In re: Sneed v. State

Citation783 So.2d 863
Parties(Ala. 2000) (In re: Ulysses Charles Sneed v. State) 1981660
Decision Date01 October 1999
CourtAlabama Supreme Court

783 So.2d 863 (Ala. 2000)
(In re: Ulysses Charles Sneed
v.
State)
1981660
SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA

OCTOBER TERM, 1999-2000
Ex parte Ulysses Charles Sneed
06/30/00

PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS

(Morgan Circuit Court, CC-93-1307;

Court of Criminal Appeals, CR-95-0587)

PER CURIAM.

Ulysses Charles Sneed was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Clarence Nugene Terry. The murder was made capital because it was committed during the course of a robbery in the first degree. See § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala. Code 1975. Sneed was tried with a codefendant, John Milton Hardy; Hardy also was convicted of capital murder. See Hardy v. State, [Ms. CR-95-0589, March 26, 1999] ___ So.a2d ___ (Ala. Crim. App. 1999). (Hardy's case is pending before this Court on certiorari review (no. 1981646).) The jury, by a vote of 10-2, recommended that Sneed be sentenced to death by electrocution. The trial court, after independently weighing the aggravating and mitigating factors, concurred with the jury's recommendation and sentenced Sneed to death.1

The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Sneed's conviction and sentence. See Sneed v. State, [Ms. CR-95-0587, April 30, 1999] ___ So. 2d ___ (Ala. Crim. App. 1999). This Court granted Sneed's petition for certiorari review. Because we find that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence an edited and redacted version of a statement that Sneed had made to police officers, we reverse and remand.

I.

The record indicates the following facts.2 On August 29, 1993, Sneed and Chris Hines drove from Louisville, Kentucky, to Alabama. The two men came to Alabama to look for jobs. Sneed stayed with Hines and Hardy, who is Hines's cousin. In the early morning hours of September 7, 1993, Sneed and Hardy borrowed Hines's automobile and went to buy beer; Hardy was driving and Sneed was a passenger. Hardy drove to his house, where he picked up a rifle and put it in the car. He then drove to Bud's Convenience Store in Decatur. Hardy pulled his shirt sleeves from his shirt, and Hardy and Sneed tied the sleeves around their faces as masks. Sneed opened the door to the convenience store. Hardy stepped into the store and began firing his rifle at Terry, the store clerk. Hardy's first shot missed Terry, who tried to hide behind the counter. As Hardy fired at Terry, Sneed ran behind the counter toward the cash register. While Sneed attempted to open the cash register, Hardy leaned over the counter and shot Terry in the chest. Hardy then walked around the counter and shot Terry five times in the head and face. While Terry lay dying on the floor, Sneed and Hardy continued their attempt to open the cash register; they were unsuccessful. Sneed and Hardy unplugged the cash register and took it with them as they ran from the store. These events were recorded on the convenience store's surveillance video camera.

Later that morning, Sneed, Hardy, and Hines went to Hardy's father's house, where Sneed and Hardy had left the cash register. Using a sledgehammer, the three men tried to open the register. When the police recovered the cash register, they found Hines's fingerprint on it. The police showed the surveillance video to several people, including Hines. Four of those people, including Hines, identified Hardy as the shooter and Sneed as the unarmed man.

In his statement to police, Sneed admitted that he had participated in the robbery, but stated that he did not intend for anyone to get hurt. The indictment against Sneed alleged that he had committed the capital offense of murder during the course of a first-degree robbery, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala. Code 1975. At his arraignment, Sneed pleaded not guilty.3 At trial, Sneed's defense was that, although he had participated in the robbery, he was not the gunman and he did not intend that anyone be killed.

II.

In his petition for certiorari review, Sneed presents 14 issues for our review; however, we address only the issue whether the trial court erred in admitting into evidence Sneed's edited and redacted statement. Because Sneed and Hardy were tried together, the prosecution did not introduce into evidence the complete statement Sneed gave to police officers, but instead, introduced his statement in an edited and redacted form. In the edited and redacted version of the statement, in places where Sneed had actually said "we" or "he," the prosecution had substituted "I," and in addition, it had eliminated all references to Hardy. The prosecution used the edited and redacted statement in an effort to avoid violating Hardy's confrontation right guaranteed by the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968).

In Bruton, the Supreme Court held that the admission of a non-testifying defendant's confession, implicating his codefendant in the crime, violated the codefendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. 391 U.S. at 126. See, also, United States v. Lopez, 898 F.2d 1505, 1510 (11th Cir. 1990). However, in Richardson v. Marsh, 481 U.S. 200 (1987), the Supreme Court limited its holding in Bruton, holding that the admission of a non-testifying defendant's confession does not violate the Confrontation Clause if the confession is redacted so as to eliminate the codefendant's name and any reference to his or her existence, and if the court gives the jury a proper limiting instruction. See Richardson, 481 U.S. at 208-09.

As previously noted, the State chose to try Sneed and Hardy together. In order to have the benefit of Sneed's statement in the case against him without violating Hardy's rights, the State, over Sneed's objection, had the edited and redacted statement admitted into evidence. His statement, as edited and redacted, put him in the role of a sole actor in the events leading up to the murder. The statement Sneed gave to police officers states:

"On Sunday morning August 29, I was over at my friend Chris Hines House. Chris's girlfriend (Tanya Reed) was there with their kids. About a week before this we had planned to go to Alabama from Louisville, Kentucky. Anyhow Chris and his girlfriend got into an argument and Chris said man I'm ready to go are your clothes ready I told him no and he took me home to get some clothes and me and Chris left coming to Alabama about 9:30 A.M. Eastern time. We arrived on Sunday the 29th of August about 3:30 PM. Central time, Alabama time. We drove to Mrs. Tina Gills place. That's were we had planned to stay because Chris's Mother didn't want Chris staying with his Daddy in Alabama because he was a bad influence. After we had been their a couple of days a tall fellow came over to Mrs. Gills his first name was John I don't remember his last name it was Hobby, Harbie or something like that. While we were there we went to Aa&aM college, Huntsville, and to the Ebony Club in Triana. While we were at the Ebony Club John got into a fight. This was on friday night. We went back on Saturday night but we didn't have any trouble. On Labor Day we stayed around Mrs. Gills house. That night me and John ask Chris if we could use his car to make a liquor run. We went the county line and got a case of beer then we went to John's Mother's house and we got wasted on beer. Chris was at John's Mother's house when we borrowed the car. We got wasted drinking beer and John borrowed Chris's car again and me and him rode around. After a little while John said something about he shouldn't have let that guy take him. He was talking about the fight on friday night at the Ebony Club. John drove over to his house and he got out of the car and left it running and told me to wait a minute. I just sat in the car and in minute or so John came out and he had a rifle with a scope on it. He...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT