(DOWNLOAD) "State Missouri v. Eddie Douglas Umfrees" by Supreme Court of Missouri En Banc ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State Missouri v. Eddie Douglas Umfrees
- Author : Supreme Court of Missouri En Banc
- Release Date : January 12, 1968
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 68 KB
Description
The defendants were jointly tried and found guilty by a jury of murder in the second degree. The defendants and the victim
were all inmates of the Missouri State Penitentiary at the time the offense was committed. Having been previously convicted
of felonies, the defendants were each sentenced by the court under the Habitual Criminal Act, § 556.280, RSMo 1959,
V.A.M.S. Both defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment. Two other inmates testified as eyewitnesses that the defendants
committed the offense and there is no contention that the evidence was not sufficient to support the verdict of the jury.
The questions presented on appeal relate solely to the exclusion of certain testimony offered by the defendants. On November 27, 1965, at approximately 1:30 p.m., James Hawkes, an inmate of the penitentiary, was stabbed in the region
of the heart and died almost instantly. Cecil Garnett, a guard, saw Hawkes enter the music room of the penitentiary and leave
a few minutes later. A few seconds later Garnett heard a disturbance outside and found Hawkes wounded and apparently dead
lying on a sidewalk. Garnett saw only one convict in the area at the time but did not recognize him. Ray Warren and Roger
Turnbough, inmates of the penitentiary, testified that they saw the defendants Umfrees and Beishir approach Hawkes; that Hawkes
was stabbed by Umfrees and Beishir struck Hawkes on the side of the head with a metal object.