Connell v. State

• Decision Date: 07 May 1974
• Docket Number: 5 Div. 133
• Parties: Ronald Keith CONNELL v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 782

318 So.2d 782

56 Ala.App. 43

Ronald Keith CONNELL v. STATE.

5 Div. 133.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 7, 1974.

Rehearing Denied June 25, 1974.

Walker, Hill, Gullage, Adams & Umbach, Opelika, for appellant.

William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and John D. Whetstone, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

BOWEN W. SIMMONS, Supernumerary Circuit Judge.

The homicide, which is the subject of this indigent appeal, was committed in Lee County wherein a grand jury indicted and a petit jury duly and lawfully impanelled convicted the appellant-defendant of murder in the first degree with punishment fixed at life imprisonment.

The record contains three volumes totaling 479 pages, all of which the writer of this opinion has read in his search for errors, as mandated by Title 15, § 389, Recompiled Code 1958. We are not convinced that the rulings of the trial court were free of prejudicial error as will be noted later in this opinion. Suffice it to say, the trial court, the District Attorney, and counsel for the defendant were all faced with some difficult questions, both in fact and law, that arose out of the factual and circumstantial evidence presented to the jury. It was not an easy case from a trial point of view.

The only witness present when the homicide charged in the indictment was committed was Mrs. Sharon Froney, wife of the victim. Mrs. Froney survived a knife assault committed by an assailant who was present when Mr. Froney was fatally stabbed with a knife or like instrument.

Mr. and Mrs. Froney temporarily resided near Tallassee, Alabama, where Mr. Froney was employed and temporarily stationed as a natural gas consultant. They lived in a camper, which was convenient for station to station traveling, which was Mr. Froney's occupational itinerary.

On the morning of January 26, 1972, Mr. and Mrs. Forney left for Atlanta in their camper on business. After transacting the business, they began their return motor journey, later in the afternoon, back to their station--the point of departure in Alabama. In traveling, they used I--85 between Atlanta and Montgomery, which had not been constructed between Newnan and Lagrange, Georgia. Between these points, the motoring public was compelled to use Highway U.S. 29, which was an interruption of I--85.

When they reached U.S. 29 on the return trip, Mr. Froney elected over his wife's protest to pick up four hitchhikers who were importuning a ride. Everything went well for a period of time. There was no indication by the hitchhikers' dress or personal appearance that they were dangerous. Mr. Froney stopped in route and bought several cans of beer. The riders and their host partook of the refreshments.

The names of the riders were: Stephen Douglas Chase, Philip Robert Ronica, Karen Elaine Jordan, and Ronald Keith Connell, appellant-defendant.

The seating arrangement of the four was at a dinette table. All four of the riders were in close contact with each other. Connell sat down first on one of the beds to the rear of the camper, but later moved up to the front where all four sat at the dinette table. After they reached I--85 where it began leaving U.S. 29 in Georgia, Mr. Froney asked his wife to drive. Aboard the vehicle was a television set, a radio, and a tape player or stereo which they had been playing all the afternoon and into the evening.

Before reaching I--85 and after they had been talking for some time, Karen asked Mrs. Froney to turn up the volume of the stereo. She complied. The witness testified that, 'I noticed for a while that they were just kinda excluding us from the conversation, just talking among themselves. And after another short while, Mr. Connell had requested I turn the music up a little louder, * * *.' 'The music was pretty loud, louder than usual but not so loud that they really had to shout to be heard.' At that time, the witness Mrs. Froney was occupying the passenger seat. All four of the hitchhikers were sitting at the dinette table behind the witness. At the time the music was turned up the second time at Connell's request, the four were still talking in hushed tones--'not talking to us any longer.' As already stated, when they reached I--85 Mr. Froney asked the witness to drive. She took over and continued to drive for some time going in the direction of Montgomery. The witness and her husband decided it would be nice to take the passengers on to Montgomery instead of dropping them off on the roadside.

After driving for a short while and after they were in Alabama, the witness requested her husband to drive so she could go to the bathroom. They changed places and the witness went to the bathroom. The hitchhikers were all sitting in the same places.

