Chambliss v. State

• Citation: 373 So.2d 1185
• Decision Date: 22 May 1979
• Docket Number: 6 Div. 689
• Parties: Robert Edward CHAMBLISS v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1185

373 So.2d 1185

Robert Edward CHAMBLISS v. STATE.

6 Div. 689.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 22, 1979.

Rehearing Denied June 26, 1979.

Arthur J. Hanes, Jr., of Hanes, Hanes & Bolin, Birmingham, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., Edward E. Carnes, John Gibbs, Asst. Attys. Gen., for the State.

HARRIS, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the first degree and the jury fixed his punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary for life. Throughout the trial proceedings appellant was represented by counsel of his choice and at arraignment pleaded not guilty. After sentence was imposed he gave notice of appeal. He was found to be indigent and was furnished a free transcript. Trial counsel represents him on this appeal.

Omitting the formal parts the indictment reads:

"The grand jury of said county charge that, before the finding of this indictment, Robert Edward Chambliss, alias R. E. Chambliss, alias Bob Chambliss, whose true name is to the grand jury otherwise unknown, unlawfully and with malice aforethought killed Carol Denise McNair by perpetrating an act greatly dangerous to the lives of others, and evidencing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any preconceived purpose to deprive any particular person of life, by, to-wit: setting off or exploding or causing to be set off or exploded, to-wit: dynamite or other explosive, to-wit: at, under, or dangerously near, to-wit: the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama, during to-wit: Sunday morning church worship services or other Sunday morning church activities in the said church and while the said Carol Denise McNair was within said church, and as a proximate result thereof, unlawfully killed the said Carol Denise McNair, against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama."

The sufficiency of the evidence is raised by a motion to exclude the State's evidence, assigning several grounds, a request for the affirmative charge, and a motion for a new trial. The trial court overruled the motions and refused to give the affirmative charge. This puts us to a recital of the evidence.

This case grew out of the September 15, 1963, bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in which four young black girls were killed and a number of other people injured as a result of the blast which left the church in shambles. The community, the state and the nation were stunned and shocked by this dastardly act. Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies all took part in the investigation of this crime. Piece by piece the evidence was assembled which led to the indictment of appellant in September of 1977. The evidence in this case is circumstantial and the passage of time presents many complex problems which we must resolve.

Summary of the Evidence

Reverend John Haywood Cross was pastor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on Sunday, September 15, 1963, when the explosion occurred. The Sunday School hour began at 9:30 a. m. Just before the explosion Reverend Cross was in the Women's Bible Class which was meeting around the center of the auditorium toward the Sixteenth Street side of the church building. He was standing near a window with the picture of Christ as the Good Shepherd.

At about 10:21 a. m. an explosion went off. It sounded to Reverend Cross like the whole world was shaking and he thought the church was going to collapse. After the explosion he raised his head and observed the glass had fallen, plaster from the walls and ceiling had fallen, there was a great deal of dust, and soot; and it was so smoky and dense that he had a difficult time recognizing people who were three feet away from him. He identified State's Exhibit M as a photograph depicting a window near where he was sitting when the explosion occurred.

When Reverend Cross had collected his thoughts he yelled to the people in the church, "Get out hurriedly," as he thought there might be another explosion. He then thought about the children downstairs and made his way to the stairs leading to the lower auditorium. He found the stairs on the Sixteenth Street side of the church building had been completely demolished. He had to go to the other side of the building to use the staircase on the west side. Once downstairs and outside the church he saw the same damage downstairs that he had seen upstairs. Plaster, soot, dust and pictures which had been knocked from walls were scattered in every direction. Injured people were standing around outside in a dazed condition and many were bloody.

Reverend Cross identified State's Exhibits B through O as fourteen photographs which accurately depicted the scene at the church immediately after the explosion. These photographs were introduced into evidence. He identified State's Exhibit C as a crater which he observed after the explosion. Prior to the explosion there had been a solid wall at that place with three and a half to four feet of mortar and brick installed at the foundation level. The blast from the explosion blew out the brick and stone wall.

He further testified there were seven or eight Sunday School rooms downstairs and he carefully checked each of them to see if anyone was trapped in them but found no one in these rooms. After checking these rooms he went outside and saw people being loaded into ambulances, and other ambulances were being called. He saw several people with blood trickling down their foreheads. He spoke to the crowd of people and urged them to be orderly and forgiving.

Reverend Cross then went and looked around the side of the church building and saw a large hole in the wall of the building on the Sixteenth Street side. The hole was so large that he could walk inside by just bowing his head. He entered the church through that hole and was followed by three persons from the Civil Defense group. The group started digging under the debris and rubble caused by the explosion. After digging about two feet deep they found the body of a young girl. They continued their search and found the bodies of three other young girls. The four bodies were found almost in the same location as if they had been thrown on top of each other. Reverend Cross knew and identified each of the four bodies and stated these four young girls had attended church that morning. They were Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carol Robertson, and Carol Denise McNair.

Reverend Cross identified photographs of the four bodies taken at the scene of the explosion and at the coroner's morgue. The photographs taken at the morgue were in substantially the same condition as the bodies appeared when they were removed from the church except the bodies were unclothed and the blood had been removed. These photographs were introduced into evidence.

Reverend Cross further testified that after the four bodies had been removed from the church they continued their search. Within minutes they heard moans and groans a few feet away from where they were searching. They went into that area and found Sara Collins who had been trapped in the rest room area of the building. She was trapped in one of the ladies rest room stalls. Blood was trickling down her cheeks and she was littered with dust, plaster and other debris. Sara Collins, who survived the explosion, was a sister of Addie Mae Collins whose body had been found earlier.

According to Reverend Cross one hundred and fifty to two hundred people were in the church at the time of the explosion. Approximately sixty percent of these people were young children. Twenty-two church members were injured as a result of the explosion. Reverend Cross' youngest daughter, age three, was struck by flying glass that hit her in the head and forehead. He further stated that during the month of September, 1963, there had been no guards, either private or police, keeping watch on the church.

Sara Collins (Riley) was a member of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963, and on that Sunday she attended church with her family, including her sister Addie Mae Collins. At that time she was ten years old. After Sunday School, she was in the ladies lounge located in the basement of the church. Also in the lounge at that time were the four young girls who were killed. At the time of the explosion she was at the lavatory washing her hands. The four other girls were standing by the window of the lounge talking. The last time she saw her sister, Addie Mae, was when Addie Mae was tying Denise McNair's sash on her dress. Immediately after the explosion Sara Collins (Riley) called her sister several times but Addie Mae did not answer.

After the explosion Sara Collins (Riley) was carried to the hospital. She was blind for about a month. Eventually, her right eye had to be removed, and it was replaced with a glass eye.

The Assistant Fire Marshal of the City of Birmingham, William E. Berry, testified that, on the morning of September 15, 1963, he heard the explosion at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. He was at home at the time which is 3.4 miles from the church. He went to investigate the scene of the explosion. He approached the church on Sixth Avenue North, headed west, from the Seventeenth Street intersection. He parked his car in the sixteen hundred block about 150 feet from the intersection and walked toward the church. He observed the street was littered with debris, broken glass, mortar, rocks and dirt. The building directly across the street from the church had a window blown out and glass was all over the street. He identified State's Exhibits F, L, K, N, and O as photographs which accurately depicted that building and the surrounding scene as he observed it that morning.

Captain Berry also observed several cars in the street that were heavily damaged. The vehicles had large dents in them, broken windows, and holes which protruded inward. These vehicles had greater damage on the sides which were closer to the church. State's...