Cowan v. State

• Decision Date: 17 December 2021
• Docket Number: CR-20-0145
• Parties: Cedric Lamont Cowan v. State of Alabama
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Cedric Lamont Cowan
v.
State of Alabama

No. CR-20-0145

Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

December 17, 2021

Appeal from Morgan Circuit Court (CC-15-1271)

KELLUM, JUDGE.

The appellant, Cedric Lamont Cowan, was convicted of three counts of capital murder for murdering Anselmo Antonio Hernandez-Lopez and Joshua Davis during a robbery and pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, see § 13A-5-40(a)(2) and § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Ala. Code 1975; five counts of robbery in the first degree for using a deadly weapon to rob or

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attempt to rob Dylan Jones, Hunter Nelson, Phillip Garland, Jose Juan Zenteno, and Krista Mayfield, see § 13A-8-41(a)(1), Ala. Code 1975; and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, see § 13A-11-61, Ala. Code 1975. Cowan, who was 16 years old at the time of the offenses, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each capital-murder conviction, 20 years' imprisonment for each robbery conviction, and 15 years' imprisonment for the conviction of shooting into an occupied dwelling.

In May 2015, Cowan and his three codefendants, Joseph Christopher Cowan, Amani Juan Goodwin, and Cortez Ocie Mitchell, ^[1] were jointly indicted for three counts of capital-murder, six counts of robbery, one count of shooting into an unoccupied dwelling, and one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling.^[2] Cowan moved that his case be severed from

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that of his codefendants, (C. 161), and that motion was granted. (C. 176-78.)

In January 2018, Goodwin pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder and three counts of robbery in the first degree in exchange for his truthful testimony at his codefendants' trials. Goodwin was sentenced to two sentences of life imprisonment for the felony-murder convictions and to three 20-year sentences for the robbery convictions, those sentences were to run concurrently.

In February 2018, Mitchell was convicted of four counts of robbery and two counts of felony murder. He was sentenced to consecutive sentences of life imprisonment for the 2 felony-murder convictions and to 20 years' imprisonment for each robbery conviction. The court further directed that the felony-murder sentences and the robbery sentences be served concurrently. This Court affirmed Mitchell's convictions in an unpublished memorandum. See Mitchell v. State, (No. CR-17-0818, August 8, 2019) 309 So.3d 1226 (Ala.Crim.App.2019) (table).

In September 2019, Joseph Cowan pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery, three counts of capital murder, and shooting into an occupied

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dwelling. Joseph was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for each capital-murder conviction, to 25 years' imprisonment for each robbery conviction, and to 15 years' imprisonment for shooting into an occupied dwelling .

Cedric Cowan's trial commenced in November 2019. The State's evidence tended to show that in May 2015, Cowan and his three codefendants engaged in a crime spree that started on May 13 with robbery and ended on May 15 with murder. Goodwin testified that on May 13 he met Cowan at his house and they discussed "hitting a lick" or, he said, robbing people. (R. 2117.)^[3] The two went to Cowan's house, where they were joined by Joseph Cowan, who was Cowan's older brother, and Cortez Mitchell. A fifth person was with them, Goodwin said, but he could not identify him and, according to Goodwin, the fifth person participated in only the first three robberies. Goodwin testified that Joseph Cowan was armed with a .380 caliber handgun and that Cedric Cowan was carrying a .22 caliber rifle and that he and Mitchell were not

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armed. He drove his mother's automobile, a silver Nissan Altima, and they first stopped at a house where the garage door was open but returned to the car after another car approached. Goodwin then drove to Julian Harris School where several people were on the playground. The group walked up to the people and those in the group who had guns pointed the guns and robbed the people at the school. After taking a Fossil brand watch, a necklace, an iPhone cellular telephone, and keys, the group ran back to Goodwin's mother's car and drove off. (R. 2126.) Goodwin said that one guy did not make it back to the car and that it was the guy that he did not know. (R. 2127.)

As they were driving to Cowan's house they stopped at a Wal-Mart department store but left when they saw a man wearing a security badge. (R. 2128.) They got back into the car, and, on the way to Cowan's house, they saw a man walking on the side of the road. Goodwin stopped the car and Joseph told the man to come over. The man began to approach and then started running. At this time, Goodwin testified, Joseph shot at him out of the window of the car. (R. 2130.) After the man ran to the opposite side of the car Cowan started shooting at the man with his rifle. The

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group then arrived at the Cowan residence. Goodwin said that he threw the keys that had been taken from the robberies out the window and that Cowan, Joseph, and Mitchell took the other items that they had stolen at Julian Harris.

