Craft v. State

• Decision Date: 10 February 2012
• Docket Number: CR–09–0980.
• Parties: Michael CRAFT v. STATE of Alabama.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

90 So.3d 197

Michael CRAFT

v.STATE of Alabama.

CR–09–0980.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Sept. 30, 2011.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 16, 2011.

Certiorari Denied Feb. 10, 2012

Alabama Supreme Court 1110374.

Melanie Bean Bradford, Scottsboro; and Ronald Smith, Huntsville, for appellant.

Troy King and Luther Strange, attys. gen., and James B. Prude, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

BURKE, Judge.

Michael Craft appeals his conviction for murder, a violation of § 13A–6–2, Ala.Code 1975, and his resulting sentence of 60 years in prison. We affirm Craft's conviction and sentence.

Facts and Procedural History

Because Craft does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, the following brief rendition of the facts will suffice:

Bobbie Edwards was reported missing by her mother on May 8, 1993. (R. 858–60.) Clarence Bolte, a police investigator, testified that on March 22, 1994, he received information from Cheryl Johnson that Edwards's body was in a well located at an old abandoned house in Hollywood, Alabama. (R. 1004–06, 1027.) The police discovered a substantially decomposed body in the well. Dr. Joseph Embry, the forensic pathologist and the state medical examiner for the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, performed the autopsy on the body, and he concluded that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the neck. Dr. Embry removed a bullet from the body, labeled it, sealed it, and sent it to Brent Wheeler, a firearms and toolmark examiner in Huntsville. (R. 1406.) Wheeler received the bullet and examined it. (R. 1131, 1136–37.) Wheeler also had received a .380 Winchester brand fired cartridge case from Ed White, who was also an employee of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. (R. 1142–43.) That spent casing had been recovered from a closet at the abandoned house. (R. 1050–51.)

Judith Jones, who was married to Craft from October 1989 to November 1996, testified to facts that implicated Craft in Edwards's murder. (R. 928.) Jones testified that Craft told her that he killed Edwards. Jones further testified that Craft made her go to the abandoned house with him and help him drag Edwards's body to the well. (R. 931–41.) Jones knew Edwards because Craft had been married to Edwards's mother. (R. 929.) Jones testified that before she ever spoke to law enforcement about Edwards's death, she had spoken about the matter with Cheryl Johnson, who was Jones's coworker and the person who initially contacted the police. (R. 946.)

Anthony Southeard, who worked with Craft at a small-engine business in 1994, testified that he saw Craft with a .380 caliber pistol in 1994. (R. 1325.) Southeard also testified that he heard Craft say that Edwards “was dead and gone in a well and wouldn't be found.” (R. 1326.)

In 2000, investigators received a gun that evidence indicated was previously owned by Craft. After testing the gun, it was determined that the bullet found in the body found in the well had been fired from the gun. (R. 1520.)

Kenneth Jordan, who knew Craft as a casual acquaintance, testified that in the summer of 2008, Craft approached him in a grocery store and told him about a girl he had killed. (R. 1551–52.) Craft told Jordan that he had killed the girl because she was on drugs and wanted him to kill her. (R. 1552.) Craft told Jordan that the killing happened at an old house in Hollywood. (R. 1552.) Craft told Jordan that he left the girl's body in the house and intended to go back and burn the house, but he decided to cut up her body and place it in a well instead. (R. 1553.) Craft also told Jordan that he had already served time in prison for the killing that he was describing. (R. 1552.) Jordan testified that he did not know anything about Edwards's disappearance when he and Craft had this conversation. (R. 1552.)

Craft was indicted for Edwards's murder on September 17, 2008. (C. 36, 134.) Craft's trial began on February 8, 2010, and the jury found Craft guilty of murder on February 19, 2010. On March 26, 2010, Craft was sentenced to 60 years in prison.

On April 15, 2010, Craft filed his notice of appeal to this Court. (C. 294.) On April 16, 2010, Craft filed a motion for a new trial. (C. 298.) On May 5, 2010, the trial court denied Craft's motion for a new trial, stating:

“[Defense counsel], there are multiple issues in this case, and it may very well be reversed on any one of them or any combination of them. It may not be. We'll see. It's a very complicated case occasioned at least partially by the long delay between the death, discovery of the body, and the trial. I think it's fair to say, for what it's worth, this is probably in the nature of editorial comment, but it's fair to say that it probably has more vexing legal issues in it than all of the other cases I have tried to a jury. Fertile ground for a defendant's appellate attorney unlike so many cases that we see that are appealed.

