Bass v. State

• Decision Date: 26 April 1991
• Citation: 585 So.2d 225
• Parties: Gregory Michael BASS v. STATE. CR 89-606.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 225

585 So.2d 225

Gregory Michael BASS v. STATE.

CR 89-606.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

April 26, 1991.

Rehearing Denied June 14, 1991.

Certiorari Denied Aug. 16, 1991

Alabama Supreme Court 1901531.

Charles D. Decker of Hardwick, Hause & Segrest, Dothan, for appellant.

Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and Cecil G. Brendle, Jr., Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

BOWEN, Judge.

Gregory Michael Bass, the appellant, was convicted for intentional murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also convicted of three cases of assault in the first degree and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in each case. He raises eight issues on this appeal from those convictions.

I.

The appellant argues that his motion for a directed verdict should have been granted because the evidence of his insanity was so overwhelming and uncontradicted that it overcame the presumption of sanity.

On the morning of April 11, 1989, the appellant shot four people with a shotgun for no apparent reason. The appellant first shot his wife, Linda Morrison Bass, inside their residence. Mrs. Bass ran out of the house to a garbage truck seeking aid. The appellant followed her and separately shot three employees of the Dothan Environmental Services Department: Stanley Smith, Kenneth Hadley, and the appellant's uncle, George Bass. Smith was killed by the shotgun blast. Mrs. Bass, George Bass, and Hadley each sustained serious physical injury.

Linda Morrison and the appellant were married on February 13, 1989. They lived together with Mrs. Bass's four children by a prior marriage. She testified that the appellant never indicated to her that he was under treatment at Wiregrass Mental Health or that he had ever been treated at Searcy Hospital or Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility. The appellant had been employed as a laborer at Stanley Brick Masonry for approximately eight months and received a social security check for mental disability. The check was in the name of Catherine Bass, the appellant's sister. The check was delivered to the residence of the appellant's mother.

From 1987, when she began dating the appellant, until April 11, 1989, Mrs. Bass never saw the appellant take any medication. She "felt" like he knew the difference between right and wrong at the time of the shooting.

Mrs. Bass had purchased a 12-gauge shotgun because the appellant wanted to take her hunting and because the appellant said she needed protection. The shotgun was kept in the trunk of Mrs. Bass's car because the appellant did not want the children to have access to it.

On April 10, 1989, the day before the shooting, Mrs. Bass, Catherine, and the appellant went to Birmingham to pick up the appellant's niece from the hospital. On the return trip, the appellant suggested that "we have his checks signed back over to his mother." The appellant felt that he and his wife should be separated so he could live with and take care of his mother. However, this upset Mrs. Bass's daughter and the appellant said he would stay. Mrs. Bass testified that prior to April 11, there were discussions between herself and the appellant and the appellant's family concerning financial problems.

Mrs. Bass testified that on April 10, 1989, the appellant "was very nervous at the time." There were times that night when the appellant "would be a different person every fifteen minutes," and that night his personality changed "on a regular basis"--"one moment he would be very quiet and the next minute he would be real volatile."

On the morning of April 11, 1989, when Mrs. Bass awoke, the appellant had shaved his hair "to the scalp" and was rubbing machine oil on his head. The appellant told Mrs. Bass that he needed to talk with his cousin, Reverend Walter Goyens, and that he was going to go back to church and get back to the Lord.

At 5:00 on the morning of the shootings, April 11, 1989, the appellant telephoned his cousin, the Reverend Goyens, and stated that he needed to talk to him. The appellant called again at 5:30, and Reverend Goyens came to get the appellant in his automobile. When the appellant left his residence, he pulled the telephone from the wall and took it with him. Mrs. Bass testified that the appellant "was going to have it transferred to his mother's house, and then he decided that he would have a refund on it and take it back and get a refund."

Rev. Goyens testified that the appellant was upset because Mrs. Bass had put her name on one of his Social Security checks. Goyens took the appellant to the Dothan Housing Authority, where the appellant hit a white man in the eye for no reason. Goyens testified that at this time the appellant appeared to be "in a daze of some kind."

