Barnes v. State
| Decision Date | 05 September 1997 |
| Docket Number | CR-95-0510 |
| Citation | 704 So.2d 487 |
| Parties | Michael Shawn BARNES v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Arthur Madden, Mobile; and Gordon Armstrong, III, Mobile, for appellant.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and John Gibbs, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.
This case was originally assigned to another judge. It was transferred to Judge Cobb on June 11, 1997.
Michael Shawn Barnes appeals from two convictions of capital murder and a sentence of death by electrocution in connection with the killing of Mrs. Aileen Meinhardt. On October 18, 1995, Michael Shawn Barnes was convicted of two counts of murder made capital because Mrs. Meinhardt's murder was committed during a burglary in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(4), Ala.Code, 1975; and because Mrs. Meinhardt's murder was committed during a rape in the first degree, see § 13A-5-40(a)(3), Ala.Code 1975. On December 12, 1995, the court conducted a sentencing hearing for both this instant case and a separate, unrelated, capital murder conviction for the murder of John Cimprich. 1 Barnes was sentenced to death on both counts of capital murder involving Mrs. Meinhardt.
Testimony given at trial revealed that Aileen Meinhardt was last seen alive between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on December 6, 1993. On December 7, neighbors became concerned when they noticed that Mrs. Meinhardt had not raised the window shades in the house, as was her custom, and that the door of her automobile was open. Upon approaching the house, neighbors heard a smoke alarm sounding. One neighbor entered the house and saw smoke in Meinhardt's bedroom. He then telephoned 911 to report a fire.
When the fire department and Corporal Daniel Walker, a Saraland policeman, arrived at Meinhardt's house, the firemen and Corp. Walker went to the bedroom in the back of the house where the neighbor had seen the smoke. They discovered Meinhardt's severely burned body. Her wrists had been tied to the bedposts. Also found on the bed were sheets of charred paper that had been torn from books found in the house, and an electrical appliance, the cord from which was wrapped around Meinhardt's neck.
Dr. Gregory P. Wanger, a medical examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, observed portions of the autopsy performed on Mrs. Meinhardt. He testified that the causes of Meinhardt's death were strangulation, smoke inhalation, and burns. Dr. Wanger explained that the presence of soot in Meinhardt's windpipe indicated that she was still breathing when the fire was set in her bedroom. Other evidence introduced at trial indicated that Meinhardt had been sexually assaulted shortly before her death.
The State presented evidence that tended to show that Barnes had burglarized Meinhardt's house and had raped her before she was killed. Barnes's statements to the police, in which he admitted burglarizing Meinhardt's house, were introduced at trial. Fingerprints taken in Meinhardt's house were also determined to have been left by Barnes. Additionally, the State presented expert testimony regarding DNA from vaginal swabs taken during Meinhardt's autopsy that strongly suggested that Barnes had had sexual intercourse with Meinhardt.
Sue Rogers, a scientist at the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that the DNA samples taken from the swabs were identical in each of six tested characteristics to a known DNA sample from Barnes. Rogers then testified that population frequency statistics indicated that 99.91439% of the population of Alabama would have a different combination of those six characteristics than the DNA samples taken from the swabs and from Barnes.
The principal theory of Barnes's defense was that, while he was present during the burglary, he had no part in her murder. He alleged that two accomplices in the burglary murdered Meinhardt while he was in a different part of the house and that he was unaware that they had done so. However, no evidence corroborating the involvement of any accomplices was found during the investigation.
Although Barnes raises seven issues in his brief to this Court, our disposition of the case requires that we address only two of these. In section III of this opinion, below, we address two additional issues raised by our review of the record.
Barnes alleges that the trial court committed reversible error in admitting into evidence statements he made to Saraland detectives following his arrest. Barnes alleges that the statements were improperly admitted because he was detained at the Saraland Police Department for approximately 11 hours before he was transported to a youth detention facility in violation, he says, of the statute requiring that juveniles be transported with all possible speed to a juvenile detention center after their arrest, § 12-15-58(a), Ala.Code 1975. Barnes additionally alleges that the statements were made involuntarily to police after he was read his juvenile rights as dictated by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966), and Rule 11(B), Ala. R. Juv. P., because, he says, he was unable to comprehend his rights and because the police failed to act on his request to speak to his mother. We find both of these arguments to be without merit.
Barnes was 17 years old at the time of his arrest on January 4, 1994. Uncontroverted testimony established that Barnes was arrested at approximately 4:45 p.m. He arrived at the Saraland Police Department at approximately 5:30 p.m. From approximately 5:30 p.m. until 10:16 p.m., Barnes was questioned regarding his possible involvement in several burglaries in the area around his house and at the Saraland Civic Center. For approximately one hour, two sets of major case fingerprints, including palm and fingertip prints, were taken from Barnes. During this time he was provided with food. At 10:16 p.m., Chris Galanos, then district attorney for Mobile County, arrived at the police station and read Barnes his juvenile Miranda rights before detectives began questioning Barnes regarding the Meinhardt or Cimprich murders. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Detective James A. Cooper of the Saraland Police Department began questioning Barnes. Between approximately 10:30 p.m. and 3:18 a.m. the next day, Barnes gave several statements regarding the two murders. He was again provided food during this time. Barnes was then transported to a youth detention facility, where he arrived at approximately 5:00 a.m.
Section 12-15-58, Ala.Code 1975, provides, in pertinent part:
This Court has previously held that § 12-15-58 does not prevent investigating officers from questioning a juvenile about a crime.
Chambers v. State, 497 So.2d 607, 610 (Ala.Cr.App.1986).
"Section 12-15-58 refers to 'all possible speed.' The word 'possible' is 'also sometimes equivalent to "practicable" or "reasonable," as in some cases where action is required to be taken "as soon as possible" ' Black's Law Dictionary 1049 (5th ed.1979). The phrase 'as speedily as possible' means within a reasonable time or without unreasonable delay, having regard to all the circumstances of the case and the things to be done. Tatum v. Levi, 117 Cal.App. 83, 3 P.2d 963, 967 (1931); 4 Words and Phrases As Speedily As Possible 593-94 (perm. ed.1969).
Because the facts of the case are not in dispute with regard to the length of time Barnes was held at the police station before he was transferred to a youth detention facility, we review de novo the trial court's ruling with regard to this allegation in Barnes's motion to suppress. State v. Hill, 690 So.2d 1201 (Ala.1996).
After reviewing the record of the suppression hearing and the evidence presented at that hearing, we conclude that Barnes was not held by police investigators for an unreasonable length of time before being transferred to the youth detention facility. Barnes was a suspect in two separate capital murders, in addition to a number of unsolved burglaries in the area. Fingerprints and photographs were taken as standard procedure in the investigation. Our review of the transcripts and videotapes of Barnes's statements, which were introduced at the suppression hearing, reveal that he was alert and cooperative during the statements he gave immediately before he was transported to the youth detention facility; that he answered the investigators questions at length during the statements with minimal prompting by the investigating officers; and that he sketched maps of the crime scenes after being asked to do so. The videotaped statements do not at all suggest the scenario, which Barnes presents, of a lengthy and forceful interrogation followed by an involuntary confession.
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