Hope v. State
| Decision Date | 02 October 1979 |
| Docket Number | 7 Div. 675 |
| Citation | 378 So.2d 745 |
| Parties | Bobby Joe HOPE v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Hewitt L. Conwill of Harrison, Conwill & Harrison, Columbiana, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen. and C. Lawson Little, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Bobby Joe Hope was indicted and convicted in Shelby County, Alabama, for the first degree murder of Louie Earl Jones and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The dispositive issue on this appeal is whether the trial court committed reversible error in limiting the closing argument of appellant's counsel. We hold that the trial court's action so prejudiced the substantive rights of appellant that reversal and remandment of this cause is mandated.
Because of our holding we will not set forth a lengthy recitation of the testimony presented at trial. We do not pass upon this.
On March 25, 1978, the remains of Louie Earl Jones were found floating in Waxahatchee Creek on the Shelby County, Alabama line. Witnesses described the body as being bruised and battered, and the cause of death was determined to be drowning. A toxicologist estimated that death occurred at approximately midnight on March 24, 1978.
Witnesses testified that the appellant and his brother had a dispute with the deceased about some tools in mid-March, 1978, and that the deceased had "called the law" on them. Furthermore, there was testimony that on the night of March 24, 1978, the deceased had an argument with and was threatened by the appellant and his brother.
Ed Burdette, Shelby County Coroner, testified that on the morning of March 25, 1978, he went to Waxahatchee Creek and examined a dead body identified to him as Louie Earl Jones. He stated that he also searched the area for additional evidence and found nearby a striped white shirt with bloodstains.
Lauden Yates, a criminologist with the Department of Forensic Services of the State of Alabama, testified that he received a blood sample taken from the body of the deceased which he identified as being blood type O. He said he also received a bloodstained shirt, and he determined that the stains were caused by human blood of type O. He indicated that 45% To 50% Of the population has blood type O.
The District Attorney had the shirt marked as an exhibit but never introduced it into evidence.
There was testimony that the deceased was wearing a solid green shirt and that appellant and his brother were wearing tee-shirts.
It is settled law in Alabama that counsel for both the State and the defendant are allowed wide latitude in drawing reasonable inferences from the evidence in...
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Hope v. State
...by this Court without published opinion. Hope v. State, 7 Div. 621, January 16, 1979. The murder conviction was reversed. Hope v. State, 378 So.2d 745 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 378 So.2d 747 (Ala.1979). On remand, Hope was retried and convicted for murder. That conviction was affirmed on......
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Manigan v. State, 6 Div. 242
...and defendant are allowed wide latitude in drawing reasonable inferences from the evidence in their closing arguments. Hope v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 378 So.2d 745, cert. den. Ala., 378 So.2d 747 (1979); Brown v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 374 So.2d 391, affirmed Ala., 374 So.2d 395 (1979). A prosecu......
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Jones v. State
...displayed before the jury, and commented upon by several witnesses. The articles were, therefore, evidence in the case. Hope v. State, 378 So.2d 745 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 378 So.2d 747 (Ala.1979); Simpson v. State, 51 Ala.App. 279, 284 So.2d 734 (1973). As such, the articles were pro......
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Hope v. State, 7 Div. 773
...set sentence accordingly. The first appeal of this cause was reversed in an opinion in which certain facts are reported as Hope v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 378 So.2d 745, cert. denied, Ala., 378 So.2d 747 (1979). This appeal is from a second trial under the indictment in The appellant's brother,......