“Nonetheless, that is the province of the appellate court to review those after it leaves this court. Your motions and your grounds are noted. You have done a very diligent job for your client as you and your co-counsel did throughout the trial. But your motions are denied.”

(R. 1938–39.)

Discussion

I.

First, Craft alleges that the admission of Brent Wheeler's testimony through a videotaped deposition violated Craft's right of confrontation under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.¹ Specifically, Craft alleges that the State did not prove that Wheeler was unavailable to testify at trial, as required by Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 158 L.Ed.2d 177 (2004).

In Crawford, the United States Supreme Court held that an out-of-court testimonial statement by a witness is barred under the Confrontation Clause, unless the witness is unavailable and the defendant had a prior opportunity to cross-examine the witness. 541 U.S. at 59. This Court reviews a trial court's determination on the issue of availability of the witness for an abuse of discretion. Pilley v. State, 930 So.2d 550, 560–61 (Ala.Crim.App.2005).

Initially, it does not appear that Craft's claim is preserved for appellate review because he never specifically objected to the admission of Wheeler's testimony on the ground that the State had not shown that Wheeler was unavailable to testify at trial as required by Crawford and, thus, that Wheeler's videotaped deposition testimony violated Craft's right of confrontation under the Sixth Amendment. In Watson v. State, 875 So.2d 330 (Ala.Crim.App.2003), this Court held:

“ ‘The trial court must be apprised of the basis for the objection with sufficient particularity to allow an informed decision to be made on the particular legal issue involved.’ Bland v. State, 395 So.2d 164, 168 (Ala.Crim.App.1981). See also Finch v. State, 715 So.2d 906, 911 (Ala.Crim.App.1997). Moreover, ‘[a]n objection based on a specific ground “waives all other grounds not specified, and the trial court will not be put in error for grounds not assigned at trial.” ’ Tuohy v. State, 776 So.2d 896, 901 (Ala.Crim.App.1999) (quoting Glass v. State, 671 So.2d 114, 120 (Ala.Crim.App.1995)). ‘Review by this court is limited to matters properly raised before the trial court.’ Owens v. State, 825 So.2d 861, 863 (Ala.Crim.App.2001).”

875 So.2d at 332.

In the present case, after the trial had begun, the State informed the trial court that it had received a communication from Wheeler stating that his wife had fallen and that the fall caused her to break her arm and to develop some dental problems. As a result of the fall, Wheeler's wife was on pain medication and could not dress herself or drive. The communication further stated that Wheeler was the only person available to drive his wife and perform other needed tasks and that he did not believe that he could leave her alone. Wheeler stated that he did not believe that he could attend the trial, but he suggested that he could give his testimony by deposition. The State informed the trial court that Wheeler lived in Opelika, and the trial court noted that Opelika was 200–250 miles from Scottsboro, the location of the trial. Based on this information, the State moved to continue the trial until Wheeler could testify at trial. Craft objected to the continuance, and the trial court denied the motion but indicated that it wanted to see how Wheeler's situation developed over the next few days. (R. 412.)

A few days later, the State renewed its motion to continue the case until Wheeler was available to testify at trial, and, again, Craft objected to the continuance. (R. 465–66.) Craft also objected to Wheeler's testimony being taken by deposition. (R. 470–76.) Specifically, Craft objected to the propriety of taking the deposition on the ground that the taking of Wheeler's deposition would violate various requirements of Rule 16.6, Ala. R.Crim. P., which provides procedural rules governing the taking of a deposition and its use at trial. Craft's objection did not mention Crawford or his rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. The trial court again denied the motion to continue, but the trial court granted the motion to take Wheeler's testimony by deposition. (R. 476–77.) The deposition was scheduled for the next day, and the trial court ordered that Craft be transported to the deposition so that he could confront Wheeler. (C. 234.) However, Craft waived his right to be present at the deposition. (C. 257.) During the deposition, Wheeler was cross-examined by defense counsel.

When the State offered Wheeler's videotaped deposition testimony for admission at trial, Craft made a general objection “under confront and cross examine grounds and also under Rule 16.6....” (R. 1125.) At that time, neither Crawford nor Wheeler's availability was mentioned. The trial court overruled the objection without mentioning Wheeler's availability.

This Court concludes that when Wheeler's videotaped deposition testimony was offered for admission at trial, the...