Goodwin testified that on May 15, 2015, he spoke to Cowan and they discussed "doing the same thing again." (R. 2132.) He drove his mother's car to Cowan's house that night and the same four got into the car and he drove away from Cowan's house. Down the street, he said, Cowan shot into a house. (R. 2135.) They continued to drive to the corner where a store was located. At this point, Goodwin stopped the car and Cowan and Joseph started shooting at people who were on the porch of the house across the street from the store. (R. 2137.) After Goodwin turned the car around he drove toward Brookhaven Middle School. On their way to the school they passed a house and the Cowans told him that the guy who lived in that house had "snitched on their dad." (R. 2138.) Cowan and Joseph, he said, shot into this man's house and his truck. (R. 2138.) Goodwin made a U-turn and drove up the street and they passed two "Hispanics" under a carport. (R. 2139.) They parked and approached the

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two men. They covered their faces and walked up to the men, and Cowan and Joseph pointed their guns at the men. Goodwin said that Mitchell tried to take a watch off one of the men and the other man "took off running" away from the house. (R. 2144.) Cowan and Joseph both started shooting at the man who had remained in the carport. (R. 2144.) When the shooting started, Goodwin said, he and Mitchell ran back to the car. Cowan and Joseph did not immediately come back to the car and did not arrive at the car at the same time. Goodwin then drove toward Wilson Morgan Park. When they were talking in the car, Goodwin said, Cowan was "gloating and laughing" about shooting the Hispanic man. (R. 2148.) After arriving at the park, they got out of the car, walked to the park, and observed a man under the pavilion. Cowan and Joseph pointed their guns at the man, who was identified as Joshua Davis. Davis screamed and Cowan began to hit him with the end of his rifle. (R. 2151.) As Davis screamed and was beaten by Cowan, Joseph walked up and shot Davis in the head. (R. 2154.)

Goodwin said that he went to meet a friend and gave the keys to his mother's car to Joseph. Later that evening Goodwin telephoned Cowan

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and the group met at a gas station. When Goodwin got back into his mother's car, he said, he noticed a Michael Kors brand handbag that had not been there earlier. At this point, Goodwin "faked a phone call from his mother" and drove everyone back to Cowan's house. (R. 2160.) The three took the purse and got out of his car.

In addition to Goodwin's testimony, the State presented the testimony of 27 witnesses. (R. 1173-2341.)

Hunter Nelson testified that around 9:00 p.m. on May 13, 2015, he was at Julian Harris School on the playground with two friends, Dylan Jones and Phillip Garland, when "about 4 or 6" African-American men approached them, put guns to their heads, and demanded "their stuff." (R. 1206.) He could not identify the men because their faces were covered at the time of the incident. (R. 1212.) They took his iPhone, his wallet, and his keys. (R. 1206.) Garland testified that a silver Nissan automobile pulled into the parking lot, that four men got out of the car, that they yelled for them to get on the ground, and that they pointed guns in their faces. He said that one of the men started searching his pockets so he took his cellular telephone and keys and gave them to the man. (R. 1225.)

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Garland said that he could not identify the men because they were wearing white bandanas covering their faces. As they ran away the biggest guy fell. Jones testified that they took his necklace, his Fossil brand watch, and his cellular telephone. (R. 1240.) His keys were still on the ground so he retrieved them and drove to his house. The day after the robbery, May 14, 2015, Jones got a new iPhone cellular telephone, logged into his account, and downloaded his data from the "cloud." (R. 1245.) When he went through the photographs he noticed a picture that he had not taken and that had been made after his phone had been stolen. (R. 1246.) The next day, he said, he received a text message from his old phone that contained various emojis with "people running with smoke behind them and money bags." (R. 1267.)

The photograph that Jones discovered on his stolen iPhone was identified as having been taken in the cafeteria of Decatur High School. Sgt. Mike Burleson of the Decatur Police Department testified that once police connected all the criminal activity it became their main priority to speak to the person in the photograph. Police located that individual and interviewed him and he gave police two names of individuals who could

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have taken the photograph. This information led police to Cortez Mitchell. (R. 1369.)

Anna McTaggart testified that in May 2015 she lived two blocks from Julian...