Mrs. Bass testified that the appellant returned home around 11:00 with his sister Mary Bass. Mary wanted the appellant's Medicaid card. The appellant, who was not usually quiet, was very quiet and was smiling. Mary and the appellant left. The appellant then returned with Mary and his cousin. Mrs. Bass testified that "Mary had given him some medicine and she had taken him to the doctor to see Dr. Lopez." Contained in the social history-relative interview dated May 31, 1989, conducted by Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility staff social worker, Carol E. Williams, is a statement given by Mrs. Bass to Ms. Williams:

"[Mrs. Bass] also indicated that on the morning of the incident, the landlord, who was employed at the Section 8 office, visited her home regarding her rent. She stated that the patient then became extremely agitated and following the employee's return to the resident manager's office, the patient then went to the office and brutally assaulted the male employee. She stated that following this assault, the patient's sister, Mary, picked him up and took him to Dr. Lopez's office. She stated that the patient's sister then gave him some medication previously ordered by the doctor. The informant indicated that the patient then became 'groggy' and returned home. She then noticed that the patient's paranoia continued."

Ms. Williams also reported that according to Mrs. Bass, the appellant "discontinu[ed] his medication regimen at the end of 1987 or the beginning of 1988."

When the appellant returned home that day, Mary told Mrs. Bass that the appellant needed to sleep. However, the appellant wanted something to eat and Mrs. Bass fixed him a sandwich. The appellant asked her if she had put anything in the sandwich and would not eat. The appellant was afraid she would poison or "hurt" him.

The appellant's uncle, George Bass, drove a garbage truck. On the morning of April 11 he was working in the appellant's neighborhood. Working with him were Bruce Stanley Smith and Kenneth Hadley. The appellant went outside and had a conversation with his uncle. George Bass testified that the appellant "acted like he was all right" at that time. When the appellant returned inside the house, he asked Mrs. Bass if she had removed the gun from the trunk of the car. The appellant got the shotgun out of the truck and walked to the bedroom. Mrs. Bass testified that the appellant was not acting any differently from the way he usually acted.

Around 11:00 that morning, Mrs. Bass was sitting in the den napping. The appellant walked in, looked at her, and said, "You fucked up now," and shot her. Mrs. Bass was hit in the right breast. She asked him why he shot her and the appellant never answered. Mrs. Bass ran outside to the garbage truck driven by George Bass. She asked a white garbage worker named Smith "for permission to get in the bin of his truck." Smith said that he could not help her, but that she could crawl in the back.

The appellant followed his wife to the garbage truck. Hadley testified that he saw the appellant standing in his yard and that the appellant "pointed at [Hadley] to come to him, toward him." Hadley then got in the cab of the truck. As the appellant walked along the side of and toward the rear of the truck, George told the appellant, "Hey man, give me that gun." The appellant responded, "I can't--I ain't going to give you the gun because you might shoot me with it, or something." The appellant walked to the side of the truck and shot Smith in the left side of the face. Smith died the next day. The appellant returned walking, not running, to the front of the truck where he raised the shotgun and without any comment shot George Bass in the right shoulder. George fled the truck and ran to another street. George Bass testified that at the time of the shootings, the appellant knew the difference between right and wrong "from as far as [he] kn[e]w he could."

Hadley was sitting in the passenger's seat of the truck and heard the appellant say "something about, kill every damn one of y'all." After shooting George Bass, the appellant then shot Hadley, who was still sitting in the truck. Hadley was struck on the right side of the face. The appellant then walked back to his residence.

Dothan Police Lieutenant Draught told the appellant to come out and nobody would hurt him. The appellant stuck his head out the door, saw someone raise a shotgun, and then went back in. Lieutenant Draught called to the appellant again, and the appellant came out and was arrested. Sergeant Jackie Mendheim testified that, when the appellant was informed that he was under arrest for assault, the appellant stated that he needed a cigarette and said, "I shot them and I'll pay the hospital bills." Mendheim testified that in his opinion the appellant "knew what he had done."

Dothan Police Sergeant Jim Stanley arrived on the scene around 11:10 that morning. He transported the appellant from the scene of the shootings to the police department. He testified that, "considering the circumstances and everything, he was pretty calm." On the way to the station, the appellant voluntarily and spontaneously made several comments. According to Sergeant Stanley, the appellant said that he "wanted to join the police department"...