Archie v. State

• Decision Date: 28 February 2003
• Citation: 875 So.2d 336
• Parties: Teresa Ann ARCHIE v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

875 So.2d 336

Teresa Ann ARCHIE v. STATE of Alabama.

CR-01-0922.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

February 28, 2003.

Rehearing Denied April 18, 2003.

Certiorari Denied September 19, 2003.

Frank J. Russo, Birmingham; and Gerald Gregory White, Birmingham, for appellant.

William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and Marc A. Starrett, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

Alabama Supreme Court 1021241.

PER CURIAM.

The appellant, Teresa Ann Archie, was convicted of murder, a violation of § 13A-6-2(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975. She was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.

A review of the record reveals the following. On December 14, 1996, Archie killed her 16-year-old daughter, Shavon,¹ by shooting her twice in the back with a handgun. Archie then put the gun down, walked out of her house, and began to walk down the street. A neighbor, Nancy Adkins, testified that she saw Archie walking down the street and stopped to offer her a ride. According to Adkins, Archie said something to the effect that "she had just been saved by the Lord" (R. 68), and then she stuck her head in Adkins's car window and said "I just shot my daughter." (R. 69.) Archie then got in Adkins's car, and she and Adkins drove to Adkins's house, where Adkins telephoned emergency 911.

The victim was found lying face down outside Archie's residence, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. Police found the murder weapon inside Archie's residence. In a statement to the police, Archie said that at various times she had delusions; that she had been depressed but had not taken the medication prescribed by her "mental illness doctor" since March; that she had recently been "saved from sin"; that she believed that her daughter was worshipping Satan; that she believed she was following God's will so she got her gun and chased her daughter into a bedroom; that her daughter told her that she loved her and begged for her not to shoot her; and that Archie told her daughter that she had to do God's will and then, as her daughter ran out of the room and out of the house, she shot her twice in the back. Archie also indicated in her statement that she knew what she was doing when she shot her daughter, and that she had asked for forgiveness both before and after shooting her daughter.

I.

First, Archie contends that the trial court erred in not holding a hearing to determine her competency to stand trial. Specifically, she contends that the trial court had reasonable doubt as to her competency because, she says, she "had been committed for more than two years, had previous mental illness and treatment, motions for mental evaluation had been filed, and [she] continued to seek medical treatment and therapy for her mental disease or defect during the course of the criminal proceeding." (Archie's brief at p. 1.)

A review of the record reveals that Archie never raised the issue of her competency to stand trial nor did she ever request a hearing on her competency. However, it is well-settled that "`a trial court has an independent duty to inquire into an accused's state of mind when there are reasonable grounds to doubt the accused's competency to stand trial.'" Jackson v. State, 791 So.2d 979, 994 (Ala.Crim. App.2000), quoting Ex parte LaFlore, 445 So.2d 932, 934 (Ala.1983).

In January 1997, one month after the murder, the trial court, at the State's request, ordered Archie to undergo a mental evaluation at Bryce Hospital in Tuscaloosa. At trial, Dr. Joe Dixon testified on Archie's behalf. He said that he had evaluated Archie in February 1997 and determined that she was not stable enough to return to court, but that he reevaluated her in March 1997, and at that time, determined that she was competent to stand trial.² (R. 183.) Although Archie's trial did not begin until August 13, 2001, over four years after she had been determined competent to stand trial, nothing in the record suggests that her condition had changed in any way in those four years.

In Brown v. State, 557 So.2d 562 (Ala. Crim.App.1989), this Court stated:

"`A second determination of the defendant's competency to stand trial may be required under the same circumstances as an original determination would be required, that is, where there exist facts which raise a reasonable and bona fide doubt of the defendant's competency.' Miles v. State, 408 So.2d 158, 162 (Ala.Cr.App.1981), cert. denied, Ex parte Miles, 408 So.2d 163 (Ala.1982). `The defendant bears the burden of persuading the court that a reasonable and bona fide doubt exists as to the defendant's mental competency.' Cliff v. State, 518 So.2d 786, 790 (Ala.Cr.App. 1987).

