177 So. 355 | Miss. | 1937
The sole question involved here on this appeal is whether or not the acknowledged confession of the appellant, George Bartee, to the crime of burglary, on which he was tried and convicted in the circuit court of Hinds county, was freely and voluntarily made.
It was contended by the appellant upon the trial that, on the night of December 30, 1936, he was arrested and placed in the city jail at Jackson, Miss., as a suspect in connection with the burglary of Jitney Jungle Store No. 2 on South Gallatin street, which had been burglarized and from which a considerable quantity of cigarettes and some cigars had been stolen; that after he was placed in the city jail, at a late hour that night he was subjected to considerable punishment and torture by certain city officials for the purpose of obtaining his confession to the crime; that on the next afternoon, he was removed from the city jail, driven in an automobile to a place behind *144 the state fair grounds, and severely beaten in a further effort to extort a confession from him; that upon his continued failure and persistent refusal to make a confession, he was finally returned to the city jail, and was then released from custody; that on the next day he went to see Dr. F.E. Rehfeldt, a local physician, to be examined and treated for his injuries; and that he then also conferred with Stuart C. Broom, a local attorney, who observed the injuries complained of. He is corroborated by the testimony of both Dr. Rehfeldt and Mr. Broom as to the extent to which he had been injured by external violence, but they were, of course, unable to testify as to the source from which he received his injuries other than what he had told them. He was likewise corroborated by one Annie Robinson who kept the boarding house where he stayed, as to the fact of his having recently been beaten up by someone, when she saw him shortly after he left the city jail that evening.
It does not appear from the record as to what was the nature or source of any information that may have been received by the officers as to the guilt of the appellant of this crime when he was taken into custody and kept in the city jail on the night of the 30th and throughout the 31st day of December. But he was rearrested on the evening of January 9th, upon information regarding his alleged sale of cigarettes about the premises of a local hotel, and was again placed in the city jail, where he claims to have been further tortured and punished, and, especially, from the hour of about 8 or 8:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on the morning of January 10th, when he finally confessed to the crime.
It is not necessary to discuss here the details of his alleged punishment and torture, since the trial court, before admitting the confession in evidence, held a preliminary inquiry as to whether or not it had been obtained in the manner detailed by the appellant, and held that his confession had been freely and voluntarily made. In this finding the trial court is supported by the testimony *145 of five police officers, who were alleged by the appellant to have participated in his alleged mistreatment, and others who had an opportunity to know his condition and to know whether his statements were true, and all of whom denied any knowledge of the alleged punishment and torture.
Under the rule announced in the cases of Brown v. State,
In order to make competent a confession of guilt by a defendant charged with crime, the evidence must exclude every reasonable doubt that the confession was freely and voluntarily made. Ellis v. State,
Reversed and remanded. *147