Case Title: John v. State

Citation: 347 So. 2d 959

Docket Number: 

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1977-05-11T00:00:00Z

Document:
347 So. 2d 959 (1977) Smith JOHN and Harry John v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 49682. Supreme Court of Mississippi. May 11, 1977. Rehearing Denied July 20, 1977. *960 Edwin R. Smith, Philadelphia, for appellant. A.F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Catherine Walker Underwood, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before PATTERSON, SUGG and WALKER, JJ. SUGG, Justice, for the Court: The defendants, Smith John and Harry John, were convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced by the Circuit Court of Leake County to serve two years in the penitentiary.[1] The primary question is one of jurisdiction between the United States District Court and the Circuit Court of Leake County, Mississippi. Did the United States District Court have jurisdiction to try the defendants under the Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1153, or did the Leake County Circuit Court have jurisdiction to try the defendants under Mississippi Code Annotated *961 section 97-3-7(2) (Supp. 1976). Both courts could not have jurisdiction because the prosecution in each was based on the same acts of the defendants. The errors assigned are: (1) The trial court erred in failing to sustain defendants' motion to dismiss after their prosecution in United States District Court resulted in a conviction of simple assault based on the same incident which resulted in their conviction in the Circuit Court of Leake County. (2) The trial court erred in denying defendants' plea of former jeopardy because they had been convicted in United States District Court for the same act. (3) The trial court erred in subjecting defendants to trial following their trial in United States District Court because their trial in the state court constituted invidious racial discrimination. Defendants were convicted of simple assault in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi for violating 18 U.S.C.A. § 113 and were sentenced to serve ninety days and to pay a fine of $300. Federal custody over the defendants was obtained through a habeas corpus ad prosequendum. Defendants' brief states that the defendants' misdemeanor conviction in the United States District Court has been appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. They contend that unless and until the United States District Court's conviction is overturned the state has no right to proceed with its prosecution on the indictments in the state court. The United States District Court's judgment of conviction was entered December 15, 1975 before our decision in Tubby v. State, 327 So. 2d 272 (Miss. 1976) and before the decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States of America et al. v. State Tax Commission of State of Mississippi et al., 535 F.2d 300 (5th Cir.1976).[2] Tubby, supra, involved the conviction of a Choctaw Indian for arson for burning a house owned by another Choctaw Indian located on land purchased for the Choctaw Indians with trust funds held by the United States. We held in Tubby that Mississippi has criminal jurisdiction over all crimes committed by Choctaw Indians within this state because: (1) "Indian Country" within Mississippi was extinguished by land patents issued to the individual Choctaw Indians under the terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek. (2) All Choctaw Indians residing within Mississippi have been made citizens of the state by terms of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, by amendment to the Mississippi Constitution, and by Mississippi statutes. (3) The Choctaw Indians of Mississippi do not fall within the provisions of the Federal Indian Reorganization Act granting certain rights of home rule to Indians because they gave up their status as reservation Indians and became citizens of Mississippi before the enactment of the Indian Reorganization Act, §§ 1 et seq., 25 U.S.C.A. §§ 461 et seq. (4) Choctaw Indians became subject to Mississippi law when the United States Government issued patents to their land. (5) The courts of Mississippi have jurisdiction of Choctaw Indian citizens in the same manner and to the same extent that they have jurisdiction over other citizens of Mississippi. Although the decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. State Tax Commission, 535 F.2d 300 (5th Cir.1976) involved a tax question, the holding is persuasive on the issues involved in this case. The Fifth Circuit held: In view of Tubby and United States v. State Tax Commission, supra, we are of the opinion that the United States District Court had no jurisdiction to proceed with the prosecution of the defendants under 18 U.S.C.A. § 1153 (Supp. 1976). *963 In their second assignment of error defendants argue that they have been subjected to double jeopardy because they were convicted in the United States District Court under 18 U.S.C.A. § 1153 and under Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-3-7(2) (Supp. 1976) for the same act. The argument is without merit because former jeopardy does not exist unless the previous trial was before a court of competent jurisdiction. It has long been settled in this state that a party who has been tried and convicted by a court not having jurisdiction of the offense cannot plead former jeopardy if subsequently indicted for the same offense in a court having jurisdiction thereof. Montross v. State, 61 Miss. 429 (1883). We do not find any case in which the United States Supreme Court has addressed this question and none was cited in the briefs. However, the federal courts in the various circuits adhere to the rule expressed in Montross, supra. See cases annotated in West Federal Practice Digest, Criminal Law. In 22 C.J.S. Criminal Law § 244 at 643-644 (1961) the general rule is stated as follows: The trial of defendants in the Leake County Circuit Court following a trial in the United States District Court did not amount to double jeopardy because the United States District Court did not have jurisdiction of the crime with which defendants were charged. Defendants' third assignment of error is that their trial in state court constituted invidious racial discrimination and in their brief state the following: The fallacy of defendants' argument is that the United States District Court had no jurisdiction to try them under Major Crimes Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 1153. There is no Indian country in Mississippi, the defendants are citizens of Mississippi *964 subject to its laws, and therefore are subject to prosecution in its courts. Defendants stated in their brief that their conviction in the United States District Court has been appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. If the Fifth Circuit should hold that the United States District Court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C.A. § 1153 and affirm their conviction, a conflict in decisions between the Fifth Circuit and this Court would result. This conflict could then be properly resolved in the United States Supreme Court. The defendants are in the same position as any other defendant, regardless of race or color, who has been tried for a crime by a court which had no jurisdiction. We therefore reject this argument of defendants that they are victims of invidious racial discrimination because of their prosecution in the state court. AFFIRMED. GILLESPIE, C.J., PATTERSON and INZER, P. JJ., and SMITH, ROBERTSON and BROOM, JJ., concur. WALKER, J., specially concurs. LEE, J., took no part. WALKER, Justice, specially concurring. In view of this Court's holding in Tubby v. State, 327 So. 2d 272 (Miss. 1976), I concur. However, I am still of the opinion that Tubby was erroneously decided. [1] The judgment of the circuit court was entered May 7, 1976 and each defendant was given credit on the sentence for eight months and eight days time served in jail. The crime for which defendants were convicted occurred on August 30, 1975 and apparently they were detained in jail from the time of their arrest following the commission of the crime until they filed an appearance bond in connection with their appeal to this Court on May 10, 1976. [2] See decision of three judge panel in United States of America et al. v. State Tax Commission of State of Mississippi et al., 505 F.2d 633 (5th Cir.1974).