Court Opinion

ID: 9685192
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 14:25:46.876296+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:18:03.131138
License: Public Domain

Roberds, J.,
Dissenting.
I think the nature of the charge to the grand jury was ground for quashing the indictment. The full purport *152and effect of the language can the better be determined by more extended quotations from the charge than are contained in the majority opinion, especially the quotations specifically applicable to appellant. It will aid in determining the effect, as applied to this appellant, to have in mind that, from wide publicity through newspapers and radio, it was generally known that appellant and his supposed accomplice, Elaine Forman, were nonresidents of Mississippi, and that the persons they were alleged to have killed were two policemen in the City of Hattiesburg.
The charge began by reminding the grand jurors they were then called upon to do their duty as citizens and to their government; that “it is a great duty, it is a solemn duty”; that they might be embarrassed in the discharge of that duty, and “sometimes you will be in the predicament of the soldier who was called upon to make a great sacrifice for his country.” It then reminded the jurors of the fundamental principles underlying our Government and that these were bought by the blood of our forefathers, and “it took courage and blood to purchase them and hand them down to us”, but that sometimes “we are” inclined to neglect and dissipate them. Then follows this statement: “You know, when — if you will pardon me for a self-reference — in World War One when I was yonder in Belleau Woods I learned what the test of a good soldier was, and I learned that in the supreme test some men would stand, and then some would throw down their guns and run, or hide in the dugout, yet, they were being called upon to sacrifice to preserve these inherited principles”; that some men, when called upon in the supreme test, “fail to stand up to the test, they throw down their guns and run or hide out in the dugout”, and then “a man who cannot stand in the face of the test is not worthy of the name of an American citizen, he is ready to waste his inheritance for his own personal gain”. Then immediately follows this statement: “I am *153informed, and it is no nse for a man to’ stick Ms head in the sand like an ostrich and try to dodge, I am informed that recently in this county some people have come into the county and taken the lives of two soldiers who have paid the supreme sacrifice to uphold the law. Their blood cries out from the ground to you today. Will you be a good soldier, or will you hide in the dugout?” Later the grand jurors were asked “Will you be a good soldier, or will you throw down your gun and run, or will you hide in the dugout?”
This Court has set out the guiding prohibitions and principles in such cases in this language: “It is the province of the Circuit Judge and his duty to inveigh against crime of all kinds and in every quarter, but it is a usurpation of power to denounce individuals, or to specifically direct the attention of the grand jury to any named person. It is not every man who is accused of crime who is guilty, and every man, whether accused or not, is entitled to the presumption of innocence until, legally convicted. This presumption is binding upon the petit jury, and stands as a witness in favor of the defendant when on trial. It guards him before the grand jury until their investigations have produced proof believed by them which overthrows it. It protects him from the Circuit Judge in his charge to the grand jury, and forbids that any word from that high station, so apt, on account of its dignity and importance, to influence by its slightest utterance, should prejudice the grand jury when it enters upon the consideration of violations of the law. ... If the grand jury is to he kept free, as has been repeatedly announced by this court, from all undue outside influences, of what grave importance is it that this undue influence should not proceed from the very officers to whom they must look for guidance, and whose decision and judgment they must take as the law? And the general observations made upon this line apply with equal force to all utterances of presiding judges, *154■which during the progress of a trial, might inure to the prejudice of defendants accused of crime.”
“The deliberations of the juries, both grand and petit, must be preserved inviolate from all outside influences, no matter from what source they emanate. The judge, by express statutory enactment, is forbidden to ‘sum up or comment on the testimony, or charge the jury as to the weight of evidence.’ It is certainly contrary to the policy of our law, and flagrantly violative of the fundamental principles of justice, for a judge to inject his opinion of the guilt of a defendant, based merely upon rumor or private information, into the minds of the jurors who may be impaneled to pass upon the question of his guilt or innocence.” Fuller v. State, 85 Miss. 199, 37 So. 749.
That quotation contains two prohibitions — that the trial judge shall not direct the attention of the grand jury “to any named person”, nor shall he influence or induce the grand jury to return an indictment against any particular person.
Did this charge, in effect, name any person? That, of course, can be done specifically or by inference. The charge said “I am informed that recently in this county some people have come into the county and taken the lives of two soldiers who have paid the supreme sacrifice to uphold the law”. Now, both appellant and Elaine Foreman were nonresidents of Mississippi; they had come into the county; they were in jail in that county. This was all disclosed by wide publicity throughout the county. Two policemen had been killed — the “two soldiers”. We must presume that the jurors were men of average intelligence. So assuming, the conclusion is inescapable they knew to whom reference was made in that charge. They knew it as certainly as though the names of Wheeler and Foreman had been called. This was not a general reference to the crime of homicide, and the desirability of enforcing the law against it. It, in *155effect, told the jurors appellant and Foreman had killed the two soldiers.
