Butler v. State

• Decision Date: 28 April 2000
• Citation: 781 So.2d 994
• Parties: Charles M. BUTLER, Jr. v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

781 So.2d 994

Charles M. BUTLER, Jr. v. STATE.

CR-99-0189.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

April 28, 2000.

Rehearing Denied June 23, 2000.

Certiorari Denied October 13, 2000.

William R. Hill, Jr., and J. Haran Lowe, Jr., Clanton, for appellant.

Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and Jean A. Therkelsen, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

Alabama Supreme Court 1991913.

FRY, Judge.

The appellant, Charles M. Butler, Jr., was convicted of murder made capital because it was committed during a kidnapping in the first degree, a violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

I.

Butler contends that the State failed to establish a prima facie case of capital murder during the course of a kidnapping in the first degree, because, he argues the evidence did not establish that he acted in complicity with Steve Mullins and that he specifically intended to kill Billy Jack Gaither.

To sustain a conviction under § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975, for the capital offense of murder during a kidnapping, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: (1) a kidnapping in the first degree, as defined by § 13A-6-43(a), or an attempt thereof; (2) an intentional murder, as defined by § 13A-6-2(a)(1); and (3) that the murder was committed "during" the course of the "kidnapping or attempted kidnapping." Section 13A-5-40(c) states:

"A defendant who does not personally commit the act of killing which constitutes the murder is not guilty of a capital offense defined in subsection (a) of this section unless that defendant is legally accountable for the murder because of complicity in the murder itself under the provisions of Section 13A-2-23, in addition to being guilty of the other elements of the capital offense as defined in subsection (a) of this section."

Section 13A-2-23, Ala.Code 1975, provides:

"A person is legally accountable for the behavior of another constituting a criminal offense if, with the intent to promote or assist in the commission of the offense:

"(1) He procures, induces, or causes such other person to commit the offense; or

"(2) He aids or abets such other person in committing the offense; or

"(3) Having a legal duty to prevent the commission of the offense, he fails to make an effort he is legally required to make."

"`The participation in a crime and the community of purpose of the perpetrators need not be proved by direct or positive testimony, but may be inferred from circumstantial evidence.'" Limbaugh v. State, 581 So.2d 5, 10 (Ala.Cr.App.1991), quoting Tice v. State, 460 So.2d 273, 279 (Ala.Cr.App.1984). "Aid and abet comprehend all assistance rendered by acts or words of encouragement or support or presence, actual or constructive, to render assistance should it become necessary." Turner v. State, 674 So.2d 1371, 1376 (Ala. Cr.App.1995) (citations omitted).

Section 13A-2-2(1), Ala.Code 1975, provides, "A person acts intentionally with respect to a result or to conduct described by a statute defining an offense, when his purpose is to cause that result or to engage in that conduct." Intent may be inferred from the use of a deadly weapon. See Long v. State, 668 So.2d 56, 60 (Ala. Cr.App.1995); Buskey v. State, 650 So.2d 605, 609 (Ala.Cr.App.1994). Additionally, "[t]he question of a defendant's intent at the time of the commission of the crime is usually an issue for the jury to resolve." Rowell v. State, 570 So.2d 848, 850 (Ala.Cr. App.1990), citing Crowe v. State, 435 So.2d 1371, 1379 (Ala.Cr.App.1983). Intent may be "`inferred from the character of the assault, the use of a deadly weapon and other attendant circumstances.'" Jones v. State, 591 So.2d 569, 574 (Ala.Cr.App. 1991), quoting Johnson v. State, 390 So.2d 1160, 1167 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 390 So.2d 1168 (Ala.1980). In Mangione v. State, 740 So.2d 444 (Ala.Cr.App.1998), this Court stated:

"`When reviewing a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, this court must accept as "`as true the evidence introduced by the State, accord the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution.'"' Brown v. State, 705 So.2d 871, 875-76 (Ala.Cr.App.1997) (citations omitted).

"`"`[A]n appellate court ... is not permitted to pass upon the weight or the sufficiency of the evidence, where it may yield any rational inference of guilt.' Toles v. State, 170 Ala. 99, 100, 54 So. 511 (1911). A verdict on conflicting evidence is conclusive on appeal. Roberson v. State, 162 Ala. 30, 50 So. 345 (1909). `[W]here there is ample evidence offered by the state to support a verdict, it should not be overturned even though the evidence offered by the defendant is in sharp conflict therewith and presents a substantial defense.' Fuller v. State, 269 Ala. 312, 333, 113 So.2d 153 (1959), cert. denied, Fuller v. Alabama, 361 U.S. 936, 80 S.Ct. 380, 4 L.Ed.2d 358 (1960)."'

