Ex parte Martin

• Decision Date: 18 February 2005
• Docket Number: 1022040.
• Parties: Ex parte George MARTIN. (In re George Martin v. State of Alabama).
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

931 So.2d 759

Ex parte George MARTIN (In re George Martin v. State of Alabama).

1022040.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

December 10, 2004.

Rehearing Denied February 18, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Al Pennington, Mobile, for petitioner.

William H. Pryor, Jr., and Troy King, attys. gen.; Nathan A. Forrester, deputy atty. gen.; and A. Vernon Barnett IV and Anne C. Adams, asst. attys. gen., for respondent.

LYONS, Justice.

George Martin, a former Alabama State Trooper, was convicted of the murder of his wife, Hammoleketh Martin. The murder was made capital because it was committed for pecuniary gain (§ 13A-5-40(a)(7), Ala.Code 1975). The jury, by a vote of 8-4, recommended that Martin be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The trial court overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced Martin to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Martin's conviction and sentence. Martin v. State, 931 So.2d 736, 759 (Ala.Crim.App.2003). Martin petitioned this Court for a writ of certiorari; we granted the writ only as to two of the issues set forth in Martin's petition. We affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals in part and reverse it in part.

I. Facts and Procedural History

We quote from the trial court's written findings of fact, as set forth by the Court of Criminal Appeals:

"`On October 8, 1995, officers of the Mobile Police Department and firefighters from the Mobile Fire Department were called to the scene of a vehicle fire in the vicinity of Willis Road and Highway 90 in an isolated area of South Mobile County. They arrived on the scene at approximately 11:30 p.m.

"`Upon arriving at the scene, police and firefighters observed a 1991 Ford Escort burning and viewed what appeared to be charred human remains inside the vehicle. The medical examiner was summoned and testified that he observed the head of the victim lying on the driver's side and the rest of the remains situated on the right front seat. Due to the immense heat from the still smoldering vehicle and the absence of light, the remains were not removed until the following morning. The medical examiner testified that parts of the body were not intact. Both arms and shoulders had virtually fallen off the torso, and so the remains had to be removed in pieces. At autopsy, these remains weighed only approximately 24 pounds. The manner of death was determined to be homicide; the cause of death was determined to be body burns (100%) and smoke inhalation. Moreover, the victim was alive at the time the fire started in the car.

"`The investigation revealed that the fire was intentionally set. According to the evidence, the fire started in the right rear passenger compartment and spread forward. The minimal damage to the front of the vehicle precluded any conclusion that the impact of the car with a tree in the area could have started the fire; rather, the evidence was uncontroverted that the scene was consistent with a staged wreck.

"`A traffic homicide investigator from the Alabama Department of Public Safety testified that he examined the vehicle and the scene in question. He conducted speed calculations of a vehicle and analyzed the kind of force that would have been necessary to cause such a fire. He concluded that the fire was not an accident and the collision of the vehicle with a tree did not produce sufficient force to start the fire.

"`Martin, when initially notified by officers of the Mobile Police Department that his car had been found with a body in it stated that he had last seen his wife at approximately 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. that evening. He stated she left the house without telling him where she was going and that he fell asleep watching a football game on television. He initially stated that he had awakened at approximately 1:00 or 1:30 in the morning and, after noticing that his wife was not home, decided to go look for her.

"`The State introduced evidence of several inconsistencies in Martin's various statements. Among the inconsistencies, were the time that he awoke to discover his wife missing, that the victim carried a gasoline can in her automobile with her because the gas gauge did not work, and that a BIC brand lighter found at the scene was used by his wife, the victim, as a flashlight because the dome light in her car did not work. The evidence also established that the defendant was less than honest when questioned about the existence of life insurance policies insuring the life of his wife, Hammoleketh Martin. Though the defendant acknowledged the existence of a policy insuring his wife's life for $200,000, he lied when he stated there were no other policies. In particular, another policy insuring the life of Hammoleketh Martin for $150,000 was introduced into evidence and, according to the State's evidence, this amount was collectible only if Hammoleketh Martin died in a passenger vehicle.

"`The State also introduced evidence of a Traffic Accident Investigation Report prepared by Martin approximately one year prior to the death of his wife. The report involved a traffic accident in which an automobile left the road, hit a tree, and burst into flames. The State contended that the report of his incident, which was the defendant's version of what occurred, was strikingly similar to the occurrences of one year prior.

"`The State linked the evidence of the insurance proceeds with the purported financial difficulties of the defendant. According to the prosecution's testimony, Martin's financial condition had deteriorated to the point where he was approaching bankruptcy.'"

931 So.2d at 739-41 (footnote omitted).

We granted certiorari review to address Martin's contention regarding the admissibility of statements allegedly made by the victim days before her death and to address the procedure used by the trial court in overriding the jury's recommendation of life imprisonment without parole.

II. Admissibility of Hearsay Testimony

A. Victim's Statements to a Friend

The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the trial court's ruling that allowed the State's witness, Pamela Carey, a friend of the victim's, to testify over Martin's objection as to certain statements the victim had made to Carey before her death. The basis of Martin's objection was that the statements were hearsay and that they did not fit within an exception to the general rule that hearsay is inadmissible. In making his objection to the testimony when Carey was on the stand, defense counsel stated, "for the record, the grounds of that objection is there's not a proper exception under 803, Ala. R. Evid., to the hearsay rule. . . . It is impossible to lay the predicate . . . and it calls for opinion testimony."¹

Carey testified that, a few days before the victim's death, Carey had a conversation with the victim in which the victim told Carey that if she did not hear from the victim in "three or four days," she was to "call the victim's mama and daddy and tell them he did it." Carey also testified that the victim said to her during that same conversation: "he might not do it, George loves me."

The State argues that the statements were offered for the purpose of showing the victim's fear of Martin. In other words, according to the State, the testimony was not intended to prove the truth of the fact that Martin planned to kill the victim, but simply to show the victim's belief that he might do so. The State makes this argument by referring to the state-of-mind exception to the hearsay rule set forth in Rule 803(3), Ala. R. Evid.

We note that the statements attributed to the victim in this case are not expressions of a state of mind, as would be the case with statements such as, "I hate him" or "I am afraid." The first statement attributed to the victim consists entirely of an instruction as to what Carey should do should she not hear from the victim in three or four days after their conversation. From this instruction, one can only infer a state of mind. Therefore, under a literal reading of the state-of-mind exception contained in Rule 803(3), Ala. R. Evid., that exception does not apply to this particular statement. The other statement is the victim's observation that Martin might not kill her, because she believed that he loved her. This statement relates to Martin's state of mind, not the victim's. Consequently, Rule 803(3) is also inapplicable to the second statement.

While the state-of-mind exception of Rule 803(3) is not applicable to the statements in this case, it does not follow that these statements were inadmissible hearsay. Whether the two statements attributed to the victim are subject to a hearsay objection depends upon whether they fall within the definition of hearsay set forth in Rule 801(c), Ala. R. Evid: "`Hearsay' is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at the trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted." If the victim's statements to Carey were offered to prove that Martin was indeed planning on harming or killing the victim, then they were offered for the truth of the matters asserted and are hearsay. If they were offered simply to show circumstances from which one might infer the victim's state of mind, then the statements were not offered for the truth of the matters asserted therein (that Martin might or might not kill the victim) and they therefore do not fit within the definition of hearsay.² Further, even if these statements were not offered for the truth of the matters asserted therein and are therefore not hearsay, we must determine whether the purpose for which they were offered is relevant to the case under Rule 401, Ala. R. Evid.

Rule 401 defines relevant evidence as "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Two potential bases exist for determining that the victim's statements were...