Baker v. State
| Decision Date | 07 October 1980 |
| Docket Number | 5 Div. 504 |
| Citation | 404 So.2d 100 |
| Parties | Sam Dawson BAKER, Jr., alias v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Michael Sundock, Opelika, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and J. Anthony McLain and James F. Hampton, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.
Sam Dawson Baker, Jr., was charged by indictment with the offense of assault with intent to ravish. A timely motion for treatment as a youthful offender was overruled, and at trial Baker was found guilty as charged, and sentenced to serve fifteen years in the state penitentiary. Baker brings this appeal in forma pauperis.
The State's first witness was the victim, Shirley Ann Waters, a Jacksonville, Florida, native who was attending Auburn University. She testified that, on the evening of November 11, 1979, she drove to the A & P supermarket, located in Auburn, arriving there at a few minutes before 7:00 o'clock. Miss Waters stated that, after parking her car in the store parking lot, she proceeded to the front of the store; she remembered that there were people inside the store and in the parking lot, and that a single black male was standing near the front door. Upon reaching the front door, she discovered that it was locked, so she began to return to her car in the parking lot. At this point, she stated, the black male, who had been by the front door, began walking "across the front of the A & P, slowly" (R. 17), and then traced Miss Waters' path back to her car, following her all the time.
Miss Waters then stated that, when she reached her car and was in the process of unlocking it, she turned and saw the black male "approaching me"; the man then pulled a knife with a blade length of "six inches" (R. 18). She testified that the man did not pull the knife until he was "a couple of feet away from me" (R. 18). She testified that the male was holding the knife with both hands, the blade being pointed upward. At this point, Miss Waters stated, she backed to her car, and the man followed, but got no closer to her than he had been initially. She then ran around the side of her car, and as the man continued his approach, she began screaming, at which point the man broke and ran. Miss Waters stated that she ran back to the grocery store, still screaming. The witness identified appellant as the black male she had seen that night.
When she returned to the front of the store, two employees of the A & P, identified as Keith Holloway and Robert Saxby, came out and chased the man. Miss Waters stated that she reported the incident to the police and later examined some photographs at police headquarters. On cross-examination, the following testimony was had:
(R. 25)
Miss Waters further stated that she had been very nervous during the incident, and that on the night of the incident, she had picked out a photograph of appellant from a group of pictures at police headquarters. She further stated that "I thought he wanted my purse" (R. 28). Finally the following testimony was elicited from Miss Waters:
(R. 28)
Keith Holloway, a high school student in Auburn and a part-time employee of the A & P supermarket, testified that, on the night of November 11, 1979, he had been working at the A & P, preparing for the store's 7:00 o'clock closing time. He stated that he heard a scream and followed Robert Saxby out of the store, where they discovered Shirley Ann Waters crying. He further testified that he and Saxby gave chase to an individual fleeing the scene, and, though the witness could not identify the individual, he did state that the person was wearing a light tan "cloth windbreaker type" jacket and dark pants, and had a "combed down" hair style. Later on the same night, the witness testified, he was in a Zippy Mart convenience store a few miles from the A & P store when he saw an individual he identified as appellant. He stated that the individual was dressed identically to the individual he had chased from the A & P parking lot earlier in the evening. Mr. Holloway stated that he walked around appellant to assure himself and noted the number on the license plate of the car as appellant left the store. This information was conveyed to the police.
Robert Saxby, an Auburn University student and also a part-time employee of the A & P, testified that, on the night of November 11, 1979, he had also heard the screams and had investigated with Keith Holloway. He stated that Shirley Ann Waters indicated the direction in which the individual had run and that he and Holloway gave chase. The witness stated that he did not see the individual again.
The final state witness was Lieutenant Edwin Downing, a member of the Auburn Police Department, who had been in the detective division of that department at the time of the events in question. The officer testified that he had not been one of the officers who had arrested appellant, but that he interviewed appellant at Police Headquarters two days later. He stated that he had read appellant his Miranda rights from a standard form, and that he further read the standard waiver form to appellant as appellant could not read or write. Lieutenant Downing stated that appellant said he understood his rights, and agreed to waive them, and that appellant signed his name to the waiver form (apparently this was the extent of appellant's ability to write).
The witness testified that he then proceeded to interview appellant, though he could not tell if appellant understood his questions. Lieutenant Downing further stated that the statement of appellant, the result of questions propounded by Downing, was not recorded or transcribed, but that he (Downing) made notes as the interview progressed. The witness stated that, when asked, "Did he want to have sex with the girl," appellant answered, "That's all, I didn't rape her" (R. 76). Further, appellant purportedly admitted having had a knife with a three inch blade, which he had discarded. Lieutenant Downing also testified that appellant said that "he told her to get into the car or he would cut her" (R. 76). The witness further testified that appellant had had on a light green jacket at the time of his arrest, which jacket had been retained by the Auburn police as evidence. He stated that he interviewed Miss Waters and that she stated to him that appellant had said nothing to her; on the basis of this interview, the witness stated, he made the decision to charge appellant with assault with intent to ravish. At this point the State rested, and appellant's motion for a directed verdict was overruled.
Appellant's case was one of alibi. Appellant first took the stand in his own behalf and stated that he could neither read nor write. He denied having been at the A & P on the day in question, stating instead that he had been at his aunt's house watching television. He further testified that, as it was his responsibility to pick up his mother from her place of work at 7:00 o'clock, he had left his aunt's before 7:00. After picking his mother up, he stated, he accompanied her to a Zippy Mart to buy some cigarettes. He testified that he was later picked up by the police and taken to the police station, but was not told why. Although he identified his signature on the police "waiver of rights form," he stated that he could not understand the remainder of the writing, did not remember having it read to him, and did not understand anything that might have been read to him by Lieutenant Downing. He denied attacking Miss Waters or any girl, or having a knife in his possession. While he stated that he may have told Lieutenant Downing certain things, he denied stating that he told the girl to get into the automobile.
Margaret Richardson, appellant's aunt, testified that the appellant generally stayed over at her house on Sundays, and that he had been present on Sunday, November 11, 1979. She stated that she told appellant to leave to pick up his mother around 7:00 o'clock that evening, and that he left wearing a green windbreaker and blue jeans. She found out about appellant's arrest later, but failed to inform anyone of her story.
The final defense witness, Jossie Mae Tolbert, mother of appellant, testified that appellant had picked her up from her place of employment on November 11, 1979. She stated that appellant arrived at 7:05 p. m., and that they left at 7:30 p. m. They later drove to a Zippy Mart and were stopped by the police during the return trip. She stated that appellant had been dressed in a green windbreaker on the night in question. The defense rested, and Shirley Ann Waters was called in rebuttal by the State. She again positively identified appellant as the man in the A & P parking lot, but positively stated that appellant did not threaten her, or in fact speak to her on the night of the incident in question.
We find that the dispositive issue on this appeal is whether the State proved a prima facie case of assault with intent...
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