Adkins v. State, 7 Div. 146

• Citation: 600 So.2d 1054
• Decision Date: 24 August 1990
• Docket Number: 7 Div. 146
• Parties: Ricky Dale ADKINS v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1054

600 So.2d 1054

Ricky Dale ADKINS v. STATE.

7 Div. 146.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Aug. 24, 1990.

As Corrected on Denial of Rehearing Jan. 18, 1991.

D. Michael Barrett, Birmingham and Talmadge H. Fambrough, Pell City, for appellant.

Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and Gilda B. Williams and William D. Little, Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.

TAYLOR, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, Ricky Dale Adkins, was convicted of three counts of capital murder, as defined in § 13A-5-40(a)(1), § 13A-5-40(a)(2) and § 13A-5-40(a)(3), Code of Alabama 1975, for the murder of Billie Dean Hamilton. He was sentenced to death.

The evidence tended to show that the appellant arrived in Birmingham, Alabama, on the morning of January 15, 1988, in a stolen Ford Bronco motor vehicle. After arriving in Birmingham, he ate breakfast and called his girlfriend in Texas. Then he began riding around the city looking at houses. The appellant admitted at trial that he was never intending to buy a house and, moreover, that he could not afford one, as he was unemployed. He just "like[d] looking at houses."

Around 12:00 noon on that same day, Todd and Rebecca Farmer were in the Crossgate subdivision looking at houses. As they pulled up to a house where there was an "open house," they noticed a Bronco parked out front. They went into the house and a man, who they later identified in court as the appellant, came in behind them. The Farmers engaged in conversation with the appellant and he asked Mrs. Farmer if she was a real estate agent. Mrs. Farmer replied that she was not but that she was employed at South of Town Realty in the relocation department. The appellant proceeded to tell the Farmers that his name was Thomas Barton and that he was looking for a $200,000 home. He further told them that he was a narcotics agent from Dallas, Texas, and that his wife was a gynecologist and had taken a job at Brookwood Hospital's new women's center. He went on to say that since his wife was so busy, he was going to find a house for them and their daughter.

The appellant followed the Farmers to the office of South of Town Realty. Once there, he was introduced to members of the Sanders family. They were the owners of South of Town Realty. The Sanderses asked the appellant to join them for lunch at the Green Valley Country Club and he accepted their invitation. While they were gone, Mrs. Farmer was to try to find a real estate agent who could work with the appellant that afternoon. The appellant told Mrs. Farmer that he preferred to work with a woman because a woman could relate to his wife and what she might like in a house.

When the appellant and the Sanderses returned from lunch, Mrs. Farmer agreed to show the appellant some of the various neighborhoods herself. However, when she went outside, she realized that her husband had taken her automobile to have it washed. As she was going back into the office to get keys from one of the Sanderses, the appellant said, "Let's go in my Bronco." Mrs. Farmer rejected that idea. The appellant again suggested that they take his Bronco and Mrs. Farmer refused. Finally, the two left in Tommy Sanders's car and were gone approximately 35 to 45 minutes before returning to the office.

For the rest of the afternoon, Tommy Sanders showed houses to the appellant. The appellant left South of Town Realty at approximately 6:30 p.m. He drove around Birmingham, stopping at a pet shop, a Hardee's restaurant, and a Delchamp's grocery store. Finally, he checked into the Rodeway Inn and spent the night.

On the following morning, January 16, 1988, the appellant checked out of the Rodeway Inn and ate breakfast at a nearby restaurant. From there, he went to Allison Hunter's apartment in Homewood. Miss Hunter is a teenager who had met the appellant a couple of years earlier in Alexandria, Louisiana. Since Miss Hunter was apparently not at home, the appellant left her a note, which read, "Came to see you but you were not at home. Will try again later."

At approximately 11:00 a.m., the appellant arrived back at South of Town Realty. For the next four to seven hours, Terry and Mary Ann Sanders showed houses to the appellant. At 5:00 p.m., the threesome went to Herbert and Kitty Sanders's home for dessert. The appellant stayed there a couple of hours and watched a football game.

When the appellant left the Sanderses house, he went back to Miss Hunter's apartment. Hansel Hunter, Miss Hunter's father, was at home and told the appellant that his daughter was not at home but that they had found his card. Mr. Hunter also told the appellant that his sister had called there looking for him. The appellant told Mr. Hunter that he worked for the Pinkerton Detective Agency and was on vacation. He further stated that he was probably wanted to return to work.