"White v. State, 546 So.2d 1014, 1017 (Ala.Cr.App.1989),

quoting Granger v. State, 473 So.2d 1137, 1139 (Ala.Cr.App. 1985)."

740 So.2d at 450-51.

The State's evidence tended to establish the following. Testimony indicated that during the afternoon on February 19, 1999, Butler and his father, Charles Butler, Sr., were participating in a pool tournament at a local bar. Around 8:30 p.m., Steve Mullins, a friend of Butler's, entered the bar and asked Butler to go to another local bar with him and Gaither. Butler indicated that he wanted to finish the tournament and that he would go out with them later. Mullins left and returned around 9:30 p.m. Mullins entered the bar and conversed with Butler. Butler asked his father for $20 and told him that he and Mullins were going to another local bar. As Mullins and Butler left the bar, Butler took a six-pack of beer from his father's truck and drank one swig of moonshine from a bottle that was lying on the passenger's seat of his father's truck. Butler and Mullins then got into Gaither's car, and Gaither drove them to another local bar. When they arrived at the bar, they noticed several police cars in the parking lot. Because there were warrants outstanding for Mullins's arrest, they left the parking lot and drove to Butler's house. Gaither, Mullins, and Butler went inside and Butler changed clothing. Butler indicated to Gaither that they should go to "the watersheds."¹ Gaither drove Butler and Mullins to the watersheds, and they sat outside and talked. Testimony indicated that Gaither mentioned homosexual activity, and that the mention of homosexuality angered Butler. Butler kicked Gaither in the chest and the back. When Butler stopped kicking Gaither, he walked around Gaither's car and urinated. Mullins then walked over to Gaither and began punching him; he then cut his throat. Gaither was still alive at this point. Mullins and Butler put Gaither in the trunk of Gaither's car.² Butler sat in the passenger's seat and Mullins drove them to his mobile home.³ While at the home, Mullins and Butler got some tires and a can of kerosene and put the items in the trunk over Gaither. Additionally, Mullins grabbed an ax handle and put it in the car. Mullins drove them to an area near Peckerwood Creek. When Mullins opened the trunk of the car, Gaither stood up; he got out of the car and pushed Mullins down the creek embankment. Butler became scared and ran down the street and into the woods. Butler hid in the woods until Mullins called his name. Butler then returned to the scene and watched Mullins beat Gaither over the head with a club.⁴ As Mullins was beating Gaither, Mullins told Butler to start cleaning the blood from Gaither's car; Butler did so. After Gaither appeared to be dead, Mullins dragged Gaither's body to a nearby bridge abutment. Mullins and Butler put tires and kerosene over Gaither's body, and set the tires on fire. They waited approximately five minutes for the fire to burn, and then Mullins drove Butler to the mobile home. At the mobile home, Mullins borrowed his roommate's car. Mullins drove his roommate's car and Butler drove Gaither's car to a local gasoline service station, and Mullins purchased a gallon of gasoline. They drove the cars to the city dump, poured gasoline over Gaither's car, and set it on fire. Mullins then drove Butler to a local bar where they had a drink, after which Mullins drove Butler to the Butlers' house.

Butler's father testified that Butler came home around 3:00 a.m. and told him that he had something important he had to tell him. According to Butler's father, Butler cried and said, "[D]addy ... we killed somebody." (R. 519.) Additionally, Butler's father testified that Butler told him that he "kicked a queer's ass." (R. 520.) Butler's father further testified that Butler told him that he would turn himself over to the police if he would go with him. Butler's father stated that, at that time, he could not turn his son in, and that, approximately a week later, he told his friend, Joey Wayne Breedlove, about the incident. Breedlove testified that he spoke to Butler and Butler's father about the incident, and that he reported what he had learned to the police.

Kelley Johnson, an investigator for the Coosa County sheriffs office, testified that Mullins provided a statement concerning the incident. Johnson stated that Mullins told him that he and Butler had discussed killing Gaither approximately two weeks before the murder occurred. According to Johnson, Mullins told him that, after initially beating Gaither, he and Butler went to his mobile home and put a can of kerosene, an ax handle, and tires into the car. Johnson testified that Mullins told him that, at Peckerwood Creek, Butler ran away while he was beating Gaither, and that when Butler returned, he directed Butler to clean the blood out of Gaither's car. Additionally, Johnson stated that Mullins told him that he killed Gaither because he did not trust homosexual people.

Sharon Pullen, an attendant at a local gas station, testified that, during the late...