Crawford v. State
| Decision Date | 26 June 1979 |
| Docket Number | 4 Div. 687 |
| Parties | Timothy Dale CRAWFORD, alias v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Samuel L. Adams, Adams & Bates, Dothan, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen. and Jean Williams Brown, Asst. Atty. Gen., Montgomery and Thomas W. Sorrells, Houston County Dist. Atty., Dothan, for the State.
The appellant was charged by indictment pursuant to Title 15, § 342(4)(j), Code of Alabama 1940, 1975 Supplement (now § 13-11-2(a)(10), Code of Alabama 1975), of the Alabama Death Penalty statute for the crime of "Murder in the first degree wherein two or more human beings are intentionally killed by the defendant by one or a series of acts." At arraignment the appellant entered pleas of "not guilty" and "not guilty by reason of insanity." The jury found the appellant guilty as charged in the indictment and fixed punishment at death. The trial court held a separate hearing on the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the case wherein the death penalty as fixed by the jury was accepted and judgment was entered setting sentence at death by electrocution. The appellant was adjudged to be an indigent and is in this Court with a free transcript and court-appointed counsel.
The evidence presented against the appellant was overwhelming. The following is an abstract of the evidence:
Shortly after midnight on October 7, 1977, Houston County Sheriff's deputies responded to disturbance calls at the Hughes residence in Taylor, Alabama, and the Crawford residence in Rehobeth, Alabama.
At the Hughes residence, Beverly Hughes Crawford was found lying on a bed with gunshot wounds to the stomach and head. Her red Toyota automobile was found in front of the house. The windows to the Toyota were shattered and what appeared to be bullet holes were found in the right front door and in the headrest on the driver's side.
At the Crawford residence the appellant and his mother, Pauline Crawford, were found lying on the floor of Pauline's home within a few feet of each other. Both were suffering from gunshot wounds.
At approximately 2:00 a. m., Charles Crawford, brother of the appellant, was found on the Crawford farm out in a field lying next to a fence. He was shot in the back and paralyzed, but still alive. About one hour later the appellant's father, Eddie Roy Crawford, was found dead in an old Colonial bread truck body that had been converted to a peanut dryer located nearby his residence. Eddie Roy had been shot twice in the head.
The bodies of Brenda Crawford Peters, sister of the appellant, and her daughter Chris, age six, were discovered at approximately 9:00 a. m. about 100 yards off Highway 109 at the intersection of Highways 109 and 231 in Houston County. Both had multiple gunshot wounds. Devana and Eddie Peters, two small children of Brenda's, (ages 1 and 2) were found lying on top of their mother. Both were dirty, bloody and suffering from insect bites.
Charles Crawford testified that on the night of October 6, 1977, the Crawford family had eaten supper together on the Crawford farm. All the victims in this case were present at the supper meal. Charles and his wife left soon after the meal and retired to their trailer for the remainder of the night. At approximately 11:00 p. m. Charles was awakened by a knock on his bedroom window by the appellant. The appellant said the cows had gotten out and that their grandfather wanted them to find the cows. Charles left with the appellant in the appellant's truck. During the course of riding around the farm the appellant asked Charles several times to get out and look for tracks. Charles finally relented and as he walked next to an electric fence he heard the blast of a rile, felt a sting, and fell to the ground paralyzed. He then heard the truck door shut and the truck drive off.
Beverly Hughes Crawford testified that she went back to sleep after her husband and the appellant left to look for the cows. The next thing she remembered was the appellant again knocking at the window, saying that Charles had sent him back for the shotgun. When the appellant came to the front door to get the shotgun, Beverly noticed that he had Charles's rifle. As she walked to the bedroom to look for more cartridges for the guns, she was shot from behind. The appellant stated that he was sorry, that it was an accident, and that he had been shot also. Beverly did not see any blood on him. She told the appellant that she was bleeding to death and for him to find Charles. He then left.
Beverly lay on a bed in the trailer for an indeterminate length of time. She then got in her Toyota automobile and attempted to leave for her parents' home in Taylor, several miles up the road. The appellant appeared at her automobile, opened the door, took her by the arm, and said that he would help her back into the trailer. He then walked to his truck and got something out through the window. Beverly left in her automobile, stopping as she pulled onto the road to see if she could see what the appellant was doing. At that point she was hit in the neck with a gunshot that also shattered her automobile window. She left for her parents' home driving at a speed of approximately 80 miles per hour. After Beverly ran inside her parents' home, she saw the appellant drive up in front of the house holding the rifle. The appellant then left.
Kenneth Turvin testified that he was driving on the Taylor-Tabernacle Road between Rehobeth and Taylor at approximately 11:45 p. m. on October 6, 1977. He testified that two vehicles passed him at speeds estimated to be 80 miles per hour. He identified pictures of Beverly's Toyota and the appellant's truck as the vehicles that passed him.
Dr. Joe Sugg, a surgeon, testified that he removed part of Beverly's liver and gallbladder as a result of a gunshot wound. He also treated the appellant for a minor wound to the armpit. There were large powder burns on the appellant indicating that the weapon had been placed next to the skin and fired.