As the appellant was leaving the Hunters' apartment, Allison Hunter was returning home from work. The two talked for five or ten minutes and then the appellant left and went to a Burger King restaurant. After leaving Burger King, the appellant went to a bar. He slept that night in his Bronco.

On the following morning, January 17, 1988, the appellant went to a service station and used the rest room to "clean up." He then went to the Holiday Inn restaurant for breakfast. Meanwhile, the Sanderses had come by the Holiday Inn to do a "little checking out" of the appellant and discovered that he had never checked in. However, they did notice the Bronco in the parking lot with the appellant in it. The Sanderses stopped and told the appellant that they would not be able to show him any houses that day. The appellant responded by saying that he needed to spend the afternoon with friends and going to the different shopping centers and that he would look at houses on his own. This was the last time the Sanderses saw the appellant.

The appellant cleaned out the inside of the Bronco and then began another day of "looking at houses." During the mid-morning of that same day, Billie Dean Hamilton, a realtor with CKM Realty, left her home to put out real estate signs in the Riverchase area and then to go to her office to do some paperwork. As she was putting up a sign, the appellant drove up, got out of his vehicle, and began talking to her. The appellant told Mrs. Hamilton the same story he had told the Farmers and further stated that the Sanderses could not show him any houses that day. Mrs. Hamilton agreed to show him some houses.

Several residents of Riverchase saw Mrs. Hamilton in the area that Sunday morning. Around 11:30 a.m., Janice Spradling, her husband, and their three sons were on their way to a family luncheon. As they stopped at a stop sign on Riverchase Parkway, Mrs. Spradling saw Mrs. Hamilton showing a house that was diagonally across from the stop they had to make. Mrs. Hamilton was on the front porch of the home, apparently opening the front door. A white male, casually dressed, was standing directly behind Mrs. Hamilton as if he was going to enter the house with her. Mrs. Hamilton was also casually dressed. Mrs. Spradling had met Mrs. Hamilton once briefly when she was looking for a home in the Riverchase area two and a half years ago.

After looking at that house, Mrs. Hamilton and the appellant left in the Ford Bronco. The appellant was driving. Mrs. Hamilton's car was left at the house. They went to a second house and looked around. They left that house and, at approximately 1:00 p.m., stopped at a pay phone. Mrs. Hamilton called her husband, Ray Hamilton, and told him she was with a prospect showing houses.

After stopping at the pay phone, the appellant and Mrs. Hamilton went to look at a third house. Then, they went to a small convenience store for refreshments. Mrs. Hamilton again made a telephone call.

Around 2:15 p.m., Mrs. Hamilton was seen by two other people in the Riverchase area. Suzanne Chauncey was babysitting for the Hedricks on Forest Knoll Drive. Mrs. Hamilton and a man, whom Ms. Chauncey later identified in court as the appellant, came by to look at the Hedricks' house, as it was for sale. They stayed approximately 15 minutes and then left in a Ford Bronco.

The appellant and Mrs. Hamilton were not seen again until approximately 5:00 p.m. The appellant testified at trial that during this two-and-a-half-hour period, they stopped at a park and "held hands and kissed." He said they stayed at the park for about 30 minutes and then left to look at houses. At one of the vacant houses they looked at, the appellant claims, Mrs. Hamilton voluntarily had sex with him twice.

The appellant said that after the alleged sexual encounters, he and Mrs. Hamilton went to Mrs. Hamilton's office to "clean up." While they were there, Mrs. Hamilton called Virginia Benintende, an employee of First Real Estate in Hoover. Mrs. Hamilton made arrangements with Ms. Benintende to meet at a house in Inverness at 5:00 p.m. Ms. Benintende arrived first and when Mrs. Hamilton arrived, she was accompanied by a man whom Ms. Benintende identified in court as the appellant. The appellant told Ms. Benintende the same story he had told the other realtors, except this time he added that he wanted to pay cash for a house. The three looked at the house for approximately 30 minutes and then Mrs. Hamilton and the appellant left in a Ford Bronco.

The appellant testified that after leaving the meeting with Ms. Benintende, he and Mrs. Hamilton went back to the vacant house where the alleged sexual encounter occurred. Once there, he said, they had sex again. The appellant claims that they were at this house for only 10 or 15 minutes.

At this point, there is a discrepancy in the evidence presented as to what actually took place. The appellant testified that he and Mrs. Hamilton left the vacant house and went back to the Hedricks' house to look at it again and then went to Mrs. Hamilton's office to "clean up" for a second time. The appellant testified that he did not recall Mrs. Hamilton's...