Baker v. State, 8 Div. 673

• Decision Date: 19 October 1976
• Docket Number: 8 Div. 673
• Citation: 338 So.2d 528
• Parties: Charles BAKER v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 528

338 So.2d 528

Charles BAKER v. STATE.

8 Div. 673.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Oct. 19, 1976.

Robert M. Shipman, Huntsville, for appellant.

William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and Joel E. Dillard, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

DeCARLO, Judge.

In November, 1974, the grand jury of Madison County indicted the appellant for first degree murder and charged him with killing Charles Burgess by stabbing him with a knife.

On March 3, 1975, the appellant was arraigned and pled not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury was empaneled and on March 4th after hearing the evidence they found the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree and fixed his punishment at life imprisonment. The appellant gave notice of appeal and after his motion for a new trial was denied, he filed a motion for a free transcript and appointed counsel.

The facts surrounding this stabbing occurred on Saturday, October 13, 1974, at Charles and Martha Burgess' apartment which was located in a housing project on Binford Court in Huntsville, Alabama. Doris Taylor was Charles Burgess' cousin and on the evening of the day before the incident, she and her three children came to the Burgess' apartment for a weekend visit. That night she asked the appellant, Baker, whom she had been dating, to take her to her home in Decatur '. . . to pick up a few things.' The appellant told her he could not take her that night because he could not get 'transportation.' On the following day, Saturday, October 13th, appellant made four visits to the Burgess' apartment. He was drinking at the time and during these visits there were discussions concerning the trip to Decatur.

Doris Taylor testified that before the appellant returned the fourth time, Charles Burgess had come home from work. She was playing cards on the dining room table with Charles and Martha Burgess when the appellant entered the room. The appellant said he wanted to take her to Decatur and when she said that she had changed her mind, he asked her to come outside. When she told the appellant she was not going outside he drew his hand back to hit her and Charles Burgess stepped between them. According to Taylor, Burgess told the appellant, 'he wasn't going to fight in his house' and at that point, appellant his Burgess. He was holding Burgess with one hand and hitting him with the other. Burgess was knocked to the sofa and appellant was trying to choke him when Martha Burgess came from the bedroom. Taylor stated that Martha Burgess told the appellant to leave her husband alone but appellant continued hitting him. Burgess was wrestling with Baker and trying to get up from the couch. He did not have a chance to hit appellant and subsequently fell from the sofa onto the floor. The children then came into the room about that time and when Taylor looked, Burgess was on his back on the floor. According to Taylor, the appellant was standing over Burgess and while holding him down with one hand, he picked up the knife from the coffee table. Taylor did not know how many times the appellant stabbed Burgess but after he stabbed him the first time, she ran out the door. She recalled that Martha Burgess was standing nearby and was asking the appellant to leave her husband alone. Taylor did not see Martha Burgess touch the appellant. However, she admitted running out the door when the children jumped on appellant's back.

During cross-examination, Taylor said she did not see anything in the deceased's hands and did not see him with his hands in his pockets.

Martha Mae Burgess was the wife of the deceased and the appellant was her first cousin. She stated that the defendant came to their house to eat almost every day at the invitation of both her and her husband. Further, she said that Doris Jean Taylor had been staying with them and that she was her husband's cousin.

Mrs. Burgess testified that on October 12, 1974, her husband came home from work about 4:00 P.M. and that she, Taylor, and the children were playing cards at the time. She also testified that appellant came to the house about 2:30 P.M., but left and came back in about fifteen minutes. At that time the appellant told Taylor to get ready to go to Decatur and Taylor said, 'okay.' Baker then left again and it was during this period that her husband came into the house. When the appellant returned he and Taylor had a quarrel and Mr. Burgess told them to go outside and not to fight in the house. Baker, at that point, went outside but in about twenty minutes returned and came to the back door. Appellant and Taylor then had another argument and he demanded that she come outside. After Taylor refused, Mrs. Burgess heard a slap. She was in her bedroom at the time and when she stepped back into the room she saw her husband getting out of the chair and heard him say: 'Man, I asked you not fight in my house.' Appellant then turned and said, 'nigger, that's enough.' At that point, appellant hit Mr. Burgess and knocked him against the kitchen table. The deceased was trying to get off the table when appellant pulled him up and they fell back towards the couch. They then wrestled over the television and down on the floor. When they were on the floor, Mr. Burgess said, 'man, forget it, let me up.' The appellant responded: 'I'll forget it alright . . . I'll forget it you nigger because I'll kill you.' Mr. Burgess again asked the appellant to let him up and the appellant said: 'I'll let you up when I kill your M_ _ f_ _ ass.' The appellant then reached for a knife on the table and Mrs. Burgess ran over and grabbed his arms. Mrs. Burgess pleaded with the appellant not 'to do it,' and appellant said: 'I'm going to kill him, turn me loose. I'm going to kill the M_ _ f_ _ . . . turn me loose.' Mr. Burgess then said: 'Baby, turn him loose or he'll hurt you.' When she turned the appellant loose he stabbed her husband.

