Case Title: Jones v. State

Citation: 398 So. 2d 1312

Docket Number: 52536

State: mississippi

Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

Date: 1981-05-27T00:00:00Z

Document:
398 So. 2d 1312 (1981) Howard JONES v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 52536. Supreme Court of Mississippi. May 27, 1981. Tom Tullos, Bay Springs, for appellant. Bill Allain, Atty. Gen., Marvin L. White, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before ROBERTSON, P.J., and BROOM and HAWKINS, JJ. *1313 HAWKINS, Justice, for the Court: The appellant Howard G. Jones was convicted by the Circuit Court of Jasper County of aggravated assault in the shooting of Mrs. Doris Hutto with a .22 calibre pistol, and sentenced to serve a term of 15 years. He was indicted by the grand jury of that county March 7, 1979, and his first trial began September 7, 1979. During the course of the first trial several law enforcement officers, prefatory to offering into evidence a taped recording of Jones's confession, testified before the court as well as the jury that allMiranda warnings had been given. When the tape was played before the jury, however, the first words heard were a request by the defendant for a lawyer. Defense counsel promptly objected, and the court declared a recess. Out of the presence of the jury it was revealed the officers had two taped recordings of statements made by the defendant. The first was played to the jury by the state, the prosecution apparently being totally unaware of the content of the first statement before it was actually played to the jury. The court directed both tapes be played in chambers. Discomfited, the state's attorney then told the court the state could not proceed with the case before that jury. The court called the jury back into the courtroom, and announced the court was excluding the confession. The state then announced it was not able to proceed "with this particular trial and the state moves for a mistrial." *1314 The court thereupon announced: "The mistrial will be granted," and dismissed the jury. Prior to the second trial, the defendant made a motion to dismiss because of the double jeopardy proscription of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Nevertheless, another trial was held March 6, 1980, at which time the defendant was convicted. The critical issues raised by this appeal are first, whether or not the prohibition against double jeopardy had attached when the state made its motion for a mistrial, and secondly, did the court abuse its discretion in granting a mistrial, thereby giving the defendant immunity from further prosecution. We are compelled to answer both propositions in the affirmative. Mandated by decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the rule in this state beginning with this case is that double jeopardy attaches in any criminal proceeding at the moment the trial jury is selected and sworn to try the case. Because of the guarantee against double jeopardy granted to all citizens by the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution no retrial for the same offense will be permitted in any criminal case in which the first trial, following the swearing and impaneling of the jury, was aborted prior to conclusion, unless exceptional circumstances existed in the first case, and there was a manifest necessity for the trial judge to declare a mistrial. In the halcyon days of prosecution of criminal cases in Mississippi, the rule in all our state courts was double jeopardy prohibition did not attach until there had been a verdict by the jury or judgment of the court. In Lovern v. State, 140 Miss. 635, 105 So. 759 (1925), this Court held: This rule was followed in the cases of State v. Pace, 210 Miss. 448, 49 So. 2d 710 (1951) and Bounds v. State, 271 So. 2d 435 (Miss. 1973). The federal courts, however, have consistently applied a different rule. In United States v. Perez, 22 U.S. 579, 9 Wheat 579, 6 L. Ed. 165 (1824), in the first trial a mistrial was declared because of a hung jury. Upon retrial, the defendant pleaded double jeopardy. This claim was rejected by the United States Supreme Court, but with the following cautionary language: In Green v. United States, 355 U.S. 184, 78 S. Ct. 221, 2 L. Ed. 2d 199 (1957), the defendant's indictment charged arson in the first count and murder in the first degree in the second count. As to the second count, on the trial, the trial judge instructed the jury on both first and second degree murder. The jury returned a verdict finding *1315 the defendant guilty of arson under the first count and of second degree murder under the second count. Upon the defendant's appeal from his conviction of second degree murder, the Court of Appeals reversed that conviction. On remand the defendant was tried again for first degree murder under the original indictment, and at the outset of the second trial he raised the defense of former jeopardy, which was overruled. He was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death. This