Adams v. State

• Citation: 955 So.2d 1037
• Decision Date: 29 August 2003
• Docket Number: CR-98-0496.
• Parties: Renaldo Chante ADAMS v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

955 So.2d 1037

Renaldo Chante ADAMS v. STATE of Alabama.

CR-98-0496.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

August 29, 2003.

Order Affirming Judgment on Return to Remand December 2, 2003.

Rehearing Denied January 23, 2004.

J. Drew Colfax and Bryan A. Stevenson, Montgomery, for appellant.

William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and Thomas Parker IV and Henry M. Johnson, asst. attys. gen., for appellee.

McMILLAN, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, Renaldo Chante Adams, was convicted of four counts of capital murder for murdering Melissa "Missy" Mills during the course of a rape, robbery, and burglary, and for murdering Mills during the course of robbing her husband, Andrew Mills. Adams was also convicted of robbery in the first degree for robbing Andrew Mills. The jury, by a vote of 10 to 2, recommended that Adams be sentenced to death for his capital-murder convictions. The trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Adams to death. Adams was sentenced to life imprisonment for his robbery conviction.

The State's evidence tended to show the following. On August 20, 1997, Melissa Mills was stabbed to death in her home in Capitol Heights in Montgomery. The coroner testified that Mills, who was four months pregnant, died as a result of multiple stab wounds inflicted to her neck, upper and lower chest, and back. There was evidence indicating that Mills had had sexual intercourse before her death. The autopsy revealed the presence of semen in her vagina and external bruising to her vagina.

Andrew Mills testified that during the evening of August 20, 1997, he was sleeping on the sofa when he was awakened by an intruder. Melissa Mills and their three children were asleep in their bedrooms at the time he was awakened. According to Mills, the intruder was wearing a stocking mask, gloves, a T-shirt, sweatpants with the word "Army" written down one leg, and black scandals and was carrying a knife. Andrew testified that he begged the intruder to leave and not to hurt his family — he offered to give him money if he would leave. Andrew testified that the intruder told him to sit on the sofa. Andrew complied; moments later he heard the door of his and Melissa's bedroom open. Andrew went to his bedroom and saw Adams on top of Melissa. Andrew begged the intruder not to hurt his wife because, he told him, she was four months pregnant. The intruder demanded money. Mills testified that he only had $9 in the house and that he told the intruder that he could get more money from a bank. Mills left the house, went to an automated teller machine ("ATM"), and returned with $375 — the highest amount the ATM would let him withdraw at one time. The intruder demanded more money. Mills then went to a nearby grocery store to cash a check. At the store, Mills told employees that his wife was being held at knifepoint in their home in Capitol Heights. A store employee telephoned the police and Mills spoke to the emergency 911 operator. Police officers were dispatched to the residence. Mills arrived at the same time Montgomery Police Officers D.M. Griffin and W.T. Grant were approaching the house in their patrol car. They attempted to gain entry to the house, but the door was locked. Eventually one of Mills's daughters opened the door. As the group started inside Officer Grant spotted someone running through the house and out the back door. A chase ensued. Meanwhile, Mills discovered Melissa lying on the floor partially under the bed in their bedroom. She was soaked in blood and gasping for air. Paramedics made numerous attempts to revive her but she died approximately three hours later. The coroner testified that she died from loss of blood caused by stab wounds to her liver, neck, and lungs.

Police apprehended Adams approximately 20 minutes after an intruder had been seen running from the Millses' house. Adams surrendered after he came out from the crawl space of a nearby house. He was wearing the identical clothing described by Andrew Mills, except the clothing was covered with blood. Nine blood-smeared dollar bills were discovered near the area where Adams was apprehended. Adams was also wearing one black sandal — its mate was discovered in the Millses' backyard. DNA tests conducted on the semen collected from the victim matched Adams's DNA. Likewise, the blood on the money and on Adams's clothes matched the victim's DNA.

While he was incarcerated at the Montgomery County detention facility following the murder, Adams attended high-school equivalency classes. The teacher testified that at one session the students had been noisy when they entered the room and he inquired as to what they had been discussing. The students told him that a new inmate had been beaten up in the jail. The teacher then inquired as to whether the inmate was the one who had raped and killed the woman in Capitol Heights. The teacher said that a new student whom, he was later able to identify as Adams, replied, "No, that was me."

The jury convicted Adams of three counts of capital murder for murdering Melissa Mills during the course of a rape, robbery, and burglary, and one count of capital murder for murdering Melissa Mills during the course of robbing Andrew Mills. The jury also convicted Adams of robbery in the first degree for robbing Andrew Mills.