After the witness was in the bathroom a short while, about a minute, 'all of a sudden I felt the motor home kinda slow down very fast and pull off the road in a very hurry suddenly.' The witness then opened the bathroom door and 'saw the three boys were huddled over my husband, kinda in that position, kind of over him. He was turned around in the driver's seat at this time, looking up at them. And so I remember him saying, 'Take our money, take the motor home, but just leave us alone.' And this is the last thing I did hear him say. He was just looking very panicky; looking up at the three people hovered over him.'

The witness further testified that the defendant, Connell, was one of the three still hovered over her husband at the time her husband said, 'Take our money, take our motor home, just leave us alone.' The witness was so positioned then that she could see her husband, but not the boys. She did not see a knife. Karen Jordan was standing between her and the three boys. Karen pointed a knife at the witness and told her to take it easy.

The witness then became panicky and sat down on one of the three beds--she could not help her husband. She sat there for a while, until one of the boys came back and directed her to go to the bathroom. As she was proceeding as directed, she felt a blow on her shoulder which knocked her to the floor. After entering the bathroom and locking the door, she felt a wetness on the shoulder, which was blood.

After being in the bathroom for a short while, she heard a couple of voices, one of which said, 'well, kick the door down.' One of them did kick the door in and grabbed the witness by her wrists and pulled her to her feet and then to the bed in the aisle. The witness further testified that she was then directed to put her hands behind her back, where they were tied with a white handkerchief. She did not know which one did this. Following further orders, she lay down on the bed where a pillow was put over her head. One was trying to suffocate her. She struggled and both fell on the floor. The witness fell on her stomach. It was then that she felt a sudden sensation in her back. She could feel the knife coming down on her back, and after the six blows, she stopped struggling and pretended she was dead. Someone then placed a blanket over her.

The motor vehicle started up and someone told Karen to drive. They were all talking and one of them said 'well, we'll have to get rid of the motor home some way--'. Various ways of disposing of the vehicle were discussed. The suggestion was made to burn the vehicle and thus get rid of the evidence.

The camper then began to travel over smooth surface and continued to do so for some time. Then the vehicle began swaying on a rough road. Finally the vehicle came to a stop, and the people were moving around. The witness remained quiet for about ten minutes and was worrying about the smoke that was filling the room. When she got up, her husband was lying on the floor dead. It was night and the lights in the vehicle were on.

Mrs. Froney, suffering from knife wounds and in a weakened and exhausted condition, started walking up a dirt and deserted road and came to a fork, whereupon she took the right fork and walked for a while until she could hear traffic. She then turned around and took the left fork until she reached a very busy highway. Finally, a patrol car and another car stopped. Two patrol officers got out of the patrol car. One of the officers was later made known to Mrs. Froney to be Trooper B. G. Brown. The witness testified that she told the officers where the camper was located. Thereupon the officers put her in the other car and asked the occupant, a Mrs. Holston, to drive her to the hospital. Mrs. Holston responded and took her to the East Tallapoosa Hospital.

The record is replete with activities of law enforcement officers in conducting an intensive and extensive investigation as to the identity of the hitchhikers and their whereabouts. Also, a minute search of the camper and the area of the crime to obtain evidence pertinent to the commission of the homicide and the attack on Mrs. Froney was conducted. The investigation reveals sufficient probable cause that pointed to the identity of some, if not all four of the hitchhikers, who were arrested pursuant to a federal fugitive warrant issued under federal authority. The arrest of the four hitchhikers took place in Del Mare, California, by ten FBI officers.

The officers took possession of a pair of boots, knives, sheaths and other articles which were in the room and in view of the officers. The articles were in the room occupied by the hitchhikers.

These articles were brought back to Alabama, and after sequence of possession was established, they were introduced and admitted in evidence on the condition of the prosecution that they pointed to the guilt of appellant.

It will unduly lengthen and burden this opinion to delineate all of the evidence leading to the apprehension and arrest of the four persons in the motel room. These articles of clothing and the knives were all relevant and properly admitted into evidence at the trial of the defendant. Suffice it to say, the investigation seemingly was thorough and efficient and brought...