Steve Lynn Langley testified that he went by the appellant's trailer at approximately 9:00 or 9:30 p. m. on October 6, 1977. He testified that the appellant's truck was backed up to his trailer and that he was pulling out onto the road. Two small children were standing up in the seat of the truck beside the appellant. Langley could not see down in the truck. The appellant said that he was going to help his mother and daddy move peanut trailers to Headland. Langley testified that he had seen a box of rifle cartridges on the dash of the appellant's truck the day before.
During the investigation of the case, the appellant made four statements to the law enforcement authorities. In the last two statements, the appellant confessed to the murders and gave the officers the location of the rifle used in the crime.
Richard Dale Carter, a criminalist with the Alabama Department of Toxicology and Criminal Investigation, identified a rifle turned over to him by Lieutenant Joe Pitts as a .22 caliber semiautomatic Marlin Glenfield rifle. He conducted comparison tests with cartridge projectiles and cases found at various scenes of the crime. He made a determination that the cases were fired from the rile in question, but that he could not positively state that the projectiles came from the exact weapon in question. He stated that the projectiles found had the same class characteristics as those fired from a .22 caliber Marlin rifle. He testified that a .22 caliber Marlin rifle is a very common rile and that projectiles fired in .22 caliber Marlin rifles would all display common characteristics.
After the State rested its case, the appellant interposed a motion to exclude the evidence on various grounds and was overruled by the trial court.
The appellant put forth several expert witnesses concerning his insanity defense. None of the witnesses could testify that the appellant was insane either at the time of the commission of the alleged crime or at the time of their examination of him. The appellant did not testify.
The appellant's first contention is that the trial court improperly excluded nine prospective jurors because of their opposition to capital punishment. More specifically, the appellant contends that it was improper for the trial court to excuse the prospective jurors ex mero motu and that the prospective jurors were excused contrary to Witherspoon v. Illinois, 391 U.S. 510, 88 S.Ct. 1770, 20 L.Ed.2d 776 (1968).
The appellant claims that pursuant to Title 30, Section 57, Code of Alabama 1940 (now § 12-16-152, Code of Alabama 1975) the State only and not the trial court has the right to challenge for cause a prospective juror who opposes capital punishment. He contends that this right to challenge is waived and lost if not exercised. Title 30, Section 57, supra, is as follows:
"On the trial for any offense which may be punished capitally or by imprisonment in the penitentiary, it is a good cause of challenge by the state that the person has a fixed opinion against capital or penitentiary punishments, Or thinks that a conviction should not be had on circumstantial evidence; which cause of challenge may be proved by the oath of the person or by other evidence." (Emphasis supplied)
The Alabama Supreme Court in the case of Williams v. State, 241 Ala. 348, 2 So.2d 423 (1941), held that the trial court has the right to reject for cause ex mero motu under Title 30, Section 57, supra, any prospective juror who states that he would not convict on circumstantial evidence. We hold that Williams applies to the whole of the statute, thus including refusal to impose the death penalty. It should be noted that the trial court is vested with broad discretion in the excusal of prospective jurors. Title 30, Sections 4, 5, Code of Alabama 1940 (now § 12-16-4, 12-16-5, Code of Alabama 1975). We do not believe the trial court abused its discretion in this case.
The...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Williams v. State
...considered in the decision to impose the death penalty. See, e.g., Edwards v. State, 515 So.2d 86 (Ala.Cr.App.1987); Crawford v. State, 377 So.2d 145 (Ala.Cr.App.), aff'd, 377 So.2d 159 (Ala.1979), vacated on other grounds, 448 U.S. 904, 100 S.Ct. 3044, 65 L.Ed.2d 1134 (1980). Williams does......
-
Wright v. State
...on other grounds, Ex parte Edwards, 452 So.2d 503 (Ala.1983); Taylor v. State, 442 So.2d 128, 131 (Ala.Cr.App.1983); Crawford v. State, 377 So.2d 145, 151 (Ala.Cr.App.), affirmed, Ex parte Crawford, 377 So.2d 159 (Ala.1979), vacated on other grounds, 448 U.S. 904, 100 S.Ct. 3044, 65 L.Ed.2d......
-
Knotts v. State
...that she might be able to so vote. The trial court properly granted the challenge for cause on this ground also. See Crawford v. State, 377 So.2d 145 (Ala.Cr.App.), aff'd, 377 So.2d 159 (Ala.1979), vacated on other grounds, 448 U.S. 904, 100 S.Ct. 3044, 65 L.Ed.2d 1134 The appellant raises ......
-
Jackson v. State
...aff'd, 437 So.2d 1356 (Ala.1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1051, 104 S.Ct. 1329, 79 L.Ed.2d 724 (1984) (rape-intentional killing); Crawford v. State, 377 So.2d 145 (Ala.Crim.App.), aff'd, 377 So.2d 159 (Ala.1979), vacated on other grounds, 448 U.S. 904, 100 S.Ct. 3044, 65 L.Ed.2d 1134 (1980) ......