Janezic v. State

• Decision Date: 01 November 1996
• Parties: Eileen JANEZIC v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

723 So.2d 696

Eileen JANEZIC v. STATE.

CR-94-2338.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

November 1, 1996.

Rehearing Denied January 17, 1997.

Robert E. Willisson, Huntsville, for appellant.

Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor, attys. gen., and Joseph Marston III, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

TAYLOR, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, Eileen Janezic, was convicted of murdering Rev. Jerry Simon, a violation of § 13A-6-2, Code of Alabama 1975. She was sentenced to life in the state penitentiary.

I

The appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying her motion for a judgment of acquittal and, in the alternative, that the jury erred in finding that the appellant was not suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the shooting because, she says, the evidence that she suffered from a mental disorder was overwhelming.

The state's evidence tended to show that on August 26, 1993, the appellant shot and killed Rev. Simon at his church, Valley Fellowship Church, in Huntsville. The victim was shot three times and died as a result of a gunshot wound to his chest. The appellant was arrested, approximately one week later, after she shot another man outside the Parkway Medical Center in Decatur. The appellant, armed with a .32 caliber gun, held 30 policemen at bay at the Medical Center for approximately 8 hours. Police Officers testified that during the eight hours, she wielded a gun, smoked cigarettes, and was seen reading from a Satanic Bible.

Carol Simon, the victim's wife, testified that the appellant started coming to her husband's church around 1984 or 1985. She did not attend regularly and in 1989 the appellant asked her to testify on her behalf in a child custody case between her and her ex-husband. Simon said she refused. Carol Simon testified that sometime later the appellant approached the victim about testifying for her and the victim refused. Eventually, Carol Simon was subpoenaed to testify at the child custody hearing. The appellant lost custody of her two children. Over one year after the hearing, the appellant called Carol Simon and invited her to a meeting. Carol Simon said that she refused and that the appellant was very angry. The appellant did not return to Valley Fellowship Church. Carol Simon said that she saw the appellant some time later at a grocery store but that she did not recognize her because of the way she was dressed and the makeup she wore. Carol Simon also testified that Rev. Simon had performed exorcisms in the past.

Christopher Morgan, an employee of Range Time, testified that the appellant purchased a .32 caliber automatic handgun at Range Time, a shooting range that also sold handguns, on June 18, 1993. He further stated that as a requirement to purchase the handgun she had to complete a form which included questions about the mental stability of the purchaser. On the form the appellant indicated that she had not suffered from mental problems in the past.

There was no question that the appellant killed Rev. Simon. The appellant never contended that she did commit the murder. The appellant was seen, wearing a wig and fleeing the church after the murder. The appellant's defense at trial was that she was suffering from a mental disease at the time of the shooting and was therefore unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions. A great deal of the testimony at trial concerned the appellant's mental health.

Charles Edward Carter testified that he met the appellant on August 27, 1993, the day after the shooting, at a bar and spent most of the next several days with her. He testified that as they were driving past the Valley Fellowship Church on August 28 they noticed a lot of activity. Carter testified that the appellant asked him to investigate. Carter testified that he dropped her off at her apartment, went back to the church, and discovered that they were conducting a wake for Rev. Simon. He testified that a few days later he and the appellant went to a restaurant and the appellant refused to enter because she said there were too many people inside. Carter further stated that he had seen the appellant pray to Satan. He also testified that he thought she was "stable." The appellant offered the testimony of numerous medical personnel, most of which concerned the appellant's mental condition in 1989. Dr. Alice Chenault, a psychiatrist, testified that the appellant was diagnosed as having a bipolar affective disorder in 1989 and that she was, at that time, involuntarily admitted to North Alabama Regional Hospital. Her condition stabilized with a treatment of lithium, a small daily dosage of Trilafon, and Cogentin. Dr. Chenault further testified that the appellant's condition was monitored and that she appeared to be in remission in July 1992 and was taken off lithium at that time. Dr. Chenault also testified that a person with a bipolar affective disorder can go in remission without medication and be stable or have a relapse. Dr. Chenault further testified that people with bipolar disorders had manic episodes, which can last from two weeks to months, and that these episodes are frequently followed by periods of depression.