A separate sentencing hearing was held before the jury as mandated by § 13A-5-46, Ala.Code 1975. The jury recommended, by a vote of 10 to 2, that Adams be sentenced to death. The trial court then ordered that a presentence report be prepared in accordance with § 13A-5-47(b). The trial court conducted a separate hearing at which time it allowed counsel to present their arguments on sentencing. See § 13A-5-47(c). The trial court sentenced Adams to death for the capital-murder convictions and to life imprisonment for the robbery conviction. The trial court prepared a detailed sentencing order in accordance with § 13A-5-47(d). This appeal, which is automatic in a case where the defendant has been sentenced to death, followed. See § 13A-5-53(a), Ala. Code 1975.

Standard of Review

Adams has been sentenced to death. According to Rule 45A, Ala.R.App.P., this Court must search the record for any error, whether or not the error was brought to the attention of the trial court. Rule 45A, states:

"In all cases in which the death penalty has been imposed, the Court of Criminal Appeals shall notice any plain error or defect in the proceedings under review, whether or not brought to the attention of the trial court, and take appropriate appellate action by reason thereof, whenever such error has or probably has adversely affected the substantial right of the appellant."

In determining when to apply plain error to a given situation, this court has stated:

"`In considering what constitutes plain error in a capital case, we have adhered to the interpretation of the term "plain error" adopted by the Alabama Supreme Court, which follows the interpretation given that term by the federal courts. See Ex parte Harrell, 470 So.2d 1309 (Ala.), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 935, 106 S.Ct. 269, 88 L.Ed.2d 276 (1985); Ex parte Womack, 435 So.2d 766 (Ala.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 986, 104 S.Ct. 436, 78 L.Ed.2d 367 (1983). See also Hooks v. State, 534 So.2d 329 (Ala.Cr.App. 1987), aff'd, 534 So.2d 371 (Ala.1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 1050, 109 S.Ct. 883, 102 L.Ed.2d 1005 (1989). Plain error is error that has or probably has adversely affected a substantial right of the appellant, Ala.R.App.P. 45A, or is so obvious that the failure to notice it would seriously affect the fairness or integrity of the judicial proceedings. Ex parte Womack. The failure to object at trial weighs against any claim of prejudice an appellant may make. Kuenzel v. State, 577 So.2d 474 (Ala.Cr.App.1990), aff'd, 577 So.2d 531 (Ala.1991).'"

Frazier v. State, 758 So.2d 577, 582 (Ala. Crim.App.), aff'd, 758 So.2d 611 (Ala.1999), quoting Bush v. State, 695 So.2d 70, 87 (Ala.Crim.App.1995), aff'd, 695 So.2d 138 (Ala.1997). In Tyson v. State, 784 So.2d 328, 333 (Ala.Crim.App.), aff'd, 784 So.2d 357 (Ala.2000), we stated:

"The Courts of this State have been reluctant to reverse a capital conviction solely on plain error, and have done so only in specifically egregious situations, i.e., when a prosecutor made a direct comment on an accused's failure to testify, see Powell v. State, 631 So.2d 289 (Ala.Cr.App.1993); when the state illegally introduced evidence, in the guilt phase, indicating that the defendant had committed three prior uncharged violent acts, see Ex parte Woodall, 730 So.2d 652 (Ala.1998), on remand, 730 So.2d 666 (Ala.Cr.App.1999); and when a prosecutor, in the sentencing phase, commented on the result of the defendant's previous trial for the same offense, see Hammond v. State, 776 So.2d 884 (Ala.Cr. App.1998)."

"`In other words, the plain-error exception to the contemporaneous-objection rule is to be "used sparingly, solely in those circumstances in which a miscarriage of justice would otherwise result."'" Ex parte Williams, 710 So.2d 1350, 1355 (Ala.1997), quoting United States v. Young, 470 U.S. 1, 15, 105 S.Ct. 1038, 84 L.Ed.2d 1 (1985), (quoting in turn United States v. Frady, 456 U.S. 152, 163 n. 14, 102 S.Ct. 1584, 71 L.Ed.2d 816 (1982)).

Guilt-Phase Issues

I.

Adams, who was 17 years of age at the time of the murder, argues that the trial court erred in not conducting a full hearing on his request for treatment under the Youthful Offender Act ("YOA"). He asserts that there is no evidence indicating that the trial court's decision to deny Adams's request for YOA treatment was an informed one.

Section 15-19-1(a), Ala.Code 1975, states:

"(a) A person charged with a crime which was committed in his minority but was not disposed of in juvenile court and which involves moral turpitude or is subject to a sentence of commitment for one year or more shall, and, if charged with a lesser crime may be investigated and examined by the court to...