Johnson v. State
| Citation | 247 Ala. 271,24 So.2d 17 |
| Decision Date | 06 December 1945 |
| Docket Number | 2 Div. 217. |
| Parties | JOHNSON v. STATE. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Alabama |
S.W. H. Williams, of Greensboro, and Judson C Locke, of Marion, for appellant.
Wm N. McQueen, Atty. Gen., and John O. Harris, Asst. Atty. Gen for the State.
The defendant was jointly indicted with one Richard Brown for the murder of Jack T. Walton, but separately tried. Being unable to employ counsel, two practicing attorneys at the Hale County Bar were appointed by the court to represent defendant. He pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity, and was found guilty of murder in the first degree and was sentenced to death by electrocution.
The decedent lived in Hale County, Alabama, on a farm about fourteen miles from Greensboro. The defendant and Richard Brown were employed by him to work on the farm. The body of the decedent was recovered from the Warrior River on the morning of March 6, 1945, at a point about one-half mile below Lock 6. He had been absent from his home for a period of three or four weeks and had not been seen by his friends and acquaintances during that period of time. When the body was located there was a tractor wheel and hub attached to the right forearm and right thigh by means of a 'plow rope.' It was necessary to cut this rope before the body could be removed from the river, although the searchers were using 'grab-hooks.' Mr. Nelson Grubb, a toxicologist connected with the State, who examined the body of the deceased and who by virtue of his training and experience was shown to possess the necessary qualifications to express his opinion as to the effect of injuries upon the human body, testified that there were five holes in the chest region of the body of the deceased, that one hole 'penetrated the jugular vein and into the wind pipe,' and that 'a wound through the jugular vein, unless medical attention was received immediately, would be fatal' within 'two or three minutes.'
Defendant was arrested March 5, 1945, the day before the body of decedent was recovered, and within two hours had confessed to Mr. B. W. Coleman, the Sheriff of Hale County, that he had participated in the killing of Mr. Walton. Sheriff Coleman testified for the State as to the defendant's confession, the substance of which is as follows:
On the morning of February 7, 1945, the defendant suggested to Richard Brown, 'Let's shoot Mr. Jack (the deceased) and rob him'; that on the next morning the defendant brought his rifle and left it at the home of Brown, which was about 150 yards northwest of the house of the decedent; that the defendant and Brown then proceeded to the deceased's house to perform their usual morning duties; that shortly after the decedent left his home in a pickup truck, the defendant and Brown, at defendant's suggestion, broke into and entered the home of decedent and removed therefrom a shotgun, shotgun shells, a .38 automatic pistol and cartridges; thereafter they went back out into the yard of decedent and planned 'how they were going to shoot Mr. Walton when he got back'; that when they saw the decedent returning to his house, they hid behind it until he was about to enter; that the defendant ran to the north side and Brown to the south side of the house, the house facing east; that Brown did not stay at the south side, but joined the defendant at the north side before the decedent had entered the house and that just as Mr. Walton was unlocking the door to the house, Richard Brown shot him with a shotgun, after which both the defendant and Brown immediately ran down behind the garden, where the defendant asked Brown, 'Did you get him?' and to which Brown replied, 'I think so because he grabbed his right shoulder'; that after a minute or two, leaving the shotgun behind, the two of them returned to where Mr. Walton was lying to see if he was dead; that the defendant asked Brown 'Is he dead?' to which Brown replied, 'No, because he keeps moving his right hand'; that the defendant then told Brown, 'Shoot him again,' and Brown responded by shooting the decedent with the pistol; that they placed the body of decedent in a wagon and removed his money and other valuables; that there was a 'skiff' in the yard and that the defendant and Brown, after cutting holes in the 'skiff,' placed it in the wagon over the body of decedent; that they then placed a tractor wheel and hub and some 'plow line' in the wagon and drove the wagon, with the body of deceased in it, to the river bank; that when they arrived at the river they removed the 'skiff' from the wagon, placed the body of decedent into the 'skiff' and, after straightening out the body, tied the tractor wheel and hub to the body; that they then placed the 'skiff,' containing the body of the deceased, in the river and shoved it off; that within a short time thereafter the body of decedent, with the weights attached thereto, fell out of the boat into the river; that the defendant and Brown returned to the home of the decedent in the wagon, where they attempted to remove the blood from the wagon as well as from the porch floor where the decedent fell after he was shot, but that they were unable to remove all the blood from the porch floor, so defendant cut the blood off the floor with a knife, but in doing so cut holes in the flooring and in order to keep anyone from noticing the freshly cut holes, nailed some planks over the flooring which had been cut.
Before testifying as to the confession of the defendant, the witness Coleman stated that he was familiar with the house in which the decedent had lived, having visited it on a number of occasions. He described the construction of the house and its premises. He also stated that he examined the flooring of the porch and that he removed therefrom some planks which appeared to have been nailed on top of the flooring recently which planks were introduced in evidence. He further testified that he found wagon tracks leading from the premises of the decedent through a pasture down to the river bank and that he also located wagon tracks leading from the river bank to the yard of the decedent. He further stated...
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