Jackson v. State, 6 Div. 389
Decision Date | 22 May 1984 |
Docket Number | 6 Div. 389 |
Citation | 451 So.2d 435 |
Parties | Belton G. JACKSON v. STATE. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
J. Robert Bentley, Oneonta, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Fred F. Bell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Belton Grady Jackson, the appellant, was charged in separate indictments with the theft of automobile hubcaps from Stevensons & Sons Used Cars and Thompson Motors, Inc. The indictments were consolidated for trial and Jackson was convicted in each case. Sentences were two years' and three years' imprisonment respectively. On appeal, Jackson argues that his convictions are based on the uncorroborated testimony of an accomplice.
William Eugene Cole testified that while driving home after midnight he stopped for an automobile on the side of the road. It was Jackson's car and Jackson asked Cole to take him and his two friends to Oneonta. In Oneonta they went to three used car lots. Cole would drive away and return while two of the men stole the hubcaps. Jackson remained in Cole's car. Although he may not have known what was happening at the first used car lot, there is little doubt that he knew exactly what was going to happen at the last two stops. Cole testified that he "didn't know what was going on until some time after this all started", and that he "argued about it, but after that, [he] did go along with it."
At the last car lot, Cole saw Jackson's two friends running from the car lot. They did not return to his car and Cole drove Jackson back to Birmingham to a place where Jackson said they could sell the hubcaps. They went to a man's house, Jackson took the hubcaps in and returned with some money. Cole then drove them to a motel, waited while Jackson got a room, and then left. Cole admitted that he had been indicted for the theft of these same hubcaps and it was stipulated that there was a plea bargain agreement.
Oneonta Police Officer Charles Harper observed a black Ford with "two young guys in it" about the time the thefts occurred. He saw Jackson and Cole in the car. Shortly thereafter he saw Jackson's brother, Adam, "coming across the parking lot [of Thompson Motors] with hubcaps in his hands, in a big stack of them." Harper caught Adam with the hubcaps but never found the other thief that night.
Early the next morning, Officer Harper found Jackson at the motel in Birmingham where Cole had left him. At this time, Jackson's brother was the only individual in custody.
The trial judge overruled Jackson's motion to exclude with the following comments:
Here, we find that Cole's testimony was corroborated. This Court set forth the legal principles governing this issue in Kimmons v. State, 343 So.2d 542 (Ala.Crim.App.1977). Our Supreme Court summarized them in Senn v. State, 344 So.2d 192, 193 (Ala.1977) (Emphasis in original.)
Here, in conjunction with the facts of association and proximity, the testimony of the accomplice is corroborated...
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