J. G. Marr, appellant, was indicted for murder of Rufus Edwards, a seventy-two-year-old resident of Byhalia, Mississippi, in the Circuit Court of Marshall County. He was tried once and had a mistrial; at the second trial he was found guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to serve a term of ten years in the state penitentiary.
Appellant was the duly elected constable of the Third District of Marshall County. He was indicted at the February 1961 term of court.
On March 6, 1961, during the February term of court, attorney for appellant, or defendant, filed a motion to quash the indictment, stating that the Board of Supervisors made a complete departure from the law, that is, section 1766 of the Mississippi Code of 1942, Rec.,
The appellant was tried at the August 1962 term of court. At the close of the state’s testimony the defense attorney made a motion for a directed verdict. At conclusion of both state and defense testimony, appellant made the following motion:
“Comes now the Defendant by and through his attorney and moves the court for a new trial and as grounds therefor assigns the following: 1. That the State of Mississippi failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty the charge of manslaughter. 2. The State of Mississippi failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty the indictment for murder as required by law. 3. That the jury verdict was contrary to the great weight of the evidence.” The court overruled this motion.
Both motions of the defendant were dictated into the record, and no formal motion was made by the attorney for a new trial other than the dictated motion.
The judgment of the court shows that the motion of the defendant for a new trial was overruled. It shows that the motion for an appeal to the Supreme Court was sustained, and that appearance bond on appeal was set for $5,000, subject to the Clerk’s approval. The supplemental motion for a new trial was overruled.
A similar question to the one raised here as to the motion to quash the indictment was passed on by this Court in Boatwright v. State,
In Polk v. State,
24 C.J.S., Criminal Law, § 1679, p. 1208, states: “Demurrer or other similar objection. Where the record shows no ruling on a demurrer or similar objection or challenge to an indictment or other accusatory pleading or plea, questions as to such demurrer or objection cannot be considered, unless the indictment or information is so wholly insufficient that it will not support a judgment of conviction; and where a ruling on a demurrer or similar objection is rested on a particular ground, other grounds of objection not ruled on are not properly preserved for consideration by the reviewing court.”
We are of the opinion that such motions not passed on by the court are not reversible error, and
The jury laws are, by section 1798, Mississippi Code 1942, Rec., directory only, and there can be no reversal unless there has been a radical departure from the statutory scheme. Kouvarakis v. Hawver,
The facts of the case seem to be as follows: On a Sunday afternoon appellant, the deceased and others were in a cafe operated by a Mr. Turner in the town of Byhalia. Deceased was sitting toward the rear1 of the cafe, while appellant was sitting with another at a table by the front window. There had been some conversation between them. Deceased departed the cafe through a side door when, according to the state’s witness, appellant arose to go outside saying, “I might as well go out and have it out with the old man,” or something to that effect. When appellant and the deceased were outside, appellant was seen to draw his blackjack. He and the deceased engaged in an altercation during which appellant was striking down with his blackjack at the head of deceased. They clinched and fell over
The state’s case is based primarily on the testimony of the witness Parker, and a strenuous effort was made to discredit him by impeaching witnesses. An effort was made also to show that the deceased was drunk, but the record shows that appellant, too, even though he was the elected constable, had that very morning and afternoon been drinking Yodka from a bottle which he procured for himself and another.
While appellant claimed that the deceased was advancing on him and that he shot in self defense, the jury was under no compulsion to believe his statements. Willette v. State,
This case is similar to Riley v. State, No. 42,468 on the docket of this Court decided November 4, 1963, reported in
We believe there was sufficient evidence to sustain a verdict of manslaughter and that the jury was justified in believing beyond a reasonable doubt that appellant was guilty. The case is therefore affirmed.
Affirmed.
