Hosch v. State

• Decision Date: 08 November 2013
• Docket Number: CR–10–0188.
• Parties: Justin T. HOSCH v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

155 So.3d 1048

Justin T. HOSCH
v.
STATE of Alabama.

CR–10–0188.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Nov. 8, 2013.
Rehearing Denied April 25, 2014.

155 So.3d 1058

Charlotte Morrison and Bryan A. Stevenson, Montgomery, for appellant.

Luther Strange, atty. gen., and J. Clayton Crenshaw and Kristi Deason Hagood, asst. attys. gen., for appellee.

Opinion

WELCH, Judge.

Justin T. Hosch was indicted by the August 2009 Autauga County grand jury on one count of murder made capital for the killing of Joel Willmore during the commission of a robbery, § 13A–5–40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975; one count of murder made capital for the killing of Joel Willmore during the commission of a burglary, § 13A–5–40(a)(4), Ala.Code 1975; one count of third-degree burglary for entering James Clifton's dwelling with the intent to commit a theft therein, § 13A–7–7, Ala.Code 1975; and one count of second-degree theft for taking two revolvers from James Clifton, § 13A–8–4, Ala.Code 1975. The cases were tried before a jury beginning on August 14, 2010, and on September 1, 2010, the jury found Hosch guilty of the four charges. A sentencing hearing was held before the jury, and, at the conclusion of that phase of the trial, the jury recommended, by a vote of 10–2, that Hosch be sentenced to death for the capital offenses. On October 14, 2010, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing, and it sentenced Hosch to death for the two capital convictions. The trial court sentenced

155 So.3d 1059

Hosch to consecutive 10–year terms of imprisonment for the burglary and theft convictions.¹ This appeal follows. We affirm.

Facts

The State presented evidence indicating that Justin Hosch had been incarcerated at the Frank Lee Youth Center, a minimum-security prison in Elmore County, having been convicted of first-degree possession of marijuana and receiving stolen property. On October 14, 2008, Hosch escaped from the prison. He was wearing a brown t-shirt and jeans at the time of his escape, and evidence indicated that he had taken that clothing from another inmate. Investigators learned that, in the days before the escape, Hosch had been talking on a cellular telephone to his sister, Kelli Hosch, who lived in Huntsville about escaping from prison and about Kelli driving him away from the area. Law-enforcement officers obtained Kelli's telephone records during their investigation of Hosch's escape. Law-enforcement witnesses testified that, during that investigation, they learned that Hosch was connected to a murder in Autauga County that occurred a few days after Hosch had escaped.

On October 16, 2008, Hosch knocked on the door of Terry Ingram's house. Ingram's residence was 1.45 miles from the prison from which Hosch had escaped, “as the crow flies,” or in a straight-line distance. (R. 641.) Hosch asked Ingram if he could use his telephone, and Hosch told Ingram he had been hanging out at a bar with some friends until his girlfriend arrived and they had a fight. Ingram testified that he smelled alcohol on Hosch's breath. He allowed Hosch to use his cell phone. Hosch told Ingram that he had called his sister in Huntsville and that she was going to come get him, and Ingram drove Hosch to the nearby BP gasoline station so Hosch could wait for his sister there.

Ingram testified that several days later he approached law-enforcement officers about his contact with Hosch. Three days after Ingram left Hosch at the BP station, Joel Willmore was found murdered at his automobile-repair shop near the BP station. Ingram testified that he knew from news reports that the authorities had no leads, and he kept seeing investigators at the BP store when he drove past; it weighed on him, he said, so he told investigators about Hosch. Ingram was shown a photographic lineup, and he identified Hosch as the person who had come to his house on October 16, 2008.

