court in Alabama. They asked one Mississippi police officer as to Hubbard's whereabouts and were advised that Hubbard had not been seen for several months.

On that evening George Horace Hubbard was advised by his brother, Billy, that some people were looking for him with warrants. A telephone call was made by Horace Hubbard to the sheriff to inquire as to any outstanding warrant, and the sheriff advised him that he had none.

Livingston, Chapman, and Hall located Hubbard's home on the next morning. Livingston, with a handgun and a 12 gauge double barrelled shotgun, and Hall, with a 38 special stub-nosed Charter Arms light-weight pistol, stayed in the woods near the home to observe the activity there while Chapman went to get the sheriff.

Before the sheriff arrived, Horace and Billy Hubbard left the trailer home and discovered the two armed men nearby. The details of this encounter were disputed. Livingston testified that he told Hubbard he wanted to talk to him; that he wanted no trouble. Horace Hubbard drew his rifles, and Livingston leveled his shotgun. Hubbard testified that he recognized Livingston, and backed his car away, and "thought" he heard a gunshot from one of the Alabama men.

Upon return to his home, Horace Hubbard telephoned the sheriff's office. The sheriff's dispatcher quoted Hubbard's statement to be that he was going to kill two men if the sheriff didn't get there in five minutes.

After about a thirty minute wait, Horace Hubbard and his brother Billy left the trailer to return to the location of the Alabama men. They took with them a Western Field brand, Model 740, lever action 30-30 rifle with scope and a Remington brand, model 700, 7 MM Magnum bolt-action rifle with a telescopic sight.

The evidence conflicted as to the firing of the initial shot, but numerous shots were fired. After the shooting subsided, Ronnie Hubbard, son of Billy Dean Hubbard, drove up with two additional guns.

The sheriff, his deputies, and Chapman arrived to find both Livingston and Hall wounded. Hall subsequently died as a result of the shoulder wound made by a projectile fired from Horace Hubbard's Remington rifle.

After indictment and trial, the defendants challenge several court rulings which allegedly precluded their receiving a fair trial.

1A.

The first question to be decided is whether the court's limitation of the witness examination to direct, cross and redirect examination, denies a defendant his constitutional right to confront witnesses against him. The trial court permitted no recross examination of any witness.

The Mississippi Constitution grants and guarantees to an accused in a criminal prosecution the right to confront witnesses *434 against him. Article 3, Section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution, 1890. The constitutional right of confrontation of witnesses encompasses the right to cross-examine them. Spears v. State, 241 So.2d 148 (Miss. 1970); Butler v. State, 245 So.2d 605 (Miss. 1971); Hamburg v. State, 248 So.2d 430 (Miss. 1971).

However, the assertion here by the defense is that restriction on recross examination is a constitutional violation. Based upon our constitution and case law we disagree. The rule to be applied to recross examination is that:

It is proper to exclude questions as to matters which were not opened up or brought out on redirect examination, or as to matters already fully covered, or discussed at length on cross-examination, where there is no claim of oversight and no reason stated why the matter was not inquired into on the cross-examination proper. 98 C.J.S. Witnesses § 429.

Although the determination of this question is based on Mississippi constitutional and case law, we compare our decisions with other jurisdictions. See Kinser v. Cooper, 413 F.2d 730 (6th Cir.1969) (no federal constitutional denial in limitation on right to recross examine prosecution witness). It has also been held that recross examination is not allowable as a matter of right, but a matter of trial court discretion. Nelson v. State, 257 Ark. 1, 513 S.W.2d 496 (1974).

The defense relies upon Valentine v. State, 396 So.2d 15 (Miss. 1981), in which this Court reversed and remanded for a new trial where the trial court restricted cross-examination. This case is factually distinguishable as it applied to cross-examination, not recross.

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Bluebook (online)
437 So. 2d 430, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hubbard-v-state-miss-1983.