Balentine v. State

• Decision Date: 24 August 1976
• Docket Number: 8 Div. 795
• Citation: 339 So.2d 1063
• Parties: Charles Edwin BALENTINE v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1063

339 So.2d 1063

Charles Edwin BALENTINE v. STATE.

8 Div. 795.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Aug. 24, 1976.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 5, 1976.

John C. McKelvey and Rodney B. Slusher, Florence, for appellant.

William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen. and Jack A. Blumenfeld, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

HARRIS, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree and the jury fixed his punishment at life imprisonment in the penitentiary. Prior to trial appellant was found to be indigent and the Court appointed counsel to represent him at arraignment and trial. He pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. The Court directed that appellant be examined by a psychiatrist and a psychologist at the Mental Health Center in Florence, Alabama. The reports from these examinations reflected that appellant had an antisocial personality but was not suffering from any mental illness. Appellant's counsel withdrew the special plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. After sentence was imposed, appellant gave notice of appeal and was furnished a free transcript and trial counsel was appointed to represent him on appeal.

Appellant had previously been convicted of several felonies and while serving time his father was killed and according to the tendencies of the State's evidence he had made up his mind to avenge the death of his father. He had been out of prison less than 30 days when he shot and killed Joe Wright with a twelve gauge automatic shotgun using number six shot. Wright died instantly.

The testimony of this case covers over 300 pages of the record. We do not deem it necessary to detail the testimony of each witness but we will recite so much of the testimony as is necessary to cover the issues raised by appellant in which he claims reversible errors were committed.

While in prison appellant heard rumors that James (Fish) Wright, a brother of the deceased, Joe Wright, was the person who killed his father. He also heard that J. V. Odum, Jr., and Mavis Balentine (his stepmother) had started dating after his father was killed. Appellant made the statement that he thought they were dating before his father was killed and that J. V. and Mavis had some part in his father's death. J. V. Odum was Joe Wright's brother-in-law. John Odum, Sr., and J. V. Odum, Jr. owned and operated the St. Joe Milling Company, and Jane Wright (Joe Wright's widow) worked at this feed mill on April 24, 1975, the day appellant shot and killed Joe Wright. Appellant also thought that Mitchell Simpson was in some manner involved in his father's death.

C. W. Lawson testified that he was a resident of St. Joseph, Tennessee, and that between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. on April 24, 1975, he and his brother saw Randy Wilson and appellant in St. Joe. Lawson saw that appellant had a shotgun. Appellant asked Lawson to take him to the J. V. Odum Mill. Lawson asked him why he wanted to go there and appellant, over counsel's objections, replied that he planned to kill J. V. Odum and Mavis Balentine. Lawson refused to carry appellant to the mill.

The testimony for the State tended to show that appellant and one or more companions spent most of the day the shooting occurred going from one beer joint to another and appellant consumed at least a case of beer and probably a good deal more. It was also shown that the deceased and Mitchell Simpson were together on the afternoon of April 24, 1975, and they were drinking heavily.

Mitchell Simpson testified that he had known appellant for about five years. On April 24, 1975, Simpson saw the deceased at Buck's Tavern at 12:00 noon. He and the deceased visited a sick friend and then they went to Parker's beer joint and had one beer each. They returned to Buck's Tavern and found that Simpson's car was gone. The deceased told Simpson he would carry him home and they left going toward the Cowpen Road. They met appellant in Simpson's car and Simpson told the deceased to stop and he would ride home with appellant. Appellant came out of the car with a shotgun and accused Simpson of aiding in the killing of his father and he ordered him to get in the car saying, 'I am not goint to kill you right now,' or words to that effect. Simpson further testified that when he was getting out of the deceased's car the only thing he heard the deceased say was that he would like to speak to appellant as he had not seen him in a long time. He stated the deceased was not mad about anything and did not have a weapon of any kind. Simpson said as he was returning to get in the car as ordered by appellant he saw appellant fire the shotgun in the air one time and then appellant fired three more shots. Appellant then ordered Simpson to accompany him and that he was going to St. Joseph to find Mavis Balentine at the feed mill. They went to the feed mill but it was closed. They saw the wife of the deceased and appellant said, 'There's one of them people that works at that feed mill now,' and reached down as though he were going to lay his hand on the gun. Simpson stopped him and told him, 'That's Joe's wife. Don't bother her. That's a good woman.' The deceased's wife came up to the car and asked where her husband was. Appellant replied that he did not know.