Did the wording and context naturally have the effect of influencing, or inducing, the jurors to find and return an indictment against Wheeler and Foreman? They were jointly indicted. It would be difficult to conceive of a more effective build-up of sacred principles which the jurors would violate if they failed to indict appellant. It was their duty to their fellow citizens, their government and their community to indict. And what if they did not? Then they lacked courage, they were slackers, they were cowardly soldiers running away, or throwing aside their guns and hiding in dugouts. They were asked “Will you be a good soldier, or will you throw down your gun and run, or will you hide in the dugout?” Can anyone imagine this jury making a final report to the trial judge and asking to be discharged without having brought in an indictment of this appellant under the circumstances here?
I confess great reluctance in writing this dissent. I wish my sense of duty had led me into a different path. But once that duty is determined I have no choice. It transcends admiration and friendship, and, for that matter, all other considerations. The supreme duty of the courts is to administer justice — to the guilty as well as the innocent. It is for that purpose courts are created. It is their one ultimate aim. Upon that foundation rests the pillars of our government and civilization and in that temple abide the security and happiness of the people.
ON APPLICATION FOR WRIT OF ERROR CORAM NOBIS AND FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI
Roberds, P. J.
 On January 20, 1954, Luther Carlyle Wheeler filed in this court an application for permission to present to, and have heard by, the trial judge of the circuit court *156of Forrest County, Mississippi, a petition for writ of •error coram nobis, on tbe ground that petitioner had become insane since bis conviction of murder and imposition of tbe death sentence at tbe April 1952 term of said circuit court. Tbe application was submitted and argued on January 25, 1954. Tbe application, based on the stated ground, is entertainable by us under Mitchell v. State, 179 Miss. 814, and Chapter 250, Laws of Mississippi 1952.
 Upon consideration of tbe application, with tbe exhibits, being all tbe proof before us, we adopted tbe unusual procedure of entering an order, dated January 25, 1954, inviting Mr. Wheeler and the State, either or both, to present to us in open court, if either cared to do so, evidence in addition to that shown by tbe application and exhibited affidavits, bearing upon tbe question of sanity vel non of applicant, specifying in tbe order that such further bearing would begin at two o’clock P. M. Thursday, January 28, 1954. At the stated time tbe court was duly convened and opened and counsel representing applicant and counsel representing tbe State were present. Upon inquiiy by the Court counsel for applicant stated in open court he did not care to offer any additional evidence or proof and counsel for tbe State likewise announced that in view of tbe statement of counsel for applicant tbe State would offer no additional evidence. Therefore, tbe question presented to us is whether tbe petition before us, with its accompanying affidavits, establish, with sufficient degree of certainty, tbe necessary facts to authorize us to grant tbe application. We have not yet laid down tbe rule by which that question, in this kind of proceeding, is to be tested. We now do that. It is that before we are authorized to sustain such application tbe evidence before us must establish that there is a reasonable probability tbe applicant is insane and that bis execution should be stayed. See Lewis v. State, 155 Miss. 810, *157128 So. 419. Does the evidence before us do that? The evidence consists of affidavits of Wheeler and Mrs. Elaine Foreman Wheeler and Roy Strickland.
 Mr. Wheeler made affidavit to the averments in his petition. In the petition he averred his conviction and sentence and the affirmance thereof by this Court and that February 5, 1954, was designated by this Court as the date for execution. He made other averments of fact bearing upon alleged prejudice of a juror against him hereinafter mentioned. On the question of his sanity he stated “Petitioner would show that since his said case was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Mississippi on March 16, 1953, that he has become insane, and that he is now insane.”
The affidavit of Mrs. Wheeler averred that, at the time she made it, she was confined in the jail at Hattiesburg, Mississippi, “and that in her opinion, Luther Carlyle Wheeler is insane.”
The affidavit of Strickland stated that at the time he made it he was imprisoned in jail at Jackson, Mississippi, “and that in his opinion, Luther Carlyle Wheeler is insane.” That is the proof. As to the affidavit of Wheeler, he is in the anomalous position of asking us to accept his statements of fact, made upon conscious oath, presumably appreciating and understanding the meaning of an oath, and at the same time accept his conclusion that he is insane. And as to his statement of fact directly upon his mental condition he simply states a conclusion, without detailing a single act or circumstance to support it.
As to the affidavit of Mrs. Wheeler, it will also be noted she does nothing more than state a layman’s opinion. It is not shown whether she has even seen Wheeler since his conviction. She sets forth no act, conduct, or circumstance on which to base her conclusion. She says she was in jail at Hattiesburg when she made the affidavit. Wheeler was in jail at Jack*158son. Inferentially she has not seen him since his conviction. She was jointly indicted with Wheeler but tried separately. She was convicted and sentenced to the state penitentiary for life. Her appeal is now before this Court. That fact, of course, bears heavily upon any opinion she might give as to his mental condition.
