Baldwin v. State
| Decision Date | 01 June 1979 |
| Citation | 372 So.2d 32 |
| Parties | In re Brian Keith BALDWIN v. STATE of Alabama. Ex parte Brian Keith Baldwin. 78-127. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Windell C. Owens and Paul M. Harden, Monroeville, for petitioner.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and J. Anthony McLain, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State, respondent.
Petitioner was convicted of the capital felony of robbery when the victim is intentionally killed by the defendant and was sentenced to death by electrocution. We granted certiorari to review the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeals affirming Baldwin's conviction. The facts as set forth in the opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals, are as follows:
The victim of the appellant's vicious crime was a sixteen-year-old girl named Naomi Rolon. On November 25, 1976, she was driving across town in Hudson, North Carolina, to visit her father who was in a local hospital. She was abducted before reaching her destination by the appellant and his companion, Edward Horsley, both of whom were escapees from a North Carolina prison camp at the time. They took control of her automobile and drove to Charlotte, North Carolina, where they attempted to rape her and to choke her to death. They stripped her of all her clothing except her shoes and socks. She was stabbed with a knife in various parts of her body and then locked in the trunk of the automobile she had been driving. Baldwin and Horsley then drove the car through South Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia, where they spent the night. They next drove through Montgomery, Alabama, on Interstate Highway 85 and then proceeded to Camden, Alabama, located in Wilcox County. The victim remained locked in the trunk of the car during the entire trip.
In Camden, the appellant stole a pickup truck which contained a hatchet. Horsley drove the automobile, and the appellant drove the truck to an isolated spot in Monroe County. There they removed the victim from the trunk of the car, and Horsley attempted to run the car over her. After several unsuccessful attempts to kill the victim with the automobile, the appellant took the hatchet from the trunk and killed her with a blow leaving a gaping wound in the base of her neck. The two killers were later arrested in Lanett, Alabama, where they were traveling in the stolen truck. The automobile tag from the victim's car was found in the truck which appellant was driving. Both were transported to the Wilcox County Jail on the truck theft charge.
The only issue presented for review is whether the State of Alabama had jurisdiction to try the offense. Petitioner contends that the robbery took place outside of Alabama and the killing took place within Alabama; therefore, the venue of the crime of robbery was not within the state and there was no jurisdiction to try petitioner in Alabama so the verdict of the jury and judgment of the trial court are void. We disagree.
The crime of robbery when the victim is intentionally killed is a single offense beginning with the act of robbing or attempting to rob and culminating with the act of intentionally killing the victim. The offense consists of two elements, robbing and intentionally killing, but does not consist of two separate Offenses. See Ex parte Clements, 370 So.2d 723 (Ala.1979); Horsley v. State, [1 Div. 931] (Ala.Crim.App.1978). Therefore, although the offense was commenced in North Carolina, it was not consummated until Naomi Rolon was killed in Monroe County, Alabama.
The place where the crime was consummated is the place where the crime was committed and the place where the defendant may be tried. 21 Am.Jur.2d Criminal Law § 399, at 416. Section 15-2-4 provides:
When the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Baldwin v. Alabama
...sentence were affirmed initially by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals, 372 So.2d 26 (1978), and by the Supreme Court of Alabama, 372 So.2d 32 (1979). This Court, however, 448 U.S. 903, 100 S.Ct. 3043, 65 L.Ed.2d 1133 (1980), vacated and remanded the case for reconsideration in the light......
-
Baldwin v. Johnson
...of Alabama affirmed the judgment of the court of criminal appeals, addressing only the jurisdiction issue. See Baldwin v. State (Ex parte Baldwin), 372 So.2d 32 (Ala.1979). On June 30, 1980, the United States Supreme Court granted Baldwin's petition for writ of certiorari, vacated the Supre......
-
Magwood v. State
...The offense consists of two elements, robbing and intentionally killing. Baldwin v. State, 372 So.2d 26 (Ala.Crim.App.1978), aff'd, 372 So.2d 32 (Ala.1979), vacated on other grounds, 448 U.S. 903, 100 S.Ct. 3043, 65 L.Ed.2d 1133 (1980). In the case at bar, the trial court correctly instruct......
-
Jackson v. Thigpen, Civ. A. No. 87-C-2046-W.
...in original). Jackson v. State, 501 So.2d at 544. 7 See, e.g., Baldwin v. State, 372 So.2d 26, (Ala. Crim.App.1978), aff'd, 372 So.2d 32 (Ala.1979), vacated on other grounds, 448 U.S. 903, 100 S.Ct. 3043, 65 L.Ed.2d 1133 (1980); Beck v. State, 365 So.2d 985 (Ala.Crim.App.), aff'd, 365 So.2d......