Case Title: Jackson v. State

Citation: 311 So. 2d 658

Docket Number: 

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1975-03-24T00:00:00Z

Document:
311 So. 2d 658 (1975) Larry JACKSON a/k/a Karim Njabafudi v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 48157. Supreme Court of Mississippi. March 24, 1975. Rehearing Denied May 12, 1975. *659 Johnson & Walker, Jackson, Lewis Myers, Jr., Oxford, LeRoy D. Clark, New York City, for appellant. A.F. Summer, Atty. Gen., by Karen Gilfoy, Special Asst. Atty. Gen., John C. Underwood, Jr., Special Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before PATTERSON, ROBERTSON and WALKER, JJ. ROBERTSON, Justice. Larry Jackson, also known as Karim Njabafudi, was indicted in the Circuit Court of the First Judicial District of Hinds County for the murder of Lieutenant William L. Skinner on August 18, 1971. A motion for change of venue was sustained and Jackson was tried in the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County, the trial beginning on September 22, 1972, and concluding on September 25, 1972. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and the court sentenced Jackson to life imprisonment in the Mississippi State Penitentiary. He appeals from his conviction and sentence. This is the third case that this Court has considered, growing out of a shoot-out in the early morning hours of August 18, 1971, at 1148 Lewis Street in Jackson, Mississippi, between agents of the F.B.I. and members of the Jackson Police Department on one side, and members of the Republic of New Africa on the other. The first of these companion cases was Norman, a/k/a Hekima Ana, v. State, 302 So. 2d 254 (Miss. 1974), and the second was James, a/k/a Offogga Quaddus, v. State, 307 So. 2d 549. This Court affirmed the conviction of murder and sentence to life imprisonment in both Norman and James. The record in the case at bar consists of 976 pages contained in five volumes. The facts are practically identical with those in Norman and James. The F.B.I. had a fugitive arrest warrant for one Jerry Steiner for the crime of murder in Michigan; the *660 Jackson Police Department had affidavits and arrest warrants for Henry J. Hatches, Jessie L. Nicholson, and "Larry ____". The F.B.I. and the Jackson Police Department had received reliable information that Steiner, Hatches, Nicholson and Larry were either at 1320 Lynch Street or 1148 Lewis Street, the Republic of New Africa being in the process of moving its headquarters from Lewis Street to Lynch Street. For the record, it was stipulated by counsel for the State and counsel for the defendant, Larry Jackson, as follows: When the force composed of FBI agents and JPD policemen attempted to serve these arrest warrants on August 18, 1971, the shoot-out occurred and Lieutenant William L. Skinner of the Jackson Police Department was killed and an FBI agent and a JPD policeman injured by rifle fire coming from 1148 Lewis Street. None of the seven occupants, including this defendant, of 1148 Lewis Street was injured. The Lewis Street headquarters contained a bunker-type fortification in the basement and after about 20 or 30 minutes of firing when the seven occupants finally surrendered, they emerged from a tunnel connected with the basement bunker. The seven occupants including defendant Jackson were seated on the curb in front of an adjoining house and guarded by two FBI agents and a policeman when their Miranda rights were explained to them by FBI Agent Holder and they were questioned by FBI Agent Lester Amann. Larry Jackson was the last one questioned, and he advised Amann that he fired a 30.06 rifle out of the right side of the house which Amann took to mean the west side. Norman, guarding the south side of RNA headquarters, fired the fatal shot that killed Lieutenant Skinner. The State's case was based on Mississippi Code Annotated section 97-1-3 (1972), which provides: After a careful study and review of the record, we are of the opinion that appellant Jackson was an active participant, voluntarily aiding and abetting Norman, James and the others involved in the defense of RNA headquarters and the fatal shooting of Lieutenant Skinner. This language of Section 97-1-3 was applicable to him: "[He] shall be deemed and considered a principal, and shall be indicted and punished as such." The only difference between this case and the Norman and James cases is that Jackson was 15 2/3 years old when this shoot-out took place on August 18, 1971, and Norman and James were adults. The only assignments of error that we will discuss will be those dealing with the minority question. In his first assignment of error, Jackson contends: Mississippi Code Annotated Section 43-21-31 (1972) provides: In Davis v. State, 204 So. 2d 270 (Miss. 1967), and on retrial, 255 So. 2d 916 (Miss. 1971), this Court affirmed the conviction and sentence of a 14-year-old defendant for the crime of rape. This Court said, in Davis: Appellant also contends that Section 43-21-31 is unconstitutional because it vests power in the prosecutor to determine whether a juvenile defendant will be tried as a juvenile or an adult. The appellant argues that the prosecutor makes the decision whether a juvenile will be charged with murder rather than manslaughter. This falls within the long accepted concept of prosecutorial discretion and also focuses attention on the fundamental constitutional principle of separation of powers. The district attorney, of course, would be an officer of the executive department of government, as distinguished from the judicial department. The United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, dealt with this question in Cox v. United States, 473 F.2d 334 (1973). In Cox the Court said: Appellant next contends that section 43-21-31 is unconstitutional because it violates his right to a presumption of innocence, that he was penalized and denied a due process hearing solely by virtue of an unproven charge of murder. We think that this argument was fully answered and finally laid to rest in Bland v. United States, 153 U.S.App.D.C. 254, 472 F.2d 1329 (1972), cert. den. 412 U.S. 909, 93 S. Ct. 2294, 36 L. Ed. 2d 975. The Circuit Court of Appeals posed the question in this way: In reversing the order of the District Court and remanding the case for trial to that court, the Court of Appeals said: We hold that Section 43-21-31 is constitutional. Appellant next contends that the trial court erred in overruling his motion to suppress statements made by him as he sat on the curb on Lewis Street, along with his six adult colleagues, because such statement was taken in violation of his rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S. Ct. 1602, 16 L. Ed. 2d 694 (1966). The appellant himself stated at the preliminary hearing on the motion to suppress that he dropped out of school in the 8th grade "and I became a citizen when I was twelve years old of the Republic of New Africa." He also testified: On August 18, 1971, the date of the shoot-out, appellant was a seasoned member of the Republic of New Africa, having been an active member for almost four years. His testimony at the preliminary hearing reflected very clearly that he knew his constitutional rights, and in fact was somewhat of an expert on constitutional rights. He was in the company of his six adult colleagues when FBI Agent Holder fully explained his Miranda rights to him. In Norman v. State, 302 So. 2d 254 (Miss. 1974), we said: The record in the case at bar reflects that appellant fully understood his constitutional rights, and his answers were freely, voluntarily and intelligently given at the same time and under the same circumstances that Norman and James voluntarily gave their answers. All the appellant said was that he was firing a 30.06 rifle from the west side of the beleaguered headquarters at 1148 Lewis Street. The jury was fully justified in finding beyond a reasonable doubt from the testimony adduced that appellant, in conjunction with others, was guilty of the murder of Lieutenant Skinner. The conviction and sentence are, therefore, affirmed. Affirmed. GILLESPIE, C.J., RODGERS, P.J., and INZER, SMITH, SUGG and BROOM, JJ., concur.