Roberson v. State

Pee Curiam. In this appeal, the appellant poses five questions, which collectively amount to a challenge of the sufficiency of the evidence to support a finding of the trial court that he was guilty of murder in the first degree. He concedes that a second degree murder verdict against him would have been appropriate, but claims the State failed to show that the killing was wilful, deliberate and premeditated. The facts, briefly summarized, were as follows: The appellant and one Shirley Forbes, although unmarried, had been living together for some nine months.

During this period, she had occasionally dated Thomas Taylor, the deceased. When Roberson learned of this, he protested to Shirley and she agreed to stop seeing Taylor. Plowever, about two weeks before the homicide, Shirley was sitting on the steps of her grandmother’s house (or next door), talking with Taylor and two girls. Roberson approached and saw Taylor leaning over Shirley and demanded to know what he was doing.

Hearing the dispute, Shirley’s grandmother came to the door to see what was wrong. As Roberson started into the house, he said to Taylor, “If you ever cross my path again, I will kill you.” On September 11, 1959, the day before the killing, Shirley and Roberson had a quarrel and “broke up.” Early the next morning, she went to live with her mother. That same evening, she was sitting on her mother’s front steps when Taylor arrived. They were soon joined by Roberson, and these three, together with the other occupants of the mother’s home, had some drinks.

When their whiskey gave out, Shirley and Taylor went to obtain more. Roberson followed them to the bar, asked Shirley what she was doing with Taylor, and tried to get ³²⁸ her to return to the home where they had been living together. Shirley’s mother arrived, and, after some conversation, she, Shirley and Taylor returned to the mother’s home. In two or three minutes, Roberson also returned.

The drinking continued. Taylor gave Shirley twelve cents for her piggy bank. Roberson saw this and got a glass of whiskey, which he poured on Shirley. He drew his foot back as if to