Appellant and Simpson proceeded to C. W. Lawson's home but he was not at home. Appellant told Lawson's wife that he needed some shells and he gave her some money to buy the shells and a six pack of beer. Appellant put the gun down and Simpson grabbed it and pointed the gun at appellant and appellant asked him not to shoot and threw up his hands. Simpson told Lena Mae Lawson to 'go get the law,' and she got in the car and started up the road. Simpson stated that after Lena Mae left appellant took all of his clothes off except his shorts and told Simpson to shoot him saying, 'I want to die.' After appellant stripped his clothes off, Simpson knew he didn't have a pistol so he decided this was a good time to get away from appellant. He then went over a fence and through the woods to service station. Appellant started after him in Simpson's car but got the car hung in the fence. When Simpson got to the service station, one of the attendants examined the shotgun and told him it was jammed by a shell and he removed the shell and gave it to Simpson. Harold Purser, Simpson's son-in-law, drove up and they rode by to the scene of the shooting. Simpson was arrested when he got back to the place where the killing occurred and the officer got the shotgun out of the pickup truck. When Simpson was placed in jail, he still had the shotgun shell that had jammed the gun and it was left with the officers.

Simpson further testified that after appellant hung the car in the fence he backed up and headed north at a high rate of speed.

Lena Mae Lawson testified that around 5:30 p.m. on April 24, 1975, she saw appellant and Simpson at her house. Appellant told her that he had killed one S.O.B. that was involved in the killing of his father, and that Simpson was also involved and he was going to kill him. Appellant asked Mrs. Lawson for some shotgun shells and gave her a twenty-dollar bill. She then saw Simpson seize the shotgun and go over a fence into the woods. Mrs. Lawson gave the twenty-dollar bill to Jerry Rooker, Chief of Police of St. Joseph, Tennessee. At trial Chief Rooker identified the bill and it was admitted into evidence.

Lanny Jackson, Deputy Sheriff of Lauderdale County, got a call from Rick Thompson, an investigator for the District Attorney, to be on the alert for a '64 white Oldsmobile with Tennessee license plates. Jackson saw the car just south of Shoals Creek bridge on County Road 47 and this car was coming in his lane of traffic and ran him off the road. He judged the speed of the Oldsmobile to be between 80 and 90 miles per hour. Jackson turned around and gave chase with his blue lights on and also his siren. He radioed for a backup. The driver of the Oldsmobile drove off the road, abandoned the car and ran into the woods.

Joel Williams, a police officer with the Florence Police Department, got the call for help and he responded with his partner, Mrs. Elizabeth Hawk. Williams saw the suspect running in the woods and ordered him to stop but he kept running. Williams shot at him one time and he fell. He shouted that he was shot. Officer Hawk radioed for an ambulance and went to the suspect who turned out to be appellant. She put appellant's head in her lap but she did not ask him any questions. Appellant asked her if she knew James Balentine and she said no. She told appellant to be quiet and lie still. Appellant said, 'I want you to understand I killed the man that killed my father.'

Appellant was carried to a local hospital for emergency treatment for superficial wounds. At 8:00 p.m., the night of April 24, 1975, Lawrence Smelley, a criminal investigator with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, took an oral statement from appellant in the hospital emergency room. Before asking appellant any questions he gave him the Miranda rights by reading them to him from a card. Officer Smelley stated that appellant did not appear to be intoxicated at all when he took his statement and that he did not appear to be under the influence of any drugs at the time.

Testimony was taken out of the presence and hearing of the jury to determine if appellant was given any medication that might render his statement involuntary and inadmissible into evidence.

Martha Kennedy, an LPN, was on duty in the Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital Emergency Room when appellant was brought in. She testified that appellant had gunshot wounds on his legs and buttocks and he was given 1000 cc Ringers Lactate which was I.V. fluids. He was also given a tetanus toxoid, which is a lockjaw shot. He was given E--Mycin tablets which is an antibiotic. She expressed the opinion that none of these medications would affect a person's mind. She stated that the hospital chart did not show that appellant was given any...