Wimberly v. State
Wimberly v. State
Opinion
¶ 1. Appellant Leroy Wimberly was indicted by an Adams County grand jury for burglary and larceny of an automobile. Following a trial, the jury found Wimberly guilty of the crime charged. The circuit court sentenced Wimberly to seven years as an habitual offender in the custody of *Page 801 the Mississippi Department of Corrections. On appeal, Wimberly presents the following issues for review:
I. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN FAILING TO GRANT WIMBERLY'S MOTION TO SUPPRESS AND IN ALLOWING THE CONFESSION TO BE ADMITTED INTO EVIDENCE.
II. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DENYING WIMBERLY'S MOTION FOR CONTINUANCE WHEN HIS WITNESSES WERE UNAVAILABLE.
Finding the above assignments of error to be without merit, this Court affirms.
¶ 3. Prior to the trial, there was a hearing on the motion to suppress the confession of appellant Wimberly that was made to Detective Owens at the Natchez Police Department after Wimberly's arrest. Detective Owens testified that he read Wimberly his rights, asked him if he understood each one, upon which Wimberly said he did, and then Wimberly signed the waiver of rights form after Detective Owens explained the effect of such a signed form. During this hearing, Detective Owens testified that at no time during the interview did Wimberly ask to talk to a lawyer or state that he would not talk to Detective Owens. Detective Owens continued by testifying that he in no way or form threatened Wimberly or coerced him into signing the waiver of rights. He further testified that Wimberly confessed to the crime at issue. Detective Owens contends that Wimberly told him he broke into Mr. Frazier's vehicle and stole a cellular phone, some credit cards, and numerous tapes. He testified that Wimberly also admitted to using a stolen card at the local Exxon station. Detective Owens stated that Wimberly confessed the above to him orally, and then Wimberly wrote a confession in his own handwriting. In the written confession, Wimberly included a false name, address, and birth date. Wimberly wrote that he had broken into Mr. Frazier's truck, that he was on dope when he did it, that he took some credit cards, some paper, and a phone. He also wrote that he sold the phone to a dope dealer and used one of the credit cards at an Exxon station to buy cigarettes and beer. Detective Owens testified that he did not give Wimberly any hope, promise, or hope of reward for making that statement, but that Wimberly made his confession of his own free and voluntary will. He continued by making it known that although Wimberly signed the confession "Leroy Williams," it was actually Wimberly who wrote and signed the confession. Detective Owens testified that Wimberly never told him that he was in severe pain or that he needed medical assistance at the time of the interview. Detective Owens also stated that Wimberly never asked for a lawyer.
¶ 4. During this hearing on the motion to suppress, Wimberly testified that he did sign the waiver of rights form. He continued by testifying that he gave Detective Owens an oral statement concerning the stolen credit card. Wimberly testified that *Page 802 he told Detective Owens that he met Toby and another guy on the morning that the present crime allegedly took place, and that Toby asked him to go to the store with him and use the credit card that was in Toby's possession to buy cigarettes and beer for him. Wimberly continued by stating that he wrote the confession in his own handwriting, and that he did so because Detective Owens told him to write it. Wimberly stated that, at the time he wrote the confession, he was suffering from severe head pains due to an infection he had in his head, and that he had asked Detective Owens to seek medical attention, and that Detective Owens told him he would. Wimberly also testified that he had stopped the questioning and asked for his attorney to be present. He testified that the only reason he continued to answer the questions and wrote the confession was because he was under severe pain and pressure from Detective Owens. Wimberly testified that he intentionally placed the false information on the statement because he contends he did not commit the crime and therefore did not want to confess to it. He stated that the only reason he wrote the statement at all was because of the actions that Detective Owens took against him. Wimberly testified that the confessional statement he gave was not voluntary.
¶ 5. After hearing all the evidence on the motion to suppress, the court, in finding that the confession was voluntary and admissible, denied the motion. No new, relevant evidence and/or facts were revealed during the actual trial.
¶ 7. In the present case, there was conflicting testimony as to the voluntariness of Wimberly's confession and the waiver of right to counsel. Wimberly stated that the situation occurred in one manner, and Detective Owens told a completely different story. In looking at both testimonies, the trial judge had the responsibility of reaching a decision based on the facts. As stated above, the judge has the right to decide which witness holds more credibility, and from that, determine where the truth lies from within the differing facts. The judge chose to find credibility in the testimony of Detective Owens and therefore held that the confession and the waiver of the right to counsel were voluntary. This decision was not against the overwhelming weight of the evidence. According to the applicable standard of review, this Court will not reverse the trial judge's finding of fact. We affirm the decision to deny the motion to suppress Wimberly's confession.
¶ 9. After review, this Court concludes that the trial court did not commit reversible error. Accordingly, this Court affirms the judgment.
¶ 10. THE JUDGMENT OF THE CIRCUIT COURT OF ADAMS COUNTY OFCONVICTION OF BURGLARY AND LARCENY OF AN AUTOMOBILE AND SENTENCEOF SEVEN YEARS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OFCORRECTIONS AS AN HABITUAL OFFENDER IS AFFIRMED. ALL COSTS OF THISAPPEAL ARE ASSESSED TO ADAMS COUNTY. McMILLIN, C.J., KING AND SOUTHWICK, P. JJ., BRIDGES, IRVING, LEE,PAYNE, AND THOMAS, JJ., CONCUR.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Leroy Wimberly A/K/A Leroy R. Wimberly A/K/A `Nasty' v. State of Mississippi
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published