Lambert v. State

524 So. 2d 576, 1988 WL 40725
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 27, 1988
Docket57461
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 524 So. 2d 576 (Lambert 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
Lambert v. State, 524 So. 2d 576, 1988 WL 40725 (Mich. 1988).

Opinion

524 So.2d 576 (1988)

Frank LAMBERT
v.
STATE of Mississippi.

No. 57461.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 27, 1988.

*577 C. Collier Carlton, Jr., Farese, Farese & Farese, Ashland, for appellant.

Edwin Lloyd Pittman and Mike Moore, Attys. Gen. by Billy L. Gore, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.

Before ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and PRATHER and ZUCCARO, JJ.

ROY NOBLE LEE, Chief Justice, for the Court:

Frank Lambert was indicted and tried on a charge of murder less than capital in the Circuit Court of Tishomingo County. The jury found him guilty as charged and the lower court sentenced Lambert to life in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. He has appealed to this Court and assigns eight (8) errors in the trial below.

On March 17, 1985, at approximately 8 p.m., Jefferson Davis Lambert (Jeff Lambert), the 76-year-old father of the appellant, Frank Lambert, was shot and killed in the home of appellant and his brother, D. Wayne Lambert, in Burnsville, Mississippi.

Evidence for the State reflected that on the afternoon of the homicide, about 5 p.m. until 6 p.m., a group of people were gathered in front of Wayne and Frank Lambert's home talking and drinking. Wayne was intoxicated and Millard Broadway helped him inside and into a bed. Broadway returned outside and saw Jeff Lambert lying on the ground bleeding from cuts on his forehead and temple. Obviously, appellant had struck Jeff Lambert with a wooden board. Shortly thereafter, the people left, and Broadway locked the front door to the Lambert house and went home. Broadway arrived home from the Lamberts about 6 p.m. and proceeded to take a nap until about 8 p.m. Appellant knocked at Broadway's door and stated: "I think I have killed Jeff ... they will send me off for sure this time." Broadway asked *578 Frank if he and Jeff had another fight and that appellant replied in the affirmative. Broadway went next door to appellant's house, and upon being let in by Wayne Lambert, he discovered Jeff Lambert's body in the foyer behind the front door and called for an ambulance.

Investigation by officers revealed that Jeff Lambert had died from buckshot wounds through the left arm and into the left chest. Donald Reno, Tishomingo County Deputy Sheriff, found one live .16-gauge shotgun shell at the scene lying beside the body of the victim, and he found the murder weapon, a .16-gauge single-barrel shotgun, in a bundle of clothing within a few feet of the couch upon which Wayne was lying and passed out. The next day, Police Chief Roger Hilburn found one spent .16-gauge shotgun shell on the ground in front of the Lambert home.

Appellant's defense was an alibi. Nettie Johnson, a neighbor and long-time friend of the Lambert family, was the sole witness produced for the defense. She testified that on March 17, at approximately 8 p.m., she and her son, Ricky Johnson, picked up Frank Lambert, standing in front of one Frankie Ozmond's place, and gave him a ride home.

I.

APPELLANT WAS DENIED DUE PROCESS OF LAW BY THE STATE'S FAILURE TO GRANT A PRELIMINARY HEARING.

Appellant argues that (1) he is constitutionally entitled to a preliminary hearing, (2) he never waived his right to a preliminary hearing, and (3) the State's action denied him a preliminary hearing.

The record reflects that on April 3 or 4, 1985, appellant was arrested on a homicide charge and that on April 5, 1985, he was released from custody after executing a $35,000 recognizance bond signed by him and two sureties. The bond was conditioned on his appearing before the Circuit Court of Tishomingo County on the 16th day of September, 1985, at 9:00 a.m. and there to remain from day to day to await the action of the grand jury on a charge of murder. Although presented with this matter, the grand jury did not return a true bill of indictment during the Summer 1985 Term and thereafter, counsel for appellant requested a preliminary hearing in the matter. A Justice Court Judge granted the preliminary hearing over the objection of the district attorney, and the State of Mississippi, feeling that it could not establish a prima facie case, nol prossed the case on the justice court level. The investigation of the case continued, and upon being presented to the grand jury again at the September 1985 Term, a true bill of indictment for murder was returned. Thereupon, appellant was arrested on a capias issued pursuant to that indictment.

The purpose of the preliminary hearing is to determine whether or not probable cause exists that the person accused has committed the crime, whether the accused is entitled to bond or should be required to execute bond to await the action of the grand jury. Beard v. State, 369 So.2d 769, 772-73 (Miss. 1979). In the present case, we are of the opinion that when appellant agreed to, and executed with sureties, a recognizance bond in the amount of $35,000, he effectively waived his right to a preliminary hearing. However, when he asked for such a hearing after the grand jury failed to indict him, and the district attorney dismissed the charges against him in the justice court, appellant was under no restraint and was not entitled to a preliminary hearing. There is no merit in this assignment.[1]

II.-III.

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO SUSTAIN THE DEMURRER TO THE INDICTMENT.

*579 THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO SUSTAIN APPELLANT'S MOTION TO SEQUESTER THE JURY.

The pertinent part of the indictment, to which appellant's demurrer points, follows:

That Frank Lambert in said county and state on the 17th day of March, A.D., 1985, did wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and of his malice aforethought kill and murder Jefferson Davis Lambert, a human being; contrary to the form of the statute in such cases made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the State of Mississippi.

This Court has upheld literally hundreds of indictments in the exact form. There is no merit in the contention. Hines v. State, 472 So.2d 386, 390 (Miss. 1985); Harden v. State, 465 So.2d 321, 324 (Miss. 1985); Jones v. State, 461 So.2d 686, 693-94 (Miss. 1984).

On January 13, 1986, during a pretrial hearing appellant moved to have the jury sequestered for the trial. The case was to be tried the next week before a different circuit judge, and the pretrial judge suggested to the attorney that the matter be taken up the following week. The record does not indicate that the motion was ever renewed or that the trial judge was given an opportunity to rule on the motion. Therefore, error cannot be charged against the lower court. Furthermore, the trial judge may, in the exercise of sound judicial discretion, either grant or refuse the request to sequester the jury. Rule 5.07, Mississippi Uniform Rules of Circuit Court Practice; Barnes v. State, 374 So.2d 1308, 1309 (Miss. 1979).

IV.

THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO SUSTAIN APPELLANT'S MOTION TO REVIEW THE NOTES OF WITNESS JOE E. McFERRIN.

Officer Joe E. McFerrin testified for the State. On cross-examination, the following questions and answers are reflected by the record:

Q. I believe, sir, you have referred to your file in testifying earlier?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you use that file to refresh your recollection of the events in this particular case?
A. Correct.
BY MR. CARLTON:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
524 So. 2d 576, 1988 WL 40725, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lambert-v-state-miss-1988.