Opinion
No. 43502.
May 24, 1965.
1. Criminal law — contributing to delinquency of a minor — no evidence to sustain conviction.
Evidence was insufficient to sustain conviction for contributing to delinquency of a minor in violation of statute which applies to any person who wilfully commits any act which contributes to, or tends to contribute to, the delinquency of a child, or who knowingly aids any child in being a delinquent. Secs. 7185-02, 7185-13, Code 1942.
Headnote as approved by Ethridge, P.J.
APPEAL from the Circuit Court of Forrest County; STANTON A. HALL, J.
Carsie Hall, Jackson; Diane Gaylord, John McKee Pratt, New York, N.Y., for appellant.
I. Appellant's conviction denied due process of law because it rested on insufficient evidence of the essential elements of the crime, and because of error in the Court's rulings. Edwards v. South Carolina, 372 U.S. 229; Garner v. Louisiana, 368 U.S. 157; Jeffries v. State, 89 Miss. 643, 42 So. 801; Lee v. State, 160 Miss. 618, 134 So. 185; Lovelace v. State, 191 Miss. 62, 2 So.2d 796; Shuttlesworth Billups v. City of Birmingham, 373 U.S. 262; Thompson v. Louisville, 362 U.S. 199; Secs. 7185-02, 7185-02(g), 7185-13, Code 1942.
II. Appellant was convicted of a crime under the provisions of a state statute which, as applied to his acts, is so vague, indefinite and uncertain as to offend the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Connally v. General Construction Co., 269 U.S. 385; Herndon v. Lowry, 301 U.S. 242; Lanzetta v. New Jersey, 306 U.S. 451; Lovell v. Griffin, 303 U.S. 444; McBoyle v. United States, 283 U.S. 25; Pierce v. United States, 314 U.S. 306; Stromberg v. California, 283 U.S. 359; United States v. Cardiff, 344 U.S. 174; United States v. L. Cohen Grocery Co., 255 U.S. 81; United States v. Weitzel, 246 U.S. 533; United States v. Wiltberger, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat.) 76.
III. Discriminatory practices within the courtroom prejudiced the appellant's case, depriving him of a fair and impartial trial, and constituted a denial of fundamental due process of law and of the equal protection of the law. Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483; Hamilton v. Alabama, 84 S.Ct. 982; Johnson v. Virginia, 373 U.S. 61.
IV. The decision below conflicts with the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, in that it unwarrantedly penalized appellant for the exercise of his freedom of expression. Edwards v. South Carolina, supra; Lane v. Wilson, 307 U.S. 268; Stromberg v. California, supra; Thornhill v. Alabama, 310 U.S. 88; Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 351.
G. Garland Lyell, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., Jackson, for appellee.
I. The sufficiency of the evidence. Secs. 7185-02(g), 7185-13, Code 1942.
II. The statute in question is not vague and indefinite. Secs. 7185-02(g), 7185-13, Code 1942.
III. The alleged discriminatory practice in the courtroom. Johnson v. Virginia, 373 U.S. 61, 10 L.Ed.2d 195, 83 S.Ct. 1053.
IV. Appellant's freedom of expression.
Lawrence T. Guyot, Jr. was convicted in the County Court of Forrest County of contributing to the delinquency of a minor, a thirteen year old girl named Barbara Ann Thomas. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 7185-13, 7185-02 (g) (1952). He was fined $500 and sentenced to six months in jail, with five months suspended. The circuit court affirmed.
(Hn 1) The statute applies to any person who "wilfully" commits any act which contributes to, or tends to contribute to the delinquency of a child, or who "knowingly" aids any child in being a delinquent as therein defined. A careful study of this record reflects that there is no evidence upon which to sustain the conviction of appellant. Accordingly, the judgment is reversed, and the appellant is discharged.
Reversed and appellant discharged.
Gillespie, Jones, Brady and Smith, JJ., concur.