Brown v. State

• Decision Date: 27 April 1990
• Docket Number: 3 Div. 964
• Citation: 571 So.2d 345
• Parties: Raymond Eugene BROWN, alias v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 345

571 So.2d 345

Raymond Eugene BROWN, alias v. STATE.

3 Div. 964.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

April 27, 1990.

As Corrected on Denial of Rehearing

June 15, 1990.

Charles P. Hollifield and William R. Blanchard, Montgomery, for appellant.

Don Siegelman, Atty. Gen., and William D. Little, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

TYSON, Judge.

Raymond Eugene Brown was indicted in a four-count indictment for the murder of two persons pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Code of Alabama 1975; murder while the defendant is under a sentence of life imprisonment, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(6), Code of Alabama 1975 (two counts); murder during the course of sexual abuse in the first or second degree, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(8), Code of Alabama 1975. The jury found the appellant guilty of all four capital offenses charged in the indictment. Following the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. The trial judge accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced the appellant to death.

On the afternoon of August 9, 1987, David LeMonte returned his six-year-old son, Aaron, to the home of David LeMonte's ex-wife and Aaron's mother, Linda LeMonte. Linda LeMonte's home was located on Baffin Court in Montgomery, Alabama. Linda LeMonte; her ten-year-old daughter, Shelia Smoke; and the appellant were there when David LeMonte dropped off Aaron.

On the morning of August 10, 1987, Linda LeMonte's boss called Beverly Evans, Linda LeMonte's mother, and reported to her that Linda had not come to work. When Evans learned that her grandchildren were not at school, Evans and her husband went to Linda's house. When no one answered the door, Evans went to Aaron's bedroom and knocked on the window. Aaron came out from under the covers of his bed and went and opened the front door. Evans then discovered the body of her daughter in the living room and the body of her granddaughter in a bedroom.

Dr. Allan Stillwell performed the autopsies on the victims' bodies. Stillwell testified that Linda LeMonte died as a result of a nine-inch cut to her throat. LeMonte also sustained multiple stab wounds to other parts of her body including numerous stab wounds to the areas of the vagina, rectum and breasts. LeMonte's abdominal cavity was completely opened up by a twenty-seven inch cut which began in the lower portion of the neck and ended at the right side of the pubis in the lower abdomen.

At the time Shelia Smoke's body was discovered, a knife was protruding from her umbilicus. Very little of the knife blade was exposed. The autopsy performed on Smoke's body revealed that the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the chest, throat, and abdomen. Stillwell testified that there was evidence that Smoke had been sexually assaulted prior to her death.

A piece of paper with the names "Raymond," "Shelia," and "me" written on it was found beside LeMonte's body near some playing cards. A photograph of LeMonte's dead body was found on the television set. The appellant's fingerprint was found on this photograph and on a film roll in a camera which was lying on the sofa. Several knives were found in LeMonte's house, including one found in Smoke's bedroom which was identified as belonging to the appellant. Blood consistent with LeMonte's blood was found in the appellant's apartment and car.

Around 6:15 on the morning of August 10, 1987, prior to the discovery of the bodies of LeMonte and Smoke, State Trooper Mary B. Sterling went to the scene of an accident in Elmore County, Alabama, where a car had run off the road into a ditch. When she arrived at the scene, the driver of the car that ran off the road gave her his driver's license. The name on the driver's license was that of the appellant. When Sterling asked the appellant if he was hurt, the appellant told her that he was not. The appellant said that he had had too much to drink the night before and that he had run the car into the ditch. The appellant removed a grocery sack and a fishing rod from the trunk of his car and headed toward the river. Sterling then had the appellant's car towed since she did not know how much the appellant had had to drink.

On August 12, 1987, Michael Williams, with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, was searching for the appellant in the Wallsboro area off Highway 231 in Elmore County. Williams stopped at an Amoco station, where he received a call that someone who fit the appellant's description had just come out of the nearby woods and was walking down the road. Williams approached this person and asked for identification. This person gave him a driver's license with the name Raymond Eugene Brown. The appellant was then taken into custody.

I

The appellant argues that the trial judge erred by refusing to allow individual voir dire of the jury venire concerning pretrial publicity. Prior to the voir dire of the jury, the following occurred:

"[THE COURT:] I will voir dire the jury. I will--when I feel I have adequately asked all of the questions, either side can move the court to allow you to ask a few questions yourself, and I will consider that. Okay. If you feel there is something I haven't covered, I will consider that. Didn't you file a motion for individual voir dire?

"MR. HOLLIFIELD: We have.

"MR. BLANCHARD: Yes, sir.

"THE COURT: Then we'll go one-on-one and just put the jury in the jury box and take them in the jury room and I will ask them the essential questions that we have to ask, and that's the way we'll do it.

"MR. BLANCHARD: May we have a right to follow up on questions?

"MR. BLANCHARD: May we be heard on that?

"THE COURT: Sure.

"MR. EVANS: Your Honor, we feel that the court--we urge the court to reconsider calling out each individual voir dire.

"THE COURT: I think in this case, it's necessary. I am going to voir dire the venire in mass. Then, of course, it may be necessary for me to call in individuals and ask them specific questions." (RR. 188-90.)

During the voir dire of the jury as a whole, the trial judge asked the following question:

"Now, ladies and gentlemen does anyone know anything about this case, either what you have heard, read, know first-hand, news media, anybody know anything about this case, okay, please stand." (R. 94.)

Of the 66 members of the jury venire, ¹ 42 members (or 63%) responded affirmatively. The trial judge then continued:

"[THE COURT:] All right. Now, ladies and gentlemen, those of you who stood and stated that you had either read, heard, or talked about this particular case, this is one of the most crucial questions I have asked all morning. This is the question where the seriousness of your oath will come forth. You will understand the seriousness of it again, the only thing this court,--the thing this court is required to do, and these lawyers are required to do, is to strike or empanel a fair and impartial jury. That's what the system requires. That's what we intend to do. Is there any member of the venire who has heard, read, talked about, know anything about this case, or believes that you have already formed some opinion, have any preconceived ideas, have a predisposition to the extent that it would interfere with your ability to go into the jury room with the rest of the jurors, if you are selected to serve on this jury, and that you could not sit with the rest of the jurors, absorb the evidence, listen to the evidence, weigh it, sift through it, and at the appropriate time, render a fair and impartial verdict, based on the evidence, and the law that I charge you is applicable in this case? I'm going to give you until 1:30 to make that decision, because we are going to take a lunch break. I want to let you think about that question because that's the crucial question in this case, where those that have read or heard something about this case, could you still be a fair and impartial juror. Court will be in recess until 1:30.

"(Noon recess.)

"BY THE COURT: All right, the question I asked you just before lunch, any member of the venire believes or those that stood said that you had heard, read, talked about this matter, either one of you feel that it would interfere with your ability to render a fair and impartial verdict with the rest of the jurors, after listening to the evidence and the law that I charge you that is applicable in this case, if you would, please stand? Any further questions." (R. 97-99.)

At this point, defense counsel requested a hearing outside the presence of the jury. Defense counsel stated that due to the unusual amount of pretrial publicity, he wished to individually question the jury venire about what they had heard or read about the case and how any publicity about the case had affected them. Defense counsel told the judge that individual voir dire was particularly important since the trial judge had stated in his order denying the motion for change of venue that a thorough and extensive voir dire was the best method of demonstrating jury prejudice. Defense counsel stated that he did not believe that the jury had been thoroughly examined on the issue of pretrial publicity and that he felt that the jurors might be reluctant to admit that they could not be fair and impartial in front of the entire venire. In response, the court stated that he believed that individual voir dire was necessary only if a prospective juror equivocated as to whether he or she could be fair and impartial. The court then asked the jury venire the following questions:

"BY THE COURT: Does any juror member of the venire know of any reason, any reason whatsoever that you believe that you should not be selected to serve on this jury? If you do, stand, I'll take you in chambers and find out what the reason is.... Any juror again, any juror know of any reason, and particularly those who stood this morning and said that you had read, heard talked about on the news media or otherwise, something concerning this...