Ingram v. State

• Decision Date: 27 August 1999
• Parties: Robert Shawn INGRAM v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

779 So.2d 1225

Robert Shawn INGRAM v. STATE.

CR-94-1733.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

August 27, 1999.

Rehearing Denied October 29, 1999.

Jeb Stuart Fannin, Talladega; and Mark Smith Nelson, Talladega, for appellant.

Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and Beth Jackson Hughes, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

PATTERSON, Retired Appellate Judge.

The appellant, Robert Shawn Ingram, was indicted by the Talladega County grand jury on June 28, 1994, in a two-count indictment. Count one of that indictment charged the capital offense of murder committed during a kidnapping in the first degree, or an attempt thereof, see Ala.Code 1975, ? 13A-5-40(a)(1), and count two charged the offense of murder, a violation of ? 13A-6-2. The indictment reads, in pertinent part, as follows:

"COUNT ONE:

"That the Grand Jury of said County charge that ... Robert Shawn Ingram... did intentionally cause the death of Gregory Huguley by burning him, and Robert Shawn Ingram caused said death during Robert Shawn Ingram's abduction of, or attempt to abduct, Gregory Huguley with intent to inflict physical injury upon him, or to terrorize him, in violation of ? 13A-5-40(a)(1) of the Code of Alabama, 1975....

"COUNT TWO:

"That the Grand Jury of said County charge that ... on or about the 31st day of July 1993, in the County of Talladega, Alabama, Robert Shawn Ingram ... did intentionally cause the death of another person, to-wit: Gregory Huguley, by burning him, in violation of ? 13A-6-2 of the Code of Alabama, 1975....

At arraignment, Ingram pleaded not guilty. At the conclusion of the presentation of evidence in the guilt phase of the trial, the trial court dismissed count two of the indictment on motion of the state. On May 18, 1995, a jury found Ingram guilty of the capital offense charged in the indictment. A sentencing hearing was held before the jury, in accordance with ?? 13A-5-45 and -46, and the jury recommended by a vote of 11 to 1 that the sentence should be death.¹ Thereafter the trial court held another sentencing hearing in accordance with ?? 13A-5-47 through -52, and after weighing the aggravating circumstances and the mitigating circumstances, considering the jury's recommendation, and considering the presentence investigation report, sentenced Ingram to death.² Ingram appeals his conviction and sentence, raising 24 issues. We will address those issues in the order they appear in Ingram's brief. We have also searched the record for plain error as required by Ala.R.App.P. 45A.³

The state's evidence showed the following: On July 31, 1993, Ingram, along with Anthony Boyd,⁴ Moneek Marcell Ackles,⁵ and Dwinaune Quintay Cox,⁶ kidnapped Gregory Huguley, by force and at gunpoint, from a public street in Anniston, took him to a ballpark in a rural area of Talladega County, and, while he was pleading for his life, taped him to a bench, doused him with gasoline, set him on fire, and burned him to death. The state's evidence showed that Ingram was a principal actor in the murder, wielding the gun and using force to effect the kidnapping, pouring the gasoline on Huguley, and lighting the gasoline with a match. The evidence also shows that Huguley was abducted and killed because he failed to pay $200 for crack cocaine sold to him several days before the murder. The record further shows that after Huguley had been set on fire, the conspirators stood around for approximately 20 minutes and watched him burn to death. For a more detailed recitation of the facts of this case, see Boyd v. State, 715 So.2d 825 (Ala.Cr.App. 1997), aff'd, 715 So.2d 852 (Ala.), cert. denied, 525 U.S. 968, 119 S.Ct. 416, 142 L.Ed.2d 338 (1998).

Ingram did not testify at either the guilt phase or the sentencing phase before the jury. He offered no evidence in his defense at the guilt phase. At the sentencing phase before the jury, he called eight witnesses, seven of whom were relatives who offered mitigation testimony about Ingram's family life and background and who asked the court to spare his life. At the sentencing phase before the trial judge, he called no witnesses and presented no evidence; however, when asked if he had anything to say before he was sentenced, he stated: "Well, I still be ask that my life be spared. I have a daughter that I've really never got to seen, and she just turned one last Sunday; and maybe some day in the future I hope to be with her and the rest of my family." (R. 1052.)

