LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.
Each of the two appellants had been indicted separately for intentionally causing the death of Billy Eugene Parnell, by shooting him with a 12-gauge shotgun, in violation of § 13A-6-2 of the Code of Alabama 1975. The cases were consolidated for trial, without objection by either party. Each defendant was represented by separate counsel at trial. These two separate attorneys now represent them on appeal and raise issues somewhat different from the other. Much of the evidence is not pertinent to any of the issues, and we see no need for a resume of the evidence, but we now endeavor to particularize some pertinent parts of the evidence that have a bearing on the issues presented.
Dr. LeRoy Riddick, a physician specializing in pathology employed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, testified that he performed an autopsy upon Mr. Parnell late in the afternoon of April 23, 1983, and found that he had been killed by "a blast" to his back of buckshot from a 12-gauge shotgun, which destroyed his left lung, perforated his heart, and caused the victim to bleed to death from the extensive internal injuries. The undisputed evidence shows that the autopsy was performed on the day following the night the victim was shot and killed.
The first witness who testified in the trial of the case was Mr. Charles LeNoir Thompson, who practices law in Bay Minette and owns several hundred acres of land in the "Perdido Area." He testified in pertinent part as follows:
"And did you ever have occasion to know Billy Parnell?
"A. Billy Parnell lived on my property. Looked after my cows.
"....
"A. I don't know who all lived with him but, of course, his wife was there and their children.
Mr. Thompson was questioned as to whether he knew the defendant, Dan James Hadley, and he replied that he did. He said that he had told him that "he was trespassing on my property and was asked by Billy to warn him to stay away and that I would take action if I found him on my property." He further testified that he so told him "because Billy Parnell didn't want him there."
Although the evidence is not as clear as it should be on the point, it appears that Mr. and Mrs. Parnell were living in a trailer, or mobile home, at or near the farm owned by Attorney Thompson.
Officer Tom Nunley, a criminal investigator employed by the Baldwin County Sheriff's Department, testified that on the morning of April 23, 1983, he "went out to the crime scene and the people I needed to talk to were not there and I went to the funeral home in Bay Minette" and then after some time told Mrs. Parnell to meet him in his office, where he "read her her rights" and then talked with her as to what she knew about her husband's death. The following is a part of his testimony
"Q. All right. What did Mrs. Parnell tell you?
"A. She said that she, her husband, the deceased, and Dan James Hadley and her grandson which they referred to as Jamie Bo, were at the trailer watching television.
"And she heard the dogs barking and got up and looked out the window and told her husband that the cows were out.
"And at that time, everybody got dressed, it was raining out, and they all got in her car and she went up to the forks of the road and let them out.
"And they rounded up the cows immediately and drove the cows down. Mr. Hadley on one side of the road and Mr. Parnell on the other side of the road. And they drove the cows down along with the car, directly in front and directly behind the car.
"And when they got down to the trailer, she went inside to change--
"....
"A. She went inside with her grandson and she told me that she was changing his clothes when her husband Mr. Parnell came in and said, 'I need a dry shirt.'
"She gave him a dry shirt and he went back out in the driving rain with his dry shirt. And she told him, 'Just as soon as I get through changing the baby, get him dried off and dry clothes, I will come out and help you finish putting the cows up.'
"After he left, she was still changing the baby, and she heard a bumping noise, a muffled noise. She thought it was one of the dogs bumping against the door, but she raised the window and called out to her husband and he didn't answer.
"So, at this point, she got the little boy, got in her car, drove down to the gate which is down behind the trailer, catty corner in behind and she saw Mr. Parnell lying in the path, the road.
"She didn't know what was wrong with him. She didn't check him. She just turned around immediately and went back to the trailer and got out of her car and the word she used was, 'hooted.' She hooted for Dan James and Dan James came immediately and she told him that Billy was down that something was wrong with him. And then James said, 'I will run over and get the boys.' The boys were, at that time, over at The Silver Goose shooting pool.