"This court has been reluctant to find that trial courts have abused their discretion in failing to order further investigation into a defendant's competency to stand trial where there has been some previous determination or finding of competency. Cliff, 518 So.2d at 790-91; Blevins v. State, 516 So.2d 914, 915 (Ala. Cr.App.1987); Wisdom v. State, 515 So.2d 730, 733-34 (Ala.Cr.App.1987); Miles, 408 So.2d at 161-62; Wherry v. State, 402 So.2d 1130, 1134 (Ala.Cr.App. 1981); Nelson v. State, 405 So.2d 392, 394 (Ala.Cr.App.1980), reversed on other grounds, 405 So.2d 401 (Ala.1981); Holland v. State, 376 So.2d 796, 801-02 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, Ex parte Holland, 376 So.2d 802 (Ala.1979); Atwell v. State, 354 So.2d 30, 35-36 (Ala. Cr.App.1977), cert. denied, Ex parte Atwell, 354 So.2d 39 (Ala.1978).

"We recognize that `a trial court has an independent duty to inquire into an accused's state of mind when there are reasonable grounds to doubt the accused's competency to stand trial.' Ex parte LaFlore, 445 So.2d 932, 934 (Ala. 1983). However, under the circumstances of this case, we find that the trial court did not err in denying the defendant's motion of February 16, 1989, for a competency hearing."

557 So.2d at 564-65.

After reviewing the record in this case, including the testimony presented at trial regarding Archie's mental condition, we find nothing that raised a reasonable and bona fide doubt as to Archie's competency to stand trial. Nothing in the record indicates, and Archie made no showing, that her mental condition changed in any way between the time she was determined to be competent to stand trial and the time of the trial. Therefore, we find no error on the part of the trial court in not sua sponte conducting a competency hearing.

II.

Next, Archie contends that she was denied a speedy trial because, she says, she was held at Bryce Hospital for over two years after having been found to be competent to stand trial. As the State correctly points out in its brief to this Court, Archie did not raise this issue in the trial court, and, thus, she did not preserve it for our review. "Even constitutional claims may be waived on appeal if not specifically presented to the trial court." Brown v. State, 705 So.2d 871, 875 (Ala. Crim.App.1997). See, e.g., Page v. State, 622 So.2d 441, 446 (Ala.Crim.App.1993)(defendant's claim that he was denied his right to a speedy trial was procedurally barred where he failed to raise that argument at trial level); Harris v. State, 705 So.2d 542, 549 (Ala.Crim.App. 1997)(speedy-trial claim was not preserved for appeal where the defendant did not assert this right and make the trial judge aware of any prejudice he had allegedly suffered).

III.

Finally, Archie contends that the trial court erroneously denied her motion for a judgment of acquittal because, she says, the evidence was undisputed that at the time of the crime she was suffering from a mental disease or defect, as defined in § 13A-3-1, Ala.Code 1975. She also argues that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence. As she preserved both arguments through timely and proper trial motions, we will address each in turn.

Section 13A-3-1 states, in relevant part:

"(a) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for any crime that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his acts. ...

"....

"(c) The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by clear and convincing evidence."

(Emphasis added.)

In Ware v. State, 584 So.2d 939 (Ala. Crim.App.1991), this Court noted:

"In 1988, the Alabama legislature replaced our insanity defense statute by enacting the `Reasonable Insanity Test Act of 1988,' 1988 Ala. Acts 1051, No. 88-654, now codified at Ala.Code § 13A-3-1 (Supp.1990). Subsection (a) of that statute provides that:

"`It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for any crime that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense.'

"Section 13A-3-1(a) is virtually identical to the federal insanity defense statute, 18 U.S.C. § 17(a) (1988), which `was passed in the wake of John Hinckley's acquittal of charges arising from his actions in shooting President Ronald Reagan and Press Secretary James Brady.' United States v. Cameron, 907 F.2d 1051, 1061 (11th Cir.1990).

"The new Alabama and federal insanity statutes represent a significant change from the insanity defenses previously available in criminal trials. Formerly, a defendant was not responsible for his criminal acts if `at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lack[ed] substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.' Ala.Code § 13A-3-1(a) (1982 Replacement Vol.); United States v. Freeman, 357 F.2d 606, 622 (2d Cir.1966). It is clear that the new § 13A-3-1(a) is `substantially more restrictive' than its predecessor section. United States v. Brown, 899 F.2d 189, 192 (2d Cir.1990) (comparing 18 U.S.C. § 17(a) to the predecessor

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