conviction was affirmed by the nine judges sitting en banc in the Court of Appeals, but the case was reversed by the United States Supreme Court. The United States Supreme Court held that the defendant could not be tried again for first degree murder. The Court used the following language: In the case of Downum v. United States, 372 U.S. 734, 83 S. Ct. 1033, 10 L. Ed. 2d 100 (1963) during a criminal prosecution in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, after the jury had been selected and sworn, and instructed to return that afternoon, the prosecution asked that the jury be discharged because its key witness had not yet been found. Over the objection of the defendant, the court discharged the jury, and two days later empaneled a second jury, which found the accused guilty. The United States Supreme Court held this to be impermissible, that the government should not be permitted to try the defendant a second time under the circumstances of this case. Again, the language of the court is very instructive: In the case of United States v. Jorn, 400 U.S. 470, 91 S. Ct. 547, 27 L. Ed. 2d 543 (1970), the United States was prosecuting in the District Court of Utah a preparer of income tax returns for willfully assisting in the preparation of fraudulent income tax returns. The jury was duly empaneled, and the first witness, a government agent, had completed his testimony. The trial judge, acting on his own motion, discharged the jury and declared a mistrial when he concluded that taxpayers who were to be called as witnesses by the government, and who allegedly had been aided by the defendant in preparing their returns, had not been properly advised on initial contact by the Internal Revenue Service of their constitutional rights against self-incrimination, and thus should be allowed to consult with attorneys. Beginning on page 554, the Court made the following statement: The Court again stated on 400 U.S. page 482, 91 S.Ct. page 536: Again on 400 U.S. page 485, 91 S.Ct. page 557 of the opinion, the Court stated the following: As to the argument made before the Supreme Court that the prosecutor did not request a mistrial, nor in fact did the defendant object, the Court stated the following beginning on 400 U.S. page 485, 91 S.Ct. page 557 of the opinion: In Gori v. United States, 367 U.S. 364, 81 S. Ct. 2523, 6 L. Ed. 2d 901 (1961) the district judge declared a mistrial under circumstances which led the appellate courts to conclude he had done so to protect the interest of the accused. The United States Supreme Court held this action, having been made in the interest of the accused, did not prevent a retrial. Also, annotations of cases involving the claim of double jeopardy after declaration of a mistrial in federal courts, 6 L.Ed.2d pp. 1510-1519, give further examples. Beginning with Benton v. Maryland, 395 U.S. 784, 89 S. Ct. 2056, 23 L. Ed. 2d 707 (1969), the United States Supreme Court has held the double jeopardy bar of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution is applicable to state court trials as well. Also, Illinois v. Somerville, 410 U.S. 458, 93 S. Ct. 1066, 35 L. Ed. 2d 425 (1972). Crist v. Bretz, 437 U.S. 28, 98 S. Ct. 2156, 57 L. Ed. 2d 24 (1977) bears heavily on the ruling we must make in this case. In Crist, a Montana state court, after the jury was empaneled and sworn, but before any witnesses were sworn, granted a prosecution motion to dismiss the information. Thereafter, a second information, not containing the error for which the first information had been dismissed, was filed, and at the beginning of the second trial defendants made a motion to dismiss on ground of double jeopardy clauses of the United States and Montana Constitutions. The trial court overruled the motion, and the defendants applied for habeas corpus relief in the Supreme Court of Montana, which was denied. The case proceeded to trial, and upon their conviction, the defendants applied for habeas corpus relief in a United States District Court. When the case reached the United States Supreme Court, it held the federal rule that jeopardy attaches when the jury is empaneled and sworn is an integral part of the constitutional guarantee against double jeopardy, and therefore applicable to state courts as well. The second trial of the defendants was held to be impermissible under the United States Constitution. In Arizona v. Washington, 434 U.S. 497, 98 S. Ct. 824, 54 L. Ed. 2d 717 (1977) defense counsel made prejudicial comments to the jury in his opening statement after being warned by the Court to refrain from doing so. The Court declared a mistrial upon the *1318 motion of the state. The trial judge did not expressly find there was a manifest necessity for a mistrial, nor expressly state he had considered alternative solutions and concluded none would be adequate to cure the prejudice arising from the comments made by defense counsel. The United States Supreme Court made the following observations, beginning on 434 U.S. page 507, 98 S.Ct. page 831, 