"She said that he went over and got the boys and while he was getting the boys, she called her neighbors whose names are--I will tell you in just a second--Harrison, Mr. and Mrs. Harrison.
"And they came down and found her sitting in the car and she got in the van with them and they drove and Mr. Harrison checked the body and then when they went back up to the house and she gave Mr. Harrison the key and Mrs. Harrison opened the trailer. They all went in the trailer and kinfolks was called.
"In all of this, Mrs. Harrison called the Sheriff's Department and got a recording so she called the Bay Minette Police Department and the Bay Minette Police Department then informed the--."
In another part of the direct examination of Officer Nunley, the following questions were asked and answers given:
"Q. Officer Nunley, did you ask her about any insurance policies?
"A. I did.
"Q. What did you ask her?
"A. I asked her if they had any insurance on Mr. Parnell and she said, 'Yes, they did.'
"And I asked her how much and she said she didn't know how much or anything about it. And I asked her if she had it with her and she had it in her purse right on top of everything else and she produced a couple of insurance policies.
"....
"A. One was a $10,000 double indemnity. The other was two $4,000 policies that was through the company that Mr. Parnell was working for.
"Q. And who were the beneficiaries of those policies?
"A. Mrs. Lillie Parnell."
A large part of the testimony of Mr. Nunley was devoted to pictures and diagrams
Mr. Nunley testified that he had another conversation during the next day or two with Mrs. Parnell. We now quote a part of such testimony:
of the premises involved and the nearby surrounding territory, which extended to the Escambia County line.
"Q. Did you ever ask Mrs. Parnell if she knew that Billy had been shot in the back?
"A. I did.
"Q. And what did she answer you?
"A. No, that she didn't know it.
"Q. Did she show any response at all? Any emotional response?
"A. None whatsoever.
"Q. Did you question Lillie Mae about the bank and the trailer?
"A. We talked about that, yes, ma'am.
"Q. And what did she tell you?
"A. She told me that they were going to let the trailers go back in. That they were behind on the payments and they were fixing to lose them."
According to the testimony of Officer Nunley, he questioned Mr. Dan James Hadley, Jr. He did so on the next day or two after the death of Mr. Parnell. The following is a pertinent part of his testimony as to the questions asked and the answers given by Mr. Hadley:
"A. He told me that they were sitting in the trailer watching television.
"Q. Did he tell you what they were watching?
"A. Yes, ma'am. He told me they were watching the 'Duke Boys,' he said The Dukes of Hazzard.
"They heard the dogs barking and he said that Bill got up and looked out the window and said, 'James, my cows are out and we had better go get them in before they ruin somebody's fields.' And they got dressed and got in the car with Lillie Mae, Mrs. Parnell, and drove up to the corner.
"And he said that Mr. Parnell got out where the road forks and she took him, Mr. Hadley, on up to the garden spot and let him out. He said he was in the head of the creek up there driving the cows when he heard a gun shot and then later on, he heard Mrs. Parnell hollering for him. And he ran down there and she told him that Bill was down, that something was wrong with him.
"And at that time, he went back to The Silver Goose and got the boys that were over there shooting pool.
"Q. Did he tell you where he was when he heard Lillie Mae hooting?
"A. He said he was up near the garden spot back at the head of the creek.
"Q. Now, do you know how far that is from the trailer?
"A. I would say that it is a good three quarters of a mile.
"Q. And do you recall him telling you it was raining or not?
"A. It was raining, yes, ma'am. He said that.
"Q. And what did he tell you next?
"A. He stopped everything and ran to the trailer to see what she wanted.
"Q. And then what did he do?
"A. Then, he got in his truck and drove over to The Silver Goose and got the boys.
"On the way to The Silver Goose, he stopped at the Harrison residence and told them to get down there and they informed him that they were leaving right then because Mrs. Parnell had called them and told them something was wrong with Mr. Parnell."
There were several other witnesses in the case, including an ambulance driver, who went to the place where Mr. and Mrs. Parnell lived, within an hour or two after Mr. Parnell's death. He testified that he "passed a house trailer and went on down towards a barn"...
