Title: Smith v. State
Citation: 569 So. 2d 1203
Docket Number: 89-KA-0416
State: Mississippi
Issuer: Mississippi Supreme Court
Date: October 24, 1990

569 So. 2d 1203 (1990) Darrell E. SMITH v. STATE of Mississippi. No. 89-KA-0416. Supreme Court of Mississippi. October 24, 1990. *1204 Thomas H. Comer, Jr., Comer &amp; Jenkins, Booneville, for appellant. Mike C. Moore, Atty. Gen. and Charles W. Maris, Jr., Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee. Before ROY NOBLE LEE, C.J., and ROBERTSON and SULLIVAN, JJ. ROY NOBLE LEE, Chief Justice, for the Court: Darrell E. Smith was convicted in the Prentiss County Circuit Court for sexual battery on a five year old male child. He has appealed to this Court and presents three issues for decision: The sordid facts of this case will not be detailed. Suffice it to say, the appellant, from the overwhelming evidence, sodomized the child by forcing anal intercourse upon him. The testimony of the child, his mother, the police, the physician, and the physical facts prove beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant committed the offense. Appellant contends that statements he made to Mrs. Kim Shackleford, Prentiss County Welfare Department, and Chief of Police Hubert Kitchens, City of Booneville, were not free and voluntary. He had waived his right to an attorney but he claimed that his drinking of intoxicating liquor and drunkenness the night before rendered his statement the next morning to those individuals involuntary. On cross-examination, the appellant testified that he remembered waiving his rights to an attorney and making a statement. On redirect examination, appellant testified to the following: In Johnson v. State, 511 So. 2d 1360 (Miss. 1987), the Court considered the degree of intoxication in determining whether a confession is voluntary: 511 So. 2d at 1365 (emphasis added). Appellant was arrested late in the evening on October 19, 1987. His interview took place the next morning. He testified that he was still partially drunk during the interview. No blood alcohol test was done, but the lapse between his arrest and the interview could not have been more than 11 or 12 hours. In Stevens v. State, 458 So. 2d 726 (Miss. 1984), the Court held that a period of 13 hours was sufficient to allow the defendant to sober up. The statements given to Mrs. Shackleford and Chief Kitchens were used for impeachment by the state. The voluntariness of the statement was not an issue during the trial. The issue on this appeal is resolved against the appellant. The jury retired to consider its verdict at 2:37 p.m. and informed the Court at 2:40 p.m. that it had arrived at a verdict, a period of three minutes having expired. Appellant complains that three minutes is not enough time for the jury to have considered his case. This Court has held that there is no formula to determine how long a jury should deliberate. Johnson v. State, 252 So. 2d 221 (Miss. 1971), cert. denied, 405 U.S. 991, 92 S. Ct. 1262, 31 L. Ed. 2d 459 (1972). In Johnson, the Court said: 252 So. 2d at 224 (emphasis added). The jury issue in this case was simple and concise. The jury heard the evidence, heard the instructions of the court on the law and found a verdict of guilty as charged. We cannot say that the length of the jury's deliberation indicated bias or prejudice toward the appellant on its part. Issue number two is resolved against the appellant. The appellant contends that his sentence of thirty years in the State Penitentiary is disproportionate to the crime of sexual battery. Section 97-3-101 Miss. *1206 Code Ann. 97-3-101 (Supp. 1980) provides that every person who shall be convicted of sexual battery shall be imprisoned in the state penitentiary for a period of not more than thirty (30) years. The maximum sentence under that statute was imposed upon the appellant. He cites no authority to support his position, nor was any objection made upon the imposition of the sentence. In Contreras v. State, 445 So. 2d 543, 546 (Miss. 1984), this Court said, as it has said many times: The issue is resolved against the appellant. There being no reversible errors in the record, the judgment of the lower court is affirmed. CONVICTION OF SEXUAL BATTERY AND SENTENCE OF THIRTY (30) YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AFFIRMED. HAWKINS and DAN M. LEE, P.JJ., and PRATHER, ROBERTSON, SULLIVAN, ANDERSON, PITTMAN and BLASS, JJ., concur.