Johnson v. State
| Citation | 365 So.2d 123 |
| Decision Date | 31 October 1978 |
| Docket Number | 6 Div. 108 |
| Parties | Ray L. JOHNSON, alias v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Edward L. Ramsey, Birmingham, for appellant.
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and James L. O'Kelley, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State, appellee.
Appellant was convicted of rape and the jury fixed his punishment at ten years imprisonment in the penitentiary. The Court ordered the sentence be served at the expiration of a sentence appellant was serving in the State of Georgia.
Appellant did not testify in his behalf. He offered testimony in an attempt to discredit the testimony of the prosecutrix that she had been crying. The State produced a witness who testified that he saw the prosecutrix the morning of the rape and she appeared to have been crying and was real nervous.
After sentence was imposed appellant gave notice of appeal. He was found to be indigent and was furnished a free transcript. New counsel was appointed to represent him on this appeal.
The prosecutrix testified that in April, 1974, she was twenty years old and that she lived at home with her mother and two sisters. On April 27, 1974, a Friday night, prosecutrix left home at approximately 11:35 p. m. and drove across Birmingham to visit a friend. While traveling down First Avenue North, prosecutrix saw a rust or red colored Mustang automobile, and at trial she identified appellant as the driver. The prosecutrix further testified that, when she stopped at a traffic light, she glanced over and saw appellant looking at her.
Prosecutrix's destination was an apartment building on Tuscaloosa Avenue and Ensley Avenue. When she arrived there, prosecutrix saw appellant drive up behind her and park. From the record:
At that time appellant pulled the prosecutrix around the side of the apartment building, telling her that, "If you make a sound I'll split your throat." The prosecutrix testified that she then felt the cold steel of a knife on her throat. When appellant asked for a kiss and placed a hand between her legs, prosecutrix told him that it was no use because she was in her menstrual cycle. Appellant, holding the prosecutrix by her arm, told her, "Well, we will find out," and walked her to his car. Appellant told the prosecutrix to get in the back seat of the Mustang and lie down. Appellant backed out of the parking lot and drove twenty to thirty minutes.
The prosecutrix testified that the appellant stopped in the yard of a house under construction in a neighborhood which she later discovered was in Hoover, in Jefferson County. Appellant told the prosecutrix, "Okay, you can get out now," and they walked to the front of the car. Then appellant ordered the prosecutrix to disrobe and she stripped to her panties. Having been ordered to lean over the hood of the car, the prosecutrix complied and the appellant struck her across the buttocks five or six times with his belt. Appellant told the prosecutrix, "That's because you lied to me." The prosecutrix explained that there was no evidence that she was in her menstrual cycle.
The prosecutrix testified that she and appellant then went to the utility room of the house; she did not see a knife at this point. Appellant brought in a large piece of cardboard and told the prosecutrix to sit down. Appellant then offered the prosecutrix a cigarette, which she accepted, and they began to talk. When the prosecutrix told appellant she was cold, he went to the car and brought a coat for her. From the record:
When appellant and the prosecutrix got back in the car, it would not start, the headlights having been left on while they were at the house. The car rolled over a curb and the prosecutrix and appellant rocked the car off of the curb, sending it rolling down a hill where it hit a tree.
Appellant took the prosecutrix by the hand and told her they were going for help. Seeing a lighted house down the street, they walked over to it and knocked on the door. When a man answered the door, appellant told him that they had had car trouble and needed help. Appellant was told that help would be called.
The prosecutrix further testified that she did not tell the man that she had been raped. Appellant and the prosecutrix then sat down on the front steps of the house and waited. Instead of a wrecker pulling up, a police car arrived and appellant told the prosecutrix to "be quiet and not say a word." When the prosecutrix asked the appellant if he still had the knife, he replied that he did. From the record:
On the return trip to her car, appellant stopped at a store to get some cigarettes. The prosecutrix remained in the car. As they approached the apartment complex, prosecutrix told appellant that he need not take her all the way back to her car. In case the police were there, appellant was to let her out a block away from the apartment.
Appellant did let the prosecutrix out of the car in an alley near the apartment, and she ran to her friend's apartment. After a conversation with her friend, a "guy that I was dating," police arrived and the prosecutrix was taken to Mercy Hospital approximately 5:00 or 5:30 in the morning, April 28, 1974.
Leonard Robbins testified that he was a policeman for the City of Birmingham and that on April 28, 1974, his duties were those of an evidence technician. That day, Officer Robbins went to Mercy Hospital where he took several photographs of the prosecutrix, depicting strap-like bruises across her buttocks. These photographs were admitted into evidence.
Ronnie Stanford testified that on April 29, 1974, while he was working in the Homicide Department, he had a conversation with the prosecutrix. Following this conversation, a warrant was obtained for the arrest of appellant. Appellant was arrested on May 7, 1974.
At this point the State rested. There was no motion to exclude the State's evidence.
Sarah Johnson testified that she was the mother of the appellant. In the early morning hours of April 28, 1974, appellant came home, bringing a girl, the prosecutrix, with him. The prosecutrix was not crying, nor did she appear to have been crying. The girl's eye makeup was not smeared. Nor was her hair in disarray. Her clothes were in order. Mrs. Johnson further testified that they told her that they had had car trouble.
Sergeant John Ray testified that he was employed by the Hoover Police Department. On April 28, 1974 Ray responded to a call that a couple was having car trouble. Arriving at the home of a Mr. Bradley on Laredo Drive, Ray found appellant and the prosecutrix standing on the front porch with Bradley. From the record:
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Woodard v. State
...objection waived all other grounds. Ward v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 376 So.2d 1112, cert. denied, 376 So.2d 1117 (Ala.1979); Johnson v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 365 So.2d 123; Waters v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 360 So.2d 358, cert. denied, 360 So.2d 367 (Ala.1978); Whiddon v. State, 53 Ala.App. 280, 299 ......
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Rudolph v. State, CR–14–1067.
...vagina with his penis. This Court has held that “[t]he uncorroborated testimony of a rape victim can support a rape conviction. Johnson v. State, 365 So.2d 123 (Ala.Crim.App.) cert. denied, 365 So.2d 130 (Ala.1978).” Garrett v. State, 580 So.2d 58, 61 (Ala.Crim.App.1991). Accordingly, the S......
- Ex parte McGhee