Heard v. State

• Decision Date: 28 June 1991
• Docket Number: CR-90-502
• Citation: 584 So.2d 556
• Parties: Willie Joe HEARD, alias v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 556

584 So.2d 556

Willie Joe HEARD, alias v. STATE.

CR-90-502.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

June 28, 1991.

Thomas E. Jones, Auburn, for appellant.

James H. Evans, Atty. Gen., and Andrew J. Segal, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

TYSON, Judge.

Willie Joe Heard was indicted for first degree sodomy in violation of § 13A-6-63, Code of Alabama 1975, attempted rape in violation of § 13A-4-2, Code of Alabama 1975, and second degree burglary in violation of § 13A-7-6, Code of Alabama 1975. He was found "guilty as charged in the indictment" and was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the sodomy conviction. He also received 10-year sentences for each of the other convictions, to run concurrently with the 30-year sentence. He raises four issues on appeal.

The record reveals that on June 28, 1989, B.L. arrived home between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. after doing some shopping. She lived alone. She took a shower between 6:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. While she was in the shower, she heard something fall. She then heard another noise and heard someone walking around the house. She turned the shower off, pulled the curtain back, and saw the appellant standing in the hallway outside of the bathroom. She jumped out of the shower and hollered at the appellant to get out of the house. She ran from the bathroom and reached the dining room door, which opens to the outside. The appellant grabbed her and pulled her away from the door. She fought with him. She was able to grab the telephone and tried to call for help. The appellant attempted to grab the telephone away from her. They continued to fight until they reached an armless lounge chair. The appellant pushed her onto the chair. He got on the floor and leaned over her. The appellant held her legs down with his right hand and grabbed her breasts with his left hand. He also kissed her on the vagina. B.L. still had the telephone in her hand and started hitting the appellant on the head with it. She continued to scream. B.L. hit him approximately 15 to 20 times. B.L. was able to get away from the appellant when he reached up and grabbed his head.

B.L. ran to the door. The appellant was behind her and tried to pull her back into the house. She got to the door and ran out on the porch. She stood on the porch and screamed for help. She thought she saw the appellant walking near the end of the street. She then went back into the house and called the police. She identified the appellant as her assailant a short time later when the police brought him to her house.

Deputy John Walters of the Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department received a call about a break-in and proceeded to the location. On the way to the scene he saw a man who fit the description of the assailant. He asked the appellant his name and where he was going. The appellant told him he was going home. He told the appellant he would give him a ride home. Walters was near the area where the appellant lived. Walters then found B.L.'s house and told the appellant to stay in the car. After Walters walked up to the house, he heard the car door open and he saw the appellant jump out of the car and run down the street. The appellant was then apprehended by Deputy Steve Freeman, who was also at the scene. Freeman brought the appellant back to B.L.'s house, and she identified him as the assailant.

Walters conducted an investigation at the scene. He found a window screen leaning against the back of the house to the left of the back bedroom window. There were scuff marks on the wall adjacent to the window as if someone had tried to climb the wall. He also found a pack of Pyramid cigarettes and a cigarette lighter in the living room where the chair on which the alleged assault took place was located. He found a button under the chair. Tellis Hudson of the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences testified that a fingerprint taken from the screen matched the appellant's right thumb print. He also testified that the button found under the chair was of the same size and type as the buttons on the shirt worn by the appellant when he was picked up by the police immediately after the incident. He further testified that there were two buttons missing from the appellant's shirt.

A statement made by the appellant at 9:50 p.m. on the night of the incident and a statement made by the appellant at 3:30 p.m. the next day were both admitted into evidence. Both statements incriminated the appellant. He admitted going into B.L.'s house and stated that he had made a mistake.