Only two experts, who had interviewed the appellant after the offense and before trial, testified concerning the appellant's condition in 1993. Dr. Lawrence Maier, a clinical psychologist, testified that he assessed the appellant to determine if, in his opinion, she was competent to stand trial. Dr. Maier testified:

"The questions relating to competency are much more specific than the issues of mental illness generally or mental illness or not at the time of the crime. They have to do with one's ability to understand the charges against one's self. It involves being able to cooperate with one's attorney. It involves sufficient intelligence to understand the adversarial nature of what goes on in the courtroom. It involves the capacity to testify, if that should come up.

"There are 13 areas like that that go into one's determination of are you able to—are you competent to stand trial. Mental illness does not equate to incompetency nor does insanity at the time of the crime equate to incompetency. It is a separate legal and psychological issue with specific points that may or may not be related to mental illness."

Dr. Maier testified that in his opinion the appellant was competent to stand trial, but that she suffered from a "major mental illness," which he characterized as a bipolar disorder. He testified that "she was seriously mentally ill at the time of the crime, [and] probably had been for a unknown period prior to the shooting." Dr. Roger Rinn, a psychologist, testified that the appellant "was probably very likely suffering from a schizo affective disorder and was psychotic at that time [of Simon's death]." Both experts testified that they were of the opinion that at the time of the killing the appellant was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions and that she was therefore suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time that she killed Rev. Simon and was unable to appreciate the wrongfulness of her actions.

Ramona Nelms testified on rebuttal that she had seen the appellant around the victim's church during a period of 9 to 10 days before the shooting. She stated that the appellant appeared to be watching everyone's movements.

As stated in § 13A-3-1, Code of Alabama 1975, "The defendant has the burden of proving the defense of insanity by clear and convincing evidence." Prior to 1988 the accused had to prove an insanity defense by a "preponderance of the evidence." As this court stated in Ware v. State, 584 So.2d 939 (Ala.Cr.App.1991):

"In 1988, the Alabama legislature replaced our insanity defense statute by enacting the `Reasonable Insanity Test Act of 1988,' 1988 Ala. Acts 1051, No. 88-654, now codified at Ala.Code § 13A-3-1 (Supp. 1990). Subsection (a) of that statute provides that:

"`It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for any crime that, at the time of the commission of the acts constituting the offense, the defendant, as a result of a severe mental disease or defect, was unable to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of his acts. Mental disease or defect does not otherwise constitute a defense.'

"Section 13A-3-1(a) is virtually identical to the federal insanity defense statute, 18 U.S.C. § 17(a) (1988), which `was passed in the wake of John Hinckley's acquittal of charges arising from his actions in shooting President Ronald Reagan and Press Secretary James Brady.' United States v. Cameron, 907 F.2d 1051, 1061 (11th Cir. 1990).

"The new Alabama and federal insanity statutes represent a significant change from the insanity defenses previously available in criminal trials. Formerly, a defendant was not responsible for his criminal acts if `at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lack[ed] substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law.' Ala.Code § 13A-3-1(a) (1982 Replacement Vol.); United States v. Freeman, 357 F.2d 606, 622 (2d Cir.1966). It is clear that the new § 13A-3-1(a) is `substantially more restrictive' than its predecessor section. United States v. Brown, 899 F.2d 189, 192 (2d Cir.1990) (comparing 18 U.S.C. § 17(a) to the predecessor defense recognized in federal courts). Where the original § 13A-3-1(a) had both a `cognitive' test (lack of capacity to appreciate the criminality of the conduct) and a `volitional' test (lack of capacity to conform one's conduct to the requirements of the law), the new § 13A-3-1(a) has only a `cognitive' test (inability to appreciate the nature and quality or wrongfulness of one's acts). See United States v. Brown, 899 F.2d at 192; United States v. Cameron, 907 F.2d at 1061."

584 So.2d at 942.

This court defined clear and convincing evidence in D.D.P. v. State, 595 So.2d 528 (Ala.Cr.App.1991) as:

"`the evidentiary standard that lies

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