Bradford v. State

• Decision Date: 03 February 2006
• Docket Number: CR-04-1462.
• Citation: 948 So.2d 574
• Parties: James Alexander BRADFORD v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

948 So.2d 574

James Alexander BRADFORD v. STATE of Alabama.

CR-04-1462.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

February 3, 2006.

Glenn L. Davidson, Mobile, for appellant.

Troy King, atty. gen., and Robin Blevins Scales, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

COBB, Judge.

James Alexander Bradford was charged, in separate indictments, with criminal mischief in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-7-21(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975; trafficking in marijuana, a violation of § 13A-12-231(1)(b), Ala.Code 1975; and reckless driving, a violation of § 32-5A-190(a), Ala. Code 1975. Following a jury trial, he was convicted of all three charges. The trial court sentenced Bradford to 20 years in prison for the trafficking conviction; that sentence was split and Bradford was ordered to serve 5 years in prison followed by 5 years on probation.¹ Bradford was sentenced to five years in prison for the criminal-mischief conviction; that sentence was split and Bradford was ordered to serve one year in prison followed by five years on probation. For the remaining conviction, Bradford was sentenced to one year in prison. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.

I.

Bradford contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a judgment of acquittal made at the conclusion of the State's case. When he made the motion, Bradford argued, in pertinent part, that the State had failed to establish a prima facie case of trafficking in marijuana because, according to Bradford, there was no evidence indicating that he had knowledge of the marijuana or that he exercised dominion and control or intended to exercise dominion and control over the marijuana. Thus, he claimed, the State failed to present evidence to connect him to the marijuana. On appeal Bradford challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, arguing that there was not sufficient circumstantial evidence from which the jury could have inferred that he had knowledge of the marijuana in the back of his brother's vehicle and, therefore, that he aided and abetted in trafficking that marijuana.

Officer Hyland Robinson of the Prichard Police Department testified that on August 29, 2002, he observed a Ford Expedition sport-utility vehicle with a suspicious temporary license tag, and that when he turned on his siren and lights to pull the Expedition over to investigate, the Expedition sped away. Officer Robinson stated that he could see the driver of the Expedition looking at him in the side mirrors. According to Officer Robinson, after several turns and an extended chase, the Expedition made a sudden left turn and struck a Cadillac automobile, which, in turn, rammed Officer Robinson's squad car.

According to Officer Robinson, after the collision with the Cadillac, he backed up and continued the pursuit. Officer Robinson testified that the Cadillac followed him, struck his police car on the passenger side of the car, and then turned away. According to Officer Robinson, after numerous changes of direction, he again saw the Cadillac waiting on the side of the road. Officer Robinson stated that the Cadillac pulled out and rammed him again. According to Officer Robinson, the Cadillac continued following and ramming him until, on approximately the fifth collision, the Cadillac knocked his police car up onto the curb and essentially disabled his police car.

According to Officer Robinson, after the final collision, the Cadillac was also effectively stopped because of the damage it had sustained and by additional police cars that had joined the chase and surrounded the Cadillac. Officer Robinson stated that he provided other officers with the description and general location of the Expedition and that those officers located and eventually stopped the Expedition. Officer Robinson stated that his part in the chase lasted over 20 minutes and that he reached speeds of more than 50 miles per hour in residential areas where the posted speed limit was 25 miles per hour, and 70 miles per hour in areas where the posted speed limit was 35 miles per hour.

According to Officer Robinson, he noticed the driver of the Cadillac talking on his cellular telephone during the chase, and the driver of the Cadillac was still on his cellular phone even after his car had been surrounded by police vehicles and he was ordered out of his car by officers. Officer Robinson further stated at trial that the Cadillac had been directly behind the Expedition when he initiated the pursuit.

Captain Eddie Ragland testified that he joined the chase after it had began and that he noticed a brown Cadillac with heavy damage passing in the opposite direction of Officer Robinson's vehicle and the Expedition. Captain Ragland stated that he stopped and took up an observation point. Captain Ragland further testified that, after hearing dialogue on the police radio, he saw the Expedition drive past him, at which time he began pursuing the Expedition. According to Captain Ragland, the driver of the Expedition was on his cellular telephone while he was pursuing the Expedition. Captain Ragland stated that he noticed the driver's door of the Expedition open several times during the chase, so he performed a "pit maneuver," i.e., he struck the Expedition with his squad car and forced the Expedition to stop. (R. 102.) According to Captain Ragland, after a short pursuit on foot, he and other officers caught the driver of the Expedition, whom he identified at trial as Courtney Bradford.