The appellant pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. He based his defense on the latter plea. Numerous witnesses testified concerning strange behavior exhibited by the appellant. The chief of police for the City of Dadeville testified that the appellant at one time lived on a green couch on the side of the road. He further testified that within two or three months of the alleged crime, he had received a report that the appellant was lying partially out in the street under a red light. On cross-examination, he stated that several of the reports he had received concerned the appellant's being intoxicated. Other witnesses testified to the following: that the appellant would sometimes pull his pants off; that he would laugh to himself and talk to himself; that the appellant would sit on the porch while he was naked; and that the appellant would sit in the middle of the highway. On cross-examination, the appellant's aunt testified that she called the Department of Human Resources several times about the appellant's abusing alcohol.

The Tallapoosa County Probate Judge testified that the appellant was involuntarily committed in civil commitment proceedings in February 1984 and again in February 1986. It is unclear from the record whether he was also committed in October 1986. On cross-examination, the probate judge testified that the appellant was determined not to be mentally ill during a hearing held five days prior to the alleged crime.

Dr. James Hooper, the chief psychiatrist at Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility, examined the appellant approximately 13 months after the incident. He testified that it was his opinion that the appellant was psychotic at the time of the incident and that he was actively suffering from schizophrenia at that time. He further testified that he did not believe that the appellant was able to understand the criminal nature of his behavior at the time of the incident. On cross-examination, Dr. Hooper stated that people like the defendant, who had been involved in commitment proceedings, would be familiar with the behavior of schizophrenics. He further testified that his opinion was based on his belief that the appellant was telling the truth. It was brought out on redirect examination that a Department of Human Resources caseworker made a home visit to the appellant on May 23, 1989, and that the caseworker determined that the appellant had been drinking, but that he was not psychotic.

I

The appellant first contends that the trial court erred in denying his motions for directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict as to the attempted rape charge, because there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction for attempted rape. He specifically argues that he was fully dressed during the incident and that his actions did not indicate that he intended to rape B.L. We disagree.

"A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a crime if, with the intent to commit a specific offense, he does any overt act towards the commission of such offense." Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-4-2(a). "A male commits the crime of rape in the first degree if he engages in sexual intercourse with a female by forcible compulsion." Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-6-61(a)(1).

We find that the testimony of the victim alone was sufficient to support the conviction. The appellant pushed B.L. onto a chair. He held her breasts and kissed her vagina. Furthermore, this all occurred while B.L. was naked. This evidence clearly supports the existence of the required overt act. See, e.g., Williams v. State, 445 So.2d 949 (Ala.Crim.App.1983). We also find that the evidence showed the existence of the required intent. Intent may be proved by the words and acts of the accused and may be inferred from all of the surrounding circumstances. Hinds v. State, 423 So.2d 1382 (Ala.Crim.App.1982). The question of intent at the time of the commission of the crime is normally an issue for the jury to resolve. Rowell v. State, 570 So.2d 848 (Ala.Crim.App.1990); Austin v. State, 555 So.2d 324 (Ala.Crim.App.1989). We find that the jury could properly find the existence of the required intent from the appellant's actions at the time of the offense. See, e.g., Williams; Cogman v. State, 424 So.2d 1355 (Ala.Crim.App.1982). Thus, the trial court properly denied the appellant's motions for acquittal and judgment notwithstanding the verdict.

II

The appellant contends that the State exercised its peremptory strikes in a racially discriminatory manner in violation of Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 106 S.Ct. 1712, 90 L.Ed.2d 69 (1986). The record reveals that the State exercised its peremptory strikes to remove 15 black citizens from the jury panel. The record does not reflect how many peremptory strikes were available to the State. Three black citizens served on the jury. After the trial court found that the appellant had established a prima facie case of racial discrimination, the State put forth the following reasons for striking the black citizens:

1. R.F.--lived close to the appellant; was the appellant's neighbor; had worthless check convictions.

2. C.M.--stated on voir dire that her husband had pending drug charges against him and that he was the defendant in a burglary and theft conviction during the last term of court.

3. S.S.--acknowledged that she was the sister of R.J. who had been personally prosecuted by the assistant district attorney prosecuting the...