54 L.Ed.2d page 729 of the Report: The Court finally concluded, that even though the trial judge had made no express finding before declaring a mistrial, it was obvious in this case there was no abuse of discretion in declaring a mistrial, and by so doing he had not granted the defendant immunity from retrial for the same offense. It could be argued the failure of defense counsel to object to the court's ordering a mistrial upon the motion of the state cured such error. We cannot agree with this contention, because in the first place, the wise and learned trial judge, with a wide experience in conducting trials in circuit court, would certainly have offered defense counsel an opportunity to interpose an objection had he any thought of sustaining such an objection and ordering the trial to continue. If trial judges have any inclination whatever except to grant a motion made by a party, they invariably ask opposing counsel for their position on the motion. In the second place, when a mistrial is granted under such circumstances as in this case, the defendant is not required to object in order to avail himself of the constitutional privilege against being prosecuted twice. There may well be gray areas in which the trial judge must exercise his discretionary powers in determining whether or not a mistrial should be declared, and in which the position of both parties is requested by the court, where the defendant's position of either objecting or assenting to a mistrial will become quite relevant in considering whether a retrial constitutes double jeopardy. There are also cases, of course, in which the defendant himself must for his protection affirmatively move for a mistrial. A mistrial granted in such a case would never bar a subsequent trial for the same offense. We cannot lay down precise or exact rules, each case must rest upon its own particular facts. We do hold, however, that in a clear cut case as this, the failure of defense counsel to interpose an objection, when a mistrial is abruptly declared will not authorize a subsequent trial for the same offense. We have no doubt given a broader view of the application of the federal rule in various cases than necessary to reach a decision in this case, hopefully in order to demonstrate to prosecuting attorneys and trial judges there is no simple rule or formula defining the standard of "manifest necessity" or when exceptional circumstances exist justifying a declaration of mistrial by the trial court. The question is not easily answered. There are obvious cases of manifest necessity, e.g., a hopelessly hung jury, or a tainted jury, just as this case is an obvious case where "manifest necessity" to declare a mistrial was absent. In the final analysis, the determinations must be made by the trial judge fulfilling his somber responsibility as to when justice requires him to declare a mistrial. Although it may not be necessary in each case to do so, we believe a prudent procedure for any trial court before declaring a mistrial would be to state into the record *1319 the reasons for declaring a mistrial. It is in his sound discretion to determine the necessity of declaring a mistrial, and upon any appeal his reasons as stated for the record will be accorded the greatest weight and respect by an appellate court. Schwarzauer v. State, 339 So. 2d 980 (Miss. 1976) was a harbinger to prosecuting attorneys and trial judges this State might depart from the previous rule existing in state prosecutions as to when double jeopardy attached. In that case the trial court had sequestered the jury, and learned the next day two of the jurors during the night had become separated from the remaining jurors and visited in the motel lobby where the jury was spending the night. The trial judge declared a mistrial. The defendant argued double jeopardy in the second trial, and also upon appeal to this Court following conviction. We held the mistrial was ordered because the judge felt compelled to take such action in order to protect the rights of the defendant and the state to the end that justice would be served. No refuge was taken in that case under the prevailing state court rule at the time that double jeopardy did not attach until an acquittal or conviction. We stated therein, page 982: In this case, and in an attempt to give a somewhat broader perspective of the problem facing trial courts before declaring a mistrial, we reiterate the above quoted language from Schwarzauer. The judgment of conviction is therefore reversed, and the appellant discharged. REVERSED AND APPELLANT DISCHARGED. PATTERSON, C.J., SMITH and ROBERTSON, P. JJ., and SUGG, WALKER, BROOM, LEE and BOWLING, JJ., concur. [1] In the early years of our Nation's history, the Federal rule was the same as our State court rule. See cases cited in footnote to Perez. Even Judge Story, the author of the Perez opinion, in his Commentaries on the Constitution, § 1781, pp. 659-660, said as much. Apparently, when Perez was handed down in 1824, the Court had changed its mind.