Townsel v. State

87 So. 2d 481, 228 Miss. 110, 1956 Miss. LEXIS 493
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedMay 21, 1956
Docket40187
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 87 So. 2d 481 (Townsel 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
Townsel v. State, 87 So. 2d 481, 228 Miss. 110, 1956 Miss. LEXIS 493 (Mich. 1956).

Opinion

*113 Ethridge, J.

On December 28, 1955, appellant Dewey Townsel killed his wife by stabbing her with a knife. He was indicted, tried and convicted for her murder and sentenced to death. On this appeal the principal issue is whether he should have a new trial because of newly discovered evidence.

I.

Townsel and his wife Sizzie lived on a plantation in Coahoma County. She decided to move to another farm, and with the help of her mother Ollie Jamison, her brothers Robert Jamison, Jr., and Clyde Jamison, and her daughter Ollie Mae McCranney, Sizzie moved her clothing, belongings and furniture to a house on another plantation. Around 2:00 to'3:00 o’clock on the afternoon of December 28, 1955, appellant came to the house and spoke to his wife, her mother, brothers and daughter. He told Sizzie he wanted to speak to her, so she went to the back door, but stopped there, saying she would go no further. They then went back to the front room. Appellant asked his wife where the blanket was which he had given her, and she told him it was in the trunk. Sizzie asked her mother to get the blanket, and after she had obtained it Ollie. looked around and saw appellant *114 stabbing his wife Sizzie with a large knife. The deceased’s mother, daughter, and two brothers all testified at the trial. Their versions were in substantial agreement. Sizzie received four knife wounds, one in the back and three in the front of her body. She apparently died almost instantly. The four eyewitnesses all testified that they noticed nothing unusual about appellant’s appearance. He did not seem to be mad about anything; and appeared to be in a normal frame of mind, “just like always.” When he came in and spoke to his wife’s family, he did not seem to be angry at anyone. These statements by the State’s witnesses were elicited upon cross-examination by appellant’s counsel.

Townsel drove up to the house where the killing occurred in a car with Willie Spencer. Spencer remained out in front of the house. Robert, Sizzie’s eighteen year old brother, went outside to talk with Spencer. He heard his mother call out to him for help. Robert ran in the house and saw appellant sitting on Sizzie, striking her with the knife. Robert hit appellant on the head with a hoe, breaking the handle. Appellant turned and started chasing-Robert, who ran around the house and back into it, and picked up a shotgun. Robert then began chasing appellant, and chased him for some distance with the shotgun containing No. 6 shot. Robert shot appellant in the back two times, peppering his back with the shot. Robert chased appellant, who was running at full speed, about one-half of a mile, and finally caught him and restrained him until Deputy Sheriff George Butler arrived. Butler testified that blood was dripping a little bit from appellant’s back from the buckshot. He asked Townsel about his wife, and he said “Yes, sir, I cut her.” Asked why he did it, Townsel replied, “She made me mad. ’ ’ Appellant gave Butler no trouble when arrested. In about fifteen minutes Butler turned the prisoner over to Deputy Sheriff Thomas E. Bingham, who also testi *115 fied that Townsel admitted stabbing his wife with a knife. He described the four wonnds on her body.

II.

The verdict of gnilty and the judgment of the circuit court were entered on January 19, 1956. On January 25, six days later, appellant by his attorneys filed an unsworn motion for a new trial. No affidavits were attached to it, but testimony was taken. Appellant did not testify. The motion averred that appellant’s counsel had been diligent, but that nevertheless after the trial Dr. I. S. Coe, the Clarksdale physician who treated defendant for gunshot wounds on the afternoon of the killing, contacted his attorneys and advised them that when he treated him for gunshot wounds that afternoon, appellant was so drunk as to be unable to have wilfully harbored a malicious intent to kill his wife.

Appellant’s two attorneys, who were appointed by the court and who have handled this matter capably and well, said that the indictment was returned on January 9, and they were appointed on January 11, prior to the trial on January 19; that on the day of their appointment and on other occasions before trial they went to Jones-town and other communities in the area and interviewed all but two of the witnesses. They talked to the manager of the farm on which Townsel lived “and there was indication . . . that Dewey had had a drink on the morning of December 28th, 1955. As far as Dewey being drunk, there was never any evidence of any kind with regard thereto ...” They did not talk to the two children who were eyewitnesses, eleven and twelve years of age, but on the trial these persons testified as appellant’s counsel had been told they would. They did not talk to Dr. Coe, who had treated appellant’s wound. On the night following the jury’s verdict Dr. Coe advised-Townsel’s attorneys that when he treated him on the afternoon of the killing Townsel was severely-intoxicated.-

*116 Reed B. Hogan, Administrator of the Coahoma County Hospital, stated that the hospital records reflected that appellant was admitted to the hospital emergency room at 3:00 p. m. and admitted through the business office at 4:40 p. m. Dr. I. S. Coe testified that he treated appellant for gunshot wounds on December 28. He saw him in the emergency room immediately after he was brought in, and the emergency records reflect that it was 3:00 p. m. When Dr. Coe examined appellant he was ‘ ‘ pretty well knocked out... he was drunk; unable to say how it happened. ’ ’ He said that appellant was ‘ ‘ stuporously drunk; he was unable to respond to any questions; he could not stand; and couldn’t comprehend what you were saying to him.” In his opinion appellant did not have sufficient mental capacity at the time Coe examined him to have any intent of any kind. One hour prior to the time he saw appellant, appellant “could very well have been just highly intoxicated. The shock of being shot and what he had been through certainly caused the effect of alcohol just to overcome him.” He could not tell how long appellant had been in that stuporous condition. He sewed up the wounds in appellant’s back without an anesthetic, because he was “completely anesthetized.” Appellant had multiple bullet holes sprayed in him, and some of the shot had gone into his chest and caused a collapse of the left lung.

In rebuttal, the State offered five witnesses, all of whom testified that when they saw appellant he was in their opinion not drunk, he acted normally and was capable of forming a criminal intent. The deceased’s mother had seen appellant the day of the killing on two occasions prior to his visit to the house. He did not appear to be drunk. Robert said that he chased Townsel at least a half mile; that appellant ran fast and well; and that he smelled no whiskey on him, and saw nothing unusual about his appearance. Deputy Sheriffs Butler, Smith and Bingham testified that when they saw- appellant *117 shortly after the killing he answered questions intelligibly, did not stagger, walked all right, and did not appear to be intoxicated. Butler smelled no whiskey on appellant, but Smith and Bingham stated that they smelled a faint odor of alcohol on him.

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Bluebook (online)
87 So. 2d 481, 228 Miss. 110, 1956 Miss. LEXIS 493, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/townsel-v-state-miss-1956.