We note at the outset that Ingram does not question the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction. Nevertheless, we have reviewed the record as to sufficiency, as we are required to do in a death case, and we find that the evidence presented by the state was sufficient for the jury to find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the capital offense charged in the indictment. In the trial court's order setting out the facts summarizing the crime and addressing Ingram's participation in it, the court stated, "The evidence introduced in the four-day trial, both direct and circumstantial evidence, overwhelmingly supported the jury's verdict." We agree.

I.

A.

Ingram contends that the "trial court's penalty phase charge was fatally flawed" because, he says, it allowed the jury to consider aggravating circumstances that were inapplicable to his case. (Appellant's brief, p. 1.) He argues that the instructions deprived him of the reliability required in capital sentencing, and that he is therefore entitled to a new sentencing hearing. He further argues that the instructions were made "especially bad" because they followed a recitation by the district attorney of all eight statutory aggravating circumstances and a discussion of whether each applied to Ingram.

Ingram did not object to the trial court's instructions to the jury on aggravating circumstances. Thus, we review this contention under the plain-error rule.

A review of the trial court's instructions reflects that it charged the jury that the jury could consider two statutory aggravating circumstances in the case, i.e., that the capital offense was committed while the defendant was engaged in or was an accomplice in the commission of a kidnapping, and that the capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel compared to other capital offenses. While the trial court mentioned that there were eight statutory aggravating circumstances, it did not tell the jury what the other six were. The trial court instructed the jury, in pertinent part, as follows:

"On the list of aggravating circumstances provided by law there are two circumstances that you may consider in this case if you are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainty based on the evidence that each circumstance does exist. The fact that I instruct you on these aggravating circumstances or define them for you does not mean that these aggravating circumstances have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt in this manner."

(R. 1031.)

"The first aggravating circumstance which you may consider in this case is number four on that list of eight that I just mentioned to you, and that is the aggravating circumstance that says that the capital offense was committed while the defendant was engaged in or was an accomplice in the commission of or an attempt to commit or flight after committing or attempting to commit rape, robbery, burglary, or kidnapping, and in this case we will be talking about kidnapping.

"As to this aggravating circumstance, the Court instructs you that this circumstance has been proved by your verdict in the trial stage. And I will explain that further to you and cite a Code section to you in this regard later on in my charge.

"Now the other aggravating circumstance you may consider is number eight on that list of eight, and that is that the capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel compared to other capital offenses."

(R. 1031-32.)

"You may not consider any aggravating circumstances other than the aggravating circumstances for which I have instructed you."

(R. 1035.)

While it is true that the district attorney listed all eight of the statutory aggravating circumstances in his opening statement during the penalty phase of the trial before the jury, he clearly informed the jury that the state was relying on only two aggravating circumstances, i.e., the two mentioned above. Also, the district attorney in his closing argument to the jury emphasized again that the state was relying on two aggravating circumstances, i.e., that the murder was committed by the defendant during a kidnapping in the first degree, and that the capital offense was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel compared to other capital offenses. ? 13A-5-49(4) and (8).

After reviewing the instructions we find, contrary to Ingram's contentions, that they were proper and that they were not misleading. The jury was clearly instructed as to the two aggravating circumstances it could consider and was further instructed that it could not consider any others. It is unreasonable to conclude, as Ingram suggest's, that the jury was misled by these instructions. We find no error in the instructions, much less plain error.

B.

Ingram also contends that the trial court's jury instructions on aggravating circumstances were "overbroad" and allowed the jury to consider inapplicable or nonstatutory aggravating circumstances. We find no merit in this contention. The cases relied upon by Ingram to support this contention are factually distinguishable from this case. We find no error here, and certainly no plain error.

II.

Ingram contends that the trial court erred when it granted the state's motion to dismiss count two of the indictment. He argues that the dismissal of count two, without his consent, constituted an unauthorized amendment of the indictment. Initially, a two-count indictment was returned by the grand jury, charging Ingram in count one with the capital offense of the murder of Gregory Huguley committed during a kidnapping...