Strickland also stated a mere conclusion. He states no fact or act or circumstance on which to base it. He does not aver he has seen Wheeler since Wheeler’s conviction. He was in jail when he made his affidavit. His conviction is also on appeal to this Court.
These affidavits, under these circumstances, afford little, if any, proof of the mental condition of Wheeler. Certainly they do not establish a reasonable probability that Wheeler’s mental condition is such that he ought not to be executed. It is evident that based upon that record a hearing before the trial judge would be a useless procedure.
The petition also recited, as a ground for granting its prayer, that petitioner and his counsel had learned since his conviction that John M. Karoly, one of the jurors who convicted him, had stated before the trial “If I had a chance, I’d tell you what I would do, I would burn him,” which attitude was unknown to petitioner and his counsel at the time of the trial. We are not justified in granting the petition on that ground for two reasons;
 First, this Court has held in Fugate v. State, 85 Miss. 94, 37 So. 554, that this question cannot be raised by writ of error coram nobis, and
 Second, because Karoly has made an affidavit, which is a part of the record before us, denying that he made any such statement, and asserting, under oath, that he had never, before the conviction, expressed any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of petitioner.  The burden is, of course, upon petitioner to establish to a rea*159sonable probability the fact upon which he relies for relief. The evidence, as thus presented, does not do that.
Upon the convening of this Court at two o’clock P. M. January 28, 1954, as above herein shown, petitioner filed in this Court what is styled “Amended Application for Leave to File a Petition for a writ of Error Coram Nobis in the Circuit Court of Forrest County, Mississippi.” That document is signed by counsel for petitioner. No affidavit is attached thereto. No ground for granting the petition is stated in addition to those asserted in the original petition. Therefore, as an application for permission to file a petition for writ of error coram nobis in said circuit court, it is, for the reasons hereinabove stated, overruled.
However, said amended pleading prays, in the alternative, for a writ of habeas corpus to bring the body of petitioner before a designated proper legal tribunal because, as he says, his constitutional rights have been denied him and he is being illegally imprisoned. The instrument states it is to be considered an application for writ of habeas corpus in event the application for permission to file a writ of error coram nobis is not the proper procedure. As above stated, we have accepted the application and passed upon it, and this alone might dispose of the petition for writ of habeas corpus. However, in view of the gravity of this case we will proceed to consider the habeas corpus application on its merits.
Section 2815, Mississippi Code 1942, provides: “The writ of habeas corpus shall extend to all cases of illegal confinement or detention by which any person is deprived of his liberty, or by which the rightful custody of any person is withheld from the person entitled thereto, except in the cases expressly excepted.”
Section 2819, said Code, sets out the procedure for obtaining such writ: “Application for a writ of habeas corpus shall be by petition, in writing, sworn to by the person for whose relief it is intended, or by someone *160in his behalf, describing where and by whom he is deprived of liberty, and the facts and circumstances of the restraint, with the ground relied on for relief; and the application shall be made to the judge or chancellor of the district in which the relator is imprisoned, unless good cause be shown in the petition to the contrary.”
As stated above, the amended petition, asking in the alternative for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus, has no affidavit attached, and, therefore, does not comply with the requirements of Section 2819 in that respect. Furthermore, that section provides that the application is to be made to a judge or chancellor of the district in which the relator is imprisoned, unless good cause be shown in the petition to the contrary. No such cause is shown in this amended petition.
 But, aside from the foregoing considerations, and looking to the merit, or lack of merit, supporting such application, it is noted that Section 2820, said code, provides: “If from the showing made by the petition for habeas corpus it be manifest that the person by whom, or on whose behalf, it is presented is not entitled to any relief thereby, the judge or chancellor may refuse to grant the writ, indorsing on the application his reason therefor.” We have dealt with and discussed the facts and grounds set out in the original application for permission to direct the trial court to receive and hear a petition for writ of error coram nobis, and which facts and grounds are simply repeated and re-invoked in support of the amended application for such permission, and, in the alternative, in support of the petition for writ of habeas corpus, and it is evident, in our opinion, .that the petition for habeas corpus has no merit.
 This is not to be taken as a precedent to first request of this Court the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus. Our function is to review the action of the lower courts in disposing of application for such writs. We have dealt with the merits of the habeas corpus application *161only because of the necessity for prompt action thereon. Therefore, the application for permission to file in the circuit court of Forrest County a petition for writ of error coram nobis and the petition for issuance of a writ of habeas corpus are both denied.
This disposition of the pending matter in no way precludes or prejudices petitioner from resorting to any remedy to which he considers he is entitled other than the writ of error coram nobis.
All justices concur in the result reached on the merits.