Michael Bowman testified that his mother owned the BP station at 101 County Road 40 West in Autauga County, and that he owned a fabrication shop directly behind the BP station. A car wash was also located behind and to the left of the BP station. Bowman testified that a chain-link fence separated his property from the car wash. Along that fence Bowman had been storing a white limousine and a tractor. Bowman had returned from an out-of-town trip on October 19, 2008, and he heard that a murder had occurred nearby. Bowman testified that he was asked to review the footage from the surveillance cameras at the BP station. He said that there were 16 cameras at the station; 2 cameras were aimed toward his shop and its parking lot, and the rest of the cameras were aimed inside or toward the front of the BP station. In reviewing the surveillance footage beginning on October 16, 2008, he noticed that a man he could not identify had broken into the limousine and

155 So.3d 1060

had been staying inside it. Bowman testified that he reviewed surveillance recordings from October 16, 2008, and he saw the man getting dropped off at the BP station, and he saw the man break into the limousine. The limousine was approximately 100 yards from the crime scene. Bowman said that his review of the surveillance recordings from October 16 through October 19 showed the man getting into and out of the limousine on more than one occasion, and it showed the man using the pay telephone at his mother's BP station. Recordings of the surveillance videos showing the man, who was later determined to be Hosch, were admitted into evidence and played for the jury.

Ron Jones, the owner of the self-service car wash located next to the BP station, testified that he was at the car wash on October 19, 2008, the day Willmore was killed. Jones testified that he saw a white male walk along the fence between his car wash and the fabrication shop located next to it. He stated that he was inside his motor home parked at the car wash when heard a loud noise—a muffled big bang—late that afternoon, around 4:00 or 4:30. He walked behind the car wash and looked around after he heard the noise. Jones identified recordings from the video surveillance system at the car wash, and said they depicted him walking behind the car wash and also depicted a vehicle traveling toward the interstate. The video recordings were admitted into evidence and played for the jury. Subsequent testimony established that review of the videotape established that Willmore's truck was driven to the shop at 3:48 p.m. on October 19, 2008, and it was driven away at approximately 4:05 p.m. on October 19, 2008. The videotape depicted the truck traveling toward Interstate 65.

Jerry Evans testified that he drove to the BP station on October 19, 2008, and that a white male approached him and asked where Prattville was located. Evans told the man that they were in Prattville. The man then asked him where the interstate was located, and Evans indicated the direction and told the man the interstate was two or three miles away. Four days later, on October 23, 2008, Evans was interviewed at the Autauga County Sheriff's Office and he was shown a photographic lineup. Evans identified Hosch as the man who had approached him at the BP station and had asked him about Prattville and the interstate.

James Clifton lived approximately one-quarter of a mile from the BP station. His house was burglarized on October 19, 2008. Clifton testified that he had left his house that morning and that when he returned he saw that someone had cut a window screen to gain entry into the house. Inside the house, next to that window, Clifton saw a t-shirt hanging across the television set. Law-enforcement officers collected the shirt, and forensic testing later revealed that DNA from the shirt matched Hosch's DNA. Two .38 caliber Taurus revolvers were stolen during the burglary, and their serial numbers were TD 23245 and SI 76041.² Clifton told the officers that a box of .38 caliber ammunition had been stolen, too.

Shanna Wilcox's residence was located next to Willmore's shop, “[l]ess than a football field away,” she said. (R. 824.) Wilcox testified that, on October 19, 2008, around 5:00 and 6:00 p.m., she heard a gunshot. Because it was close to hunting

155 So.3d 1061

season and she had heard some dogs barking before she heard the shot, she did not investigate when she heard the gunshot, and she did not see anyone.

Scott Willmore (“Scott”) testified that Joel Willmore was one of his three older brothers. Willmore was a mechanic, Scott said, and he was building an automotive shop behind the BP station on County Road 40. Scott said that on October 19, 2008, at approximately 8:00 p.m., he received a telephone call from their mother, who told him that Willmore was missing and was not answering his phone. He drove to Willmore's shop and went inside, and he saw Willmore lying on the floor. Scott ran to Willmore and grabbed his arm and called his name because he did not know if he was alive, but he could tell from touching Willmore that he was dead. He ran to the BP station, and summoned the sheriff's deputy he had seen there moments earlier. Willmore's truck was not at the shop, Scott said. Scott identified a photograph of a red-and-white-paneled truck that looked like Willmore's truck.

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