Craft v. State, 8 Div. 450

• Decision Date: 04 August 1981
• Docket Number: 8 Div. 450
• Citation: 402 So.2d 1135
• Parties: William Wyeth CRAFT v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1135

402 So.2d 1135

William Wyeth CRAFT v. STATE.

8 Div. 450.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Aug. 4, 1981.

John F. Porter, III, of Livingston, Porter & Paulk, Scottsboro, for appellant.

Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Jacquelyn L. Lufkin, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

HARRIS, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was indicted by the Grand Jury of Jackson County for the murder of John David Robinson. After entering a plea of not guilty, appellant was tried before a jury and found guilty. The trial court sentenced the appellant to fifty years' imprisonment in the State penitentiary. Appellant subsequently filed a motion for new trial. The motion was denied and this appeal followed.

Aneva Robinson, the deceased's mother, testified she lived in "the hill" area of Scottsboro. She stated she observed her son, John David Robinson, at the funeral home and that he was deceased.

Keith Smith, a Captain with the Scottsboro Police Department, testified concerning a diagram he made of the area surrounding the scene of the murder. Captain Smith stated the murder occurred in an area of project house duplexes, where the appellant's wife resided. The diagram indicated the location of the victim's body, duplex houses, and vehicles on the street at the scene.

Witness Chester Lee Cox testified the deceased and appellant lived in neighboring houses on Joe Boulevard in Scottsboro, a short distance from the project. Cox stated he was at his home on the evening of May 12, 1980, at 1113 Houston Street, across the street some fifty feet from the residence of the appellant's wife. He was standing in his front yard at approximately 5:30 p. m. when he observed Buddy Craft, appellant's brother, drive up to the Craft residence. Buddy and the appellant talked for a while. They each obtained a "long gun," and then crouched between the Craft brothers' two automobiles which were parked end to end on the street. They used the vehicles as shields for protection as they rested their guns on the hoods. Cox stated he saw both men fire several times that day. He heard no other shots before the Craft brothers began firing. After the shooting, Cox stated he went around to see what the Crafts were shooting at and saw the deceased lying on the ground. Cox stated he saw no weapons around the area of the deceased.

James Albert Dillard was on the porch of a neighboring residence the afternoon of the murder and observed the deceased driving his pickup truck with his two-year old child as a passenger. As the deceased drove down the road toward the project, the witness heard gunshots and observed gunshots hit the deceased's moving vehicle. The deceased then stopped the truck and opened the door. Shots began to enter the truck and the deceased pushed the child down to the floorboard, jumped from the truck and ran. The shooting continued as he fell, got up, and ran and fell again as he tried to escape. The witness first observed the appellant and his brother as they came up to the deceased and shot him again as he lay on the ground. The appellant and his brother then fled across the street. The witness testified he saw the appellant shoot the shotgun the afternoon of the murder and that five or six shots were fired. He testified further that he saw no weapon in the hands of the deceased.

Martha Fay Grayson testified she lived directly across the street from the appellant's wife. She was sitting on her front porch the afternoon of the shooting and observed the appellant walking up the street with a gun on his shoulder. She saw the appellant's brother drive up in his car and park in front of the appellant's car. The appellant turned around and walked toward his brother, who was also carrying a gun. Mrs. Grayson heard the appellant shout to his wife, "Get my kids inside; I'm going to do some shooting." As Mrs. Grayson was in the process of calling the police, she heard gunshots. She observed the appellant's brother stooped down between two automobiles aiming a rifle. After the shots, she heard screaming. She ran to the door and saw the deceased lying on the ground. Immediately after the shooting, she saw appellant's brother leave in his automobile.

Keith Smith, Captain of the Scottsboro Police Department, testified as to the position of the Craft brothers' vehicles. He also observed dents from 00 buckshot in the deceased's vehicle and the area surrounding the scene of the crime. Captain Smith identified photographs he had taken of the deceased at the Jackson County Hospital emergency room, which were admitted into evidence over the appellant's objection.

Captain Smith testified out of the presence of the jury that he had advised the appellant of his constitutional rights, both orally and in writing, at the police station after the appellant was taken into custody. The appellant gave an oral statement, which Captain Smith took down in longhand. After the statement was typed the following day, the appellant read and signed it.

Appellant testified on voir dire that Captain Smith did not read his rights to him the night he made the oral statement. He did recall Smith reading him his rights when Smith returned the following day. The trial judge, however, found the statements made by the appellant to have been voluntarily made and proper for the jury to consider. The appellant's statement appears in the record as follows:

"He stated he was laying on the couch at 1106 North Houston Street when his three kids ran in and said John David is killing your dog. He stated he told the kids to go on back up there and get the dog off of him before they kill him. This happened about 5:30 p. m. He stated he stayed there and his wife told him, 'Don't go up there honey, you know how it will be.' He stated he then went out in the yard because he was afraid John David might shoot one of the kids. He stated he went out close to the car so to be near his gun. John David drove down the road in a blue truck. He looked over at Craft, stopped the truck and started running toward Craft. He had a gun or something in his hand. He stated he emptied his shotgun at John David. He stated he didn't take his sights off him until the gun was empty. He stated his brother, Buddy Craft, said, 'You've done killed him, you shouldn't have done it.' Buddy took the gun."

Captain Smith testified appellant identified a .12 gauge shotgun as one which belonged to him and as the same gun with which he shot the deceased. Wadding and shells found by Captain Smith at the scene indicated that both a .12 and a .16 gauge shotgun had been fired.

Joseph Embry, a forensic pathologist for the State, testified he examined the deceased on May 14 and that the deceased had eleven shotgun wounds from the top of his head to the sole of his foot. He stated the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.

Keith Smith, on being recalled, testified a shotgun belonging to the deceased's grandfather was found between the deceased's body and his vehicle by Officer Truman Dawson. Also a .38 caliber pistol was found on the truck seat of the deceased's vehicle. Neither gun had been fired.

Officers John Childress and Truman Dawson testified concerning their on-the-scene investigation and corroborated the testimony of Captain Smith, after which the State rested its case. The appellant moved for a directed verdict on the grounds the State failed to prove a prima facie case of an intentional killing. The defense also moved to exclude the State's evidence. The trial court denied both motions.

Charlie Noble, the appellant's sixteen year old stepson, testified he was at his mother's house on the afternoon the shooting occurred. His father was there, also, lying on the couch. A neighbor called and said the Crafts' dogs were fighting with the deceased's dogs up at his stepfather's house. Charlie and his two brothers went to break up the fight. He observed the deceased standing in his stepfather's yard holding a gun. As Charlie was tying up the dogs, after the fight was broken up, he heard gunshots and fell to the ground. He returned to his mother's house after the shooting stopped, where he saw his stepfather, William Craft, and uncle, Buddy Craft.

Wilson Junior Cothron, thirteen year old stepson of the appellant, corroborated Charlie Nobles's testimony. He stated he did see his stepfather with a gun on that...