Knighten v. State
Decision Date | 25 November 1986 |
Docket Number | 6 Div. 694 |
Citation | 507 So.2d 1015 |
Parties | John Ellis KNIGHTEN v. STATE. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Richard E. Sandefer of Sandefer & Francis, Pinson, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and J. Anthony McLain and James F. Hampton, Sp. Asst. Attys. Gen., for appellee.
A jury found this appellant guilty of murder as charged in a count of an indictment that alleged in pertinent part that defendant "did recklessly engage in conduct which manifested extreme indifference to human life and created a grave risk of death to a person other than the said John Ellis Knighten, and did thereby cause the death of Suzette Lynn Hartley, by driving an automobile into another automobile occupied by the said Suzette Lynn Hartley, in violation of Section 13A-6-2 of the Code of Alabama." The trial court sentenced him to imprisonment for life. There was ample evidence introduced by the State to the effect that the alleged victim was killed in a collision between an automobile driven by defendant and an automobile in which the victim was riding on a public highway in Blount County on April 14, 1984. The defendant took the stand. We now quote from brief of counsel for appellant a summary of the defendant's testimony, as to which there is no disagreement by counsel for appellee:
We now discuss the issues raised by appellant in the order they are presented in brief of counsel for appellant.
The following is the caption of the first issue presented by appellant:
"That the Court erred in not granting the written Motion for Judgment of Acquittal filed by Mr. Knighten, the Appellant's renewed Motion for Judgment of Acquittal made at the time the Appellant rested his case and at other times during the course of the trial and Mr. Knighten's Motion for the general affirmative charge to murder."
Counsel for appellant makes a commendably strong argument in favor of appellant by showing that some, and perhaps most, of the evidence in the case was to the effect that defendant's physical operation of his automobile was in accordance with proper driving procedure; this tends to a conclusion that on the occasion of the collision between the two automobiles, he was not operating the automobile in a reckless manner and was not intoxicