Stokes v. State

797 So. 2d 381, 2001 WL 714835
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJune 26, 2001
Docket2000-KA-01376-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 797 So. 2d 381 (Stokes 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
Stokes v. State, 797 So. 2d 381, 2001 WL 714835 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

797 So.2d 381 (2001)

Bobby Todd STOKES, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2000-KA-01376-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

June 26, 2001.

*382 David Clay Vanderburg, Attorney for Appellant.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, Jackson, Attorney for Appellee.

Before KING, P.J., PAYNE, LEE, and CHANDLER, JJ.

PAYNE, J., for the Court:

The names of the victim and her relatives have been changed.

*383 PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 1. Bobby Todd Stokes was indicted in Yalobusha County for one count of kidnaping and one count of statutory rape. He was tried by jury in Yalobusha County Circuit Court and found not guilty of the kidnaping, but guilty of rape. Stokes was sentenced to serve forty years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Stokes filed motions for a new trial and JNOV, which were denied. From this judgment and sentence, Stokes now appeals. Finding no merit to this appeal, the judgment and sentence are affirmed.

FACTS

¶ 2. On November 15, 1999, Stokes appeared at the home of Annie Doe, maternal grandmother to Jane Doe, age eleven, and told Jane that her paternal grandmother, Betty Jones, asked him to pick her up. Jane got in Stokes's truck, but rather than deliver her directly to Jones, Stokes continued on into the country. Jane testified that Stokes told her to not tell anyone what he was going to do to her. Stokes then pulled off his clothes and Jane's clothes and attempted to penetrate her. Jane testified that she started crying and Stokes took her to Jones's home. Upon arriving, Jane was still crying, and her grandmother asked what was wrong. Jane did not answer as Stokes had come into the apartment behind her and sat down with Jane's father and grandfather. Eventually Jane's father and grandfather left, and Stokes left approximately thirty minutes later. Jones asked Jane, "What you keep crying for?" Jones testified that Jane, still crying, said Stokes "took me out there and raped me."

ISSUES PRESENTED

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 3. Stokes makes two assignments of error on this appeal, as follows:

I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING STOKE'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS HIS STATEMENT TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.
II. THE COURT ERRED IN ALLOWING HEARSAY TESTIMONY DURING THE TRIAL OF THIS CASE.

We look to Duplantis v. State, 644 So.2d 1235 (Miss.1994), for our standard of review with regard to admissibility of a confession:

This Court will reverse a trial court's finding that a confession is admissible only when an incorrect legal standard was applied, manifest error was committed, or the decision is contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.

Duplantis, 644 So.2d at 1243 (citing Willie v. State, 585 So.2d 660, 665 (Miss.1991)).

DISCUSSION

I. CONFESSION.

¶ 4. Stokes, after being advised of his rights, gave a signed statement to the Yalobusha County Sheriff, Lloyd Defer, in the presence of Lynn Allen Fly, a deputy sheriff. Stokes later denied the contents of the statement, claiming that he at first told Defer that he did not do it, "which was true, and they ragged me for half a day." He stated that he got tired of them "ragging" him and finally told them what they wanted to hear. Stokes filed a motion to suppress the statement. During a suppression hearing, Stokes testified that he was intoxicated at the time of his arrest, and that, although he completed high school, he had been in special education and could not read or write. Stokes contends that the burden lies with the State to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the voluntariness of the statement, relying on Agee v. State, 185 So.2d 671 (Miss.1966). *384 The court in Richardson v. State, 722 So.2d 481 (Miss.1998), held as follows:

The State shoulders the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the confession was voluntary. Morgan [v. State], 681 So.2d at 86 (citing Haymer v. State, 613 So.2d 837, 839 (Miss.1993)). The State's burden is met and a prima facie case made out by testimony of an officer, or other persons having knowledge of the facts, that the confession was voluntarily made without threats, coercion, or offer of reward.

Richardson, 722 So.2d at 487 (other citations omitted).

¶ 5. Stokes further maintains that the State must demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the statement was voluntarily given at a time when the suspect was fully informed of his rights in that regard and, nevertheless, elected to waive that protection. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 444, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). Stokes contends that, due to his limited education, he should have had a court appointed attorney during the interrogation in which his statement was elicited, and that the "confession was illegal because it was taken by deception under alleged circumstances denying [his] right to counsel and due process of law."

¶ 6. At the suppression hearing, Sheriff Defer and Deputy Sheriff Fly testified that Stokes was advised of his rights, that he appeared to understand his rights, but did not request a lawyer. They also testified that Stokes both read, and had read to him, the typewritten statement that he freely and voluntarily signed. Defer testified that he read the statement completely, from top to bottom, to Stokes, then gave it to Stokes to read. Defer stated that Stokes began reading the statement out loud, then Defer said "All right, you can read. Take your time and read it. When you get through, sign your name to it." Stokes testified that the sheriff did not force him to sign the statement, nor did he make Stokes any promises. Stokes claims that Defer asked him to sign the statement, and he signed it not knowing that it was a confession.

¶ 7. The trial court stated in its ruling that, despite some degree of conflicting testimony and after observing Stokes and listening to his testimony, it appears that the State had proven the voluntariness of the statement from the totality of the circumstances and beyond a reasonable doubt. As pointed out by the State, the "totality of the circumstances" approach "should be used in determining the admissibility of confessions, whether they come from minors or adults." Woodham v. State, 779 So.2d 158, (¶ 13) (Miss. 2001). Additionally, "where there is conflicting evidence on a confession's admissibility, this Court will not disturb the court's findings `unless it appears clearly contrary to the overwhelming weight of the evidence.'" O'Halloran v. State, 731 So.2d 565 (¶ 18)(Miss.1999) (quoting Wiley v. State, 465 So.2d 318, 320 (Miss.1985)).

¶ 8. The two deputies who arrested Stokes told Defer that Stokes said he had drunk two beers. Therefore, Defer had Stokes put in a cell, and did not question him until the next morning. Defer testified that at the time Stokes gave his statement, he appeared to understand where he was and what was going on. Stokes never mentioned being drunk, did not act drunk, did not look drunk, and had been in jail for approximately twelve hours before he gave his statement. The trial court found as a fact that Stokes, if intoxicated at all, was not intoxicated to such a degree as to render his statement involuntary.

¶ 9. The State contends that "[o]nce the trial judge has determined, at a preliminary hearing, that a confession is admissible, *385

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
797 So. 2d 381, 2001 WL 714835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/stokes-v-state-missctapp-2001.