Chatom v. State
| Decision Date | 31 August 1976 |
| Docket Number | 1 Div. 688 |
| Citation | 348 So.2d 828 |
| Parties | Jerre CHATOM v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Joseph O. Kulakowski, Thomas J. Stein, Mobile, for appellant.
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen. and Ellis D. Hanan, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
First degree murder; sentence: life imprisonment.
On November 17, 1975, three deputy sheriffs were shot down from ambush in a rural Mobile County near Wilmer. Two of the deputies died as a result of the shootings. The appellant was indicted, tried and convicted for the murders of the two deputies, Officers Beck and Stoltz. The record is voluminous and consists of 757 pages.
The State's case consisted entirely of circumstantial evidence. At the end of the State's case, the appellant moved to exclude the State's evidence contending that the State failed to make out a prima facie case. Therefore the sufficiency of the evidence is before us.
Near the end of the trial, the trial court admitted into evidence the results of an "atomic absorption test." In order to demonstrate the importance of this test, it is necessary to set out what we perceive to be the permissible inferences that could be drawn from the evidence.
On November 17, 1975, the appellant and Mike Wilson were riding down a country road in Mobile County at approximately 70 miles per hour. A deputy sheriff, Officer Kelso, pursued the appellant and Wilson. Police later determined both were on parole and arrest warrants were outstanding for them. A high speed chase ensued during which the appellant fired several .12 gauge shotgun blasts at Kelso's car. The appellant and Wilson pulled off the main road onto a dirt road which led into a nearly impregnable swamp.
Kelso called in reinforcements. Five law enforcement officers, including Beck and Stoltz came to Kelso's aid. The vehicle in which the appellant was riding was discovered at the edge of the swamp. In addition, various firearms and drug paraphernalia were recovered. While three of the officers were inspecting the evidence, Officers Beck, Stoltz and Morgan entered the swamp. A fierce gun battle ensued in which fifteen to twenty shots were fired within a matter of seconds.
Officer Kelso and the other two officers ran to the swamp which was approximately one hundred yards away. Upon entering the swamp, they heard what sounded like a person running through the swamp. Shortly thereafter, they discovered Beck and Stoltz, who were dead or dying, and Morgan who was wounded in the arm. Morgan said he could not see where the shots were coming from and did not see anyone.
At this time, between two hundred and three hundred law enforcement officers from Alabama and Mississippi converged on the swamp. A helicopter circled the swamp and bloodhounds were brought in from Atmore. When the dogs arrived, the officers entered the swamp and found Wilson's body approximately sixty feet from where the bodies of the slain officers were found. At about the same time that Wilson's body was recovered, the appellant was captured in the state of Mississippi, approximately a mile and a half to two miles across the swamp from the scene of the crime.
An investigation revealed that the shots which killed Beck and Stoltz were fired from a .20 gauge shotgun which was the same as found along with a pistol beside Wilson's body. Appellant was armed with a .12 gauge shotgun and other weapons, which he abandoned in the swamp. Officers found the shotgun where appellant told them he had left it. It was not the same caliber of the murder weapon. Neither the appellant's nor Wilson's fingerprints were found on any of the weapons, but neither was there shown an attempt to preserve fingerprints. The only shots which were fired at the officers came from the direction and vicinity of Wilson's body.
The appellant did not testify at his trial. In statements made to the police, the appellant contends that when he and Wilson entered the swamp, that he told Wilson they should try to go through the swamp. Wilson did not believe they could make it through, and the appellant proceeded without him. The appellant contended to the police that he was at least three-fourths of a mile away when he heard the shooting occur. The shooting took place approximately one hour and twenty minutes after the appellant and Wilson entered the swamp.
The State introduced circumstantial evidence from which it contends that it could be inferred that the appellant's statement was not true, and that he was in fact at the scene of the crime:
(1) An examination of Wilson's body indicated that he was shot at extremely close range and that the wound was probably not (2) It was also the opinion of the investigators that Wilson could not have moved more than a few feet with the type of wound he received. In addition, the direction of the flow of blood from Wilson's wound indicated that he had not moved after he was shot. The inference sought was that the person running through the swamp after the ambush was the appellant, not Wilson. Inferences which could be drawn under the theory of the defense are that the officers could have heard each other or possibly heard Wilson running before he was shot.
self-inflicted. The inference sought by the State was that the appellant shot Wilson before the appellant escaped through the swamp. In closing argument, the defense draws an inference that Wilson was shot by one of the law enforcement officers.
(3) Officers questioning the appellant at the District Attorney's office said that the appellant stated that he had told the arresting officer that Wilson had killed the two deputies. The inference sought from this evidence was that the appellant had to have been at the scene of the crime in order to know that two officers had been killed. The weakness of such an inference is that even if the appellant had been at the scene, it is unlikely that he could have known how many officers had been killed. The evidence was that there was some sixty feet of heavy vegetation between the officers and the point where the shots were fired, and a total of three officers were hit by the gunfire. Such an inference is likewise disputed by direct testimony of the arresting officer as to what the appellant stated at the time of the arrest:
It was not until later at the District Attorney's office that the appellant allegedly told his interrogators that upon his arrest he had explained that Wilson was the one who had killed the two deputies.
The most damaging evidence against the appellant consisted of the results of an "atomic absorption test." The atomic absorption or gun residue test allegedly will show whether a person has recently fired a gun. The State, by use of the atomic absorption test sought to show that Wilson had not fired a gun on November 17, 1975. If Wilson did not fire a gun on the day in question, then there would be a strong inference that someone else, possibly the appellant, shot Officers Beck and Stoltz.
The State may also have sought to show that Wilson did not commit suicide. Inferences drawn from Wilson's commission or noncommission of suicide appear to be too oblique to have any real bearing on the appellant's guilt or innocence.
Dr. John McDuffie testified that he administered the atomic absorption test to swabs taken from Wilson's body. The test was explained as follows:
On cross-examination, Dr. McDuffie testified as follows:
The appellant moved to exclude the testimony of Dr. McDuffie, and the trial court reserved its ruling. The appellant then recalled one of the State's witnesses, a State Toxicologist, Milo Sennett. Mr. Sennett testified as follows:
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