The evidence further indicated that officers discovered approximately 154 pounds of marijuana in the back of the Expedition.

Bradford testified that he and his brother, Courtney, did not live or work together and did not generally associate with the same people. According to Bradford, on the day this incident occurred, Courtney telephoned him and told him that he needed help. Bradford testified that he drove to the location Courtney described. Bradford stated that he saw Courtney and a police car coming toward him and that, in the process of swerving to avoid hitting his brother or the police car head-on, he struck a tree with his Cadillac. According to Bradford, he backed up and began following the police car and his brother's automobile, at which time he accidentally struck a police car. Bradford denied any knowledge of the marijuana in the Expedition. Bradford stated that he was scared for his brother's life and that he heard gunshots, both on the telephone when his brother called him and during his participation in the pursuit.²

"Any person who knowingly sells, manufactures, delivers, or brings into this state, or who is knowingly in actual or constructive possession of, in excess of one kilo or 2.2 pounds of any part of the plant of the genus Cannabis . . . is guilty of a felony, which felony shall be known as `trafficking in cannabis.' . . . If the quantity of cannabis involved:

". . . .

"b. Is 100 pounds or more, but less than 500 pounds, the person shall be sentenced to a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five calendar years and to pay a fine of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)."

Section 13A-12-231(1), Ala.Code 1975.

"`In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, a reviewing court must accept as true all evidence introduced by the State, accord the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and consider all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution.'" Ballenger v. State, 720 So.2d 1033, 1034 (Ala. Crim.App.1998), quoting Faircloth v. State, 471 So.2d 485, 488 (Ala.Crim.App.1984), aff'd, 471 So.2d 493 (Ala.1985). "`The test used in determining the sufficiency of evidence to sustain a conviction is whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, a rational finder of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.'" Nunn v. State, 697 So.2d 497, 498 (Ala. Crim.App.1997), quoting O'Neal v. State, 602 So.2d 462, 464 (Ala.Crim.App.1992). "`When there is legal evidence from which the jury could, by fair inference, find the defendant guilty, the trial court should submit [the case] to the jury, and, in such a case, this court will not disturb the trial court's decision.'" Farrior v. State, 728 So.2d 691, 696 (Ala.Crim.App.1998), quoting Ward v. State, 557 So.2d 848, 850 (Ala.Crim.App.1990). "The role of appellate courts is not to say what the facts are. Our role . . . is to judge whether the evidence is legally sufficient to allow submission of an issue for decision [by] the jury." Ex parte Bankston, 358 So.2d 1040, 1042 (Ala.1978).

"In reviewing a conviction based on circumstantial evidence, this court must view that evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. The test to be applied is whether the jury might reasonably find that the evidence excluded every reasonable hypothesis except that of guilt; not whether such evidence excludes every reasonable hypothesis but guilt, but whether a jury might reasonably so conclude. United States v. Black, 497 F.2d 1039 (5th Cir. 1974); United States v. McGlamory, 441 F.2d 130 (5th Cir.1971); Clark v. United States, 293 F.2d 445 (5th Cir.1961).

"`[W]e must keep in mind that the test to be applied is not simply whether in the opinion of the trial judge or the appellate court the evidence fails to exclude every reasonable hypothesis but that of guilt; but rather whether the jury might so conclude. Harper v. United States, 405 F.2d 185 (5th Cir.1969); Roberts v. United States, 416 F.2d 1216 (5th Cir.1969). The procedure for appellate review of the sufficiency of the evidence has been aptly set out in Odom v. United States, 377 F.2d 853, 855 (5th Cir. 1967):

"`"Our obligation, therefore, is to examine the record to determine whether there is any theory of the evidence from which the jury might have excluded every hypothesis except guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Rua v. United States, 5 Cir., 1963, 321 F.2d 140; Riggs v. United States, 5 Cir., 1960, 280 F.2d 949. In Judge Thornberry's words,

"`"`....