During cross-examination, Mrs. Burgess said that after the appellant stabbed her husband she saw him hit him in the jaw and then go out the back door. She said that he then came back and started beating her husband. Further, Mrs. Burgess recalled he left a second time and then returned and kicked her husband.

Mrs. Burgess said her husband was about five feet tall and weighed about 165 pounds and described him as a 'short dumpy man.'

Connie Hill was Mrs. Burgess' ten-year-old son by a former marriage. On the day in question he saw his father lying on the floor with the appellant hitting him. Connie said, that when the appellant took a knife from the coffee table, his mother grabbed appellant's hand. He testified they wrestled for a short time while the appellant was sitting on his step-father. According to the witness he grabbed the appellant and was thrown back. Further, Connie said that after the stabbing, appellant continued to hit his father.

LeVon Hill was Mrs. Burgess' eight-year-old son by a former marriage and he recalled that at the time of the stabbing he was outside playing. When he heard the 'curtain fall' he went into the living room and saw the appellant sitting on top of his step-father. LeVon said that appellant hit and stabbed his father.

During cross-examination, he said that at the time of the stabbing his step-father and the appellant were 'sort of rolling around and fighting on the floor.'

Rickey Martin, a police officer, recalled investigating a stabbing at Binford Court on October 12, 1974. It was approximately 4:25 P.M. when he arrived and saw Mr. Burgess, the deceased, lying on the ground behind the apartment. The victim was lying face-down and when Martin turned him over he noticed a stab wound in the chest. Later that evening Martin saw the appellant and heard Detective Curlee inform him of his constitutional rights.

During cross-examination, Martin stated that after a conversation with Detective Curlee, he went to Jim Parker's apartment at Binford Court and found the murder weapon on the bookcase behind a Bible.

Ron Curlee was with the homicide division of the Huntsville Police Department on October 12, 1974. On that day he investigated a stabbing at Binford Court and it was during that investigation that he talked to the appellant. He stated that after the appellant was arrested he was informed of his constitutional rights.

On cross-examination Curlee said that he asked where the murder weapon was and the appellant told him that it was in 'Mr. Parker's house.' Curlee conveyed this message to another officer and after the knife was turned over to him, he gave it to Van Pruitt.

Van Pruitt was employed by the State of Alabama in the Department of Toxicology and Criminal Investigation. On October 15, 1974, Detective Curlee submitted a knife to his office. On the same day, he performed a post mortem examination of the body of Charles Burgess, the victim. Pruitt observed one stab wound in the chest which penetrated the heart to a depth of one-half inch. It was his opinion the stab wound was the cause of death.

During cross-examination, Pruitt said he did not run a blood-alcohol test on the deceased and did not examine the knife for finger prints.

After recalling Officer Curlee and Martin to establish the occasion for finding the murder weapon, the State rested its case. At that time the appellant withdrew his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and made a motion to exclude the State's evidence.

Counsel argued that the testimony showed a void in the time between the alleged fight and time of death. He alleged there had been no evidence that some intervening cause, as other physical infirmities had not been the cause of death. The motion was overruled and the appellant subsequently took the stand in his own behalf.

Baker recalled the day of the incident and said that he had gone to the Burgess' apartment in response to a request from Doris Taylor. He talked with Taylor and she wanted him to take her to Decatur. Baker told her he had to get a car and subsequently borrowed one from...