Ex parte Perkins
Decision Date | 30 March 2001 |
Citation | 808 So.2d 1143 |
Parties | Ex parte Roy Edward PERKINS. (Re Roy Edward Perkins v. State). |
Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Andrew A. Smith, Northport; and Tanya Greene, Atlanta, Georgia, for petitioner.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and A. Vernon Barnett IV, asst. atty. gen., for respondent.
Roy Edward Perkins was convicted of murder made capital because it was committed during the course of a first-degree kidnapping, see § 13A-5-40(a)(1), Ala. Code 1975. The jury, by a vote of 10-2, recommended that Perkins be sentenced to death. The trial court accepted the jury's recommendation and sentenced Perkins to death. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and the sentence. See Perkins v. State, 808 So.2d 1041 (Ala.Crim.App.1999). We granted certiorari review.
For a recitation of the facts, see Perkins v. State, 808 So.2d at 1052.
Perkins raises 37 issues for this Court to review. The Court of Criminal Appeals issued an extensive opinion thoroughly addressing the issues raised by Perkins. This Court has also considered all of the issues raised, and it has reviewed the record for plain error that may not have been raised. We find no error, plain or otherwise.
Pursuant to § 13A-5-53, Ala.Code 1975, this Court has reviewed this case for any error in regard to the conviction, and it has considered the propriety of the death sentence.
The trial court found the existence of three statutory aggravating circumstances:
The trial court found the existence of one statutory mitigating circumstance:
"Perkins's capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law was substantially impaired, see § 13A-5-51(6), Ala.Code 1975."
The trial court found the existence of seven nonstatutory mitigating circumstances:
(C.R.352-53.)
The record reflects that the trial court weighed the aggravating circumstances against the statutory and nonstatutory mitigating circumstances and found that the aggravating circumstances greatly outweighed those mitigating circumstances and sentenced Perkins to death.
This Court has carefully searched the entire record for error, plain or otherwise, that would have adversely affected Perkins's substantial rights. It has found none. We have also reviewed the briefs and considered all the issues raised by Perkins, and we have reviewed the record of the guilt phase and the penalty phase of the trial. We conclude that Perkins received a fair trial.
After carefully reviewing the record, this Court has found no evidence to indicate that Perkins's sentence of death "was imposed under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor." See § 13A-5-53(b)(1), Ala. Code 1975. This Court, pursuant to § 13A-5-53(b)(2), has independently weighed the aggravating circumstances and the statutory and nonstatutory mitigating circumstances to determine the propriety of Perkins's sentence of death. After that independent weighing, this Court concludes that death is the appropriate sentence in this case. Perkins's sentence is not disproportionate or excessive when compared to the sentences imposed in similar capital cases.
The judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals affirming Perkins's conviction and death sentence is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
APPLICATION OVERRULED.
I concur to overrule the application for rehearing. I would, however, extend the original opinion to address several aspects of the review by the Court of Criminal Appeals.
First, the Court of Criminal Appeals judged certain autopsy photographs of the victim to be admissible without even looking at them. Perkins, in his brief to the Court of Criminal Appeals, objected to the photographs in the following language:
Rule 401, Ala.R.Evid., provides:
"`Relevant evidence' means 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."
Rule 403, Ala.R.Evid., provides:
"Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, waste of time, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence."
While Perkins did not object to the photographs at trial, his brief raised the issue; and § 12-22-240, Ala.Code 1975, and Rule 45A, Ala.R.App.P., required the Court of Criminal Appeals to determine whether the admission of the photographs constituted plain error.
Part XX of the opinion of the Court of Criminal Appeals relies on the testimony of the pathologist who performed the autopsy and the argument by the State to hold that the admission of the photographs did not constitute "error, plain or otherwise." Perkins v. State, 808...
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