Case Title: Hinton v. State

Citation: 222 So. 2d 690

Docket Number: 

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1969-05-05T00:00:00Z

Document:
222 So. 2d 690 (1969) William B. HINTON v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 45302. Supreme Court of Mississippi. May 5, 1969. A.S. Scott, Jr., Carl Dexter Ford, Laurel, for appellant. Joe T. Patterson, Atty. Gen., by G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. ROBERTSON, Justice: The appellant, William B. Hinton, was found guilty of constructive contempt of the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial District of Jones County, Mississippi, and was sentenced to be confined in the county jail for a period of six months and to pay a fine of $500. The Information charged: The assignment of error contends that three errors were committed by the circuit court. We find that only one of these assignments of error merits comment and discussion by this Court. That assignment is that the appellant should have been proceeded against, if at all, on an indictment and with a jury. In Clark v. United States, 61 F.2d 695 (8th Cir.1932), it was held that the falsity of responses to the district judge of a prospective juror who served on a mail fraud case was not known to the judge and the judge had no way of knowing the falsity thereof. The court said: In Young v. State, 230 Miss. 525, 93 So. 2d 452 (1957), the appellant contended that the trial court erred in denying him a jury trial. He was fined $150 and sentenced to be confined in jail for sixty days. This Court held that appellant was not entitled to a jury trial. The Supreme Court of the United States considered this question in Bloom v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 194, 88 S. Ct. 1477, 20 L. Ed. 2d 522 (1968). The Court said: We agree with the reasoning of the Court in Bloom v. Illinois, supra, that the punishment imposed should be looked to to determine whether the offense is petty or serious. We conclude that where the confinement is not more than six months and the fine not more than $500, that the offense is a petty one and the accused is not entitled to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. The judgment of the trial court is therefore affirmed. Affirmed. GILLESPIE, P.J., and RODGERS, JONES, and PATTERSON, JJ., concur.