Jackson v. State

• Citation: 836 So.2d 915
• Parties: Shonelle Andre JACKSON v. STATE.
• Decision Date: 28 May 1999
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

836 So.2d 915

Shonelle Andre JACKSON v. STATE.

CR-97-2050.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

May 28, 1999.

Rehearing Denied July 9, 1999.

Bryan A. Stevenson and Randall Scott Susskind, Montgomery, for appellant.

Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and Kathryn D. Anderson, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

BASCHAB, Judge.

The appellant, Shonelle Andre Jackson, was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Lefrick Moore. The murder was made capital because it occurred during the commission of a robbery in the first degree. See ž 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975. The appellant was also convicted of first-degree theft of property for stealing a vehicle owned by Lottie Flowers. See ž 13A-8-3, Ala.Code 1975. After a sentencing hearing, the jury recommended, by a vote of 12-0, that the appellant be sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder of Lefrick Moore. The trial court overrode the jury's recommendation and sentenced the appellant to death by electrocution for the capital offense.¹ The trial court also sentenced the appellant, as a habitual offender with three prior felony convictions, to life imprisonment for the theft conviction. See ž 13A-5-9(c)(2), Ala.Code 1975.

The evidence showed that, on April 25, 1997, the appellant, Antonio Barnes, Eric Williams, and Christopher Rudolph were riding around the western area of Montgomery in a stolen, gray Buick LeSabre automobile. The appellant had previously asked Barnes to steal a vehicle for him, and Barnes had done so. The appellant was driving, and the men were looking for a person named "Cocomo," who had slapped the appellant the previous night. The appellant, Barnes, and Rudolph were armed with pistols, and Williams was armed with a shotgun.

As they were riding around, the young men noticed that Lefrick Moore, who was driving a red Chevrolet Caprice automobile, had a good stereo system in his vehicle, and they decided to rob him. They followed him for some time. While they were following Moore, the appellant purchased a soft drink from a Dairy Queen restaurant. When they were on the service road leading into the Smiley Court housing area, the appellant pulled the Buick in front of Moore's vehicle, causing Moore's vehicle to hit the Buick. The appellant got out of the Buick and shot at Moore. Williams also fired the shotgun. Moore and his passenger, Gerard Burdette, got out of their vehicle and ran. Burdette ran to the Sylvest Farms plant to get help. Moore, who had been shot, fell facedown in the street and died. The coroner testified that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to his chest. Based on these events, the appellant, Barnes, Williams, and Rudolph were indicted for capital murder in connection with Moore's death.

The evidence showed that Lottie Flowers' gray 1991 Buick LeSabre was stolen on April 25, 1997, from the parking lot of the Brookview Apartments. When police later recovered it, it had a broken window, a broken steering column, and a dent on the passenger side. Officers also recovered a Dairy Queen cup from the vehicle. Testimony indicated that it was the vehicle driven by the appellant and his codefendants in connection with the murder.

Victoria Moss testified that, on April 25, 1997, as she was driving near the Smiley Court area, she saw a gray car "cut" in front of a red car. Shortly thereafter, one of the occupants of the red car got out of the vehicle and ran toward a nearby housing area. She also saw someone, who was later identified as the victim, running toward her vehicle, but he fell facedown in the street before he reached her vehicle. She went to check on the man, but the gray car started coming toward her very quickly. She ran out of the road and into the grass until the gray car drove away. She checked on the victim and then went to get help.

Leroy Geary, who was employed nearby at the Sylvest Farms plant, also saw the gray car "cut" in front of the red car and run the red car into the curb. He then saw someone fire a weapon at the red car from the driver's side of the gray car. He described the shot as a loud bang, like one from a shotgun, and stated that it was quickly followed by the sound of shattering glass and what sounded like at least two rounds fired from a pistol. He also observed someone, who was later identified as Burdette, running toward the Sylvest Farms facility. Burdette stated that he had been in one of the vehicles involved in the confrontation.

A.C. Porterfield owns a farm on Old Hayneville Road. In April 1997, he saw the victim's vehicle parked in the pasture on his farm and saw three young black men walking around the vehicle. He told them to leave, and he telephoned a friend who worked for the Montgomery Police Department.

During their investigation of the murder, police officers found an empty .380 MagTech brand shell casing at the scene of the murder; amber glass in the road at the crime scene that matched the blinker light on the victim's car; a box containing 35 unfired rounds of .380 MagTech brand ammunition from the appellant's residence; Flowers' vehicle, which had a broken steering column, a broken window, and a dent in the side; a Dairy Queen cup in Flowers' vehicle; the front of a stereo on a car parked beside the victim's car in Porterfield's pasture; and the victim's vehicle, from which the stereo was missing. The police also recovered the victim's stereo from Williams' girlfriend's residence.

Joe Saloom, a firearms and toolmarks examiner employed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, examined the empty shell casing found at the scene of the murder, the bullet recovered from the victim's body, and the box of ammunition found at the appellant's residence. He testified that the empty shell casing was a MagTech shell, like the ones in the box recovered from the appellant's residence. He explained that the bullet recovered from the victim's body was a fired "jacketed" bullet that was consistent with .380 caliber. He also testified that it would have been consistent with coming from the empty shell casing the officers recovered from the scene. He further explained that the shell casing would have been ejected when the gun was fired.

Antonio Barnes, who is also known as Deon Barnes, testified that the appellant asked him to steal a car for him and that they left Trenholm Court and went to the Brookview Apartments to do so. While there, he broke the back window and the steering column and stole Lottie Flowers' gray 1991 Buick LeSabre. The appellant was with him at the time, but he rode back to Trenholm Court with another person. Barnes drove the car back to Trenholm Court and met the appellant, who then started driving the vehicle. While there, they picked up Christopher Rudolph and Eric Williams. Barnes had a .357 magnum handgun the appellant had given him earlier, the appellant had a .380 pistol, Rudolph had a 9mm pistol, and Williams did not have a weapon. They went by Barnes' sister-in-law's house, where they obtained a shotgun for Williams.

The appellant told Barnes that Cocomo had slapped him at a club and that he wanted to "holler at" Cocomo, so they drove around the western part of Montgomery looking for Cocomo. Barnes testified that they drove around for about 20 to 30 minutes looking for Cocomo, but that they did not find him. They then drove to the Smiley Court area, where they saw the victim driving his vehicle. Rudolph recognized the car and told them that the car had a good stereo system. At that point, the appellant told the other three that they were about to rob the victim. Barnes and Rudolph asked the appellant to take them back to Trenholm Court, but the appellant refused to do so.

The appellant followed the victim for a while and, during that time, bought a soft drink from Dairy Queen. When they were on the service road leading to Smiley Court, the appellant sped around the victim's vehicle and cut in front of it, causing the victim's vehicle to run into the Buick. The appellant and Williams jumped out of the vehicle with their weapons, and Barnes heard two shots. He saw the victim and his passenger running away from the vehicle. Barnes and Williams then got into the victim's vehicle, drove it to a farm off Old Hayneville Road, and parked it in a pasture. Williams pulled the stereo out of the vehicle and went through the trunk of the vehicle. They left the victim's vehicle parked in the pasture.

Barnes testified that, when he saw the appellant the next day and told him the victim had died, the appellant did not seem worried about it. Instead, he wanted to know where the victim's vehicle was. The appellant, Barnes, and another person went to the pasture where the vehicle was parked. The appellant stated that he wanted to take the motor out of the vehicle and strip the rest of the vehicle. However, Mr. Porterfield arrived about that time, and they left before they could strip the vehicle.

Eric Williams testified that, on the day of the murder, the appellant asked him if he knew how to steal a car. He responded that he did not, but told him Antonio Barnes did. Later, the appellant and Barnes approached him driving a gray Buick, and he got into the vehicle with them. Rudolph also got into the vehicle with them. The appellant was driving and had a .380 pistol with him. Barnes and Rudolph also had weapons. Because Williams did not have a weapon when he got into the car, they retrieved a shotgun for him.

Williams testified that a person named Cocomo had previously slapped the appellant. He, the appellant, Barnes, and Rudolph rode around looking for Cocomo because the appellant wanted to talk to Cocomo about slapping him. They saw Cocomo at one point, but Cocomo did not stop his vehicle. After that, the appellant told the three passengers he wanted to rob someone. Williams asked the appellant to take him back to Trenholm Court, but the appellant refused to do so.

As they were driving, they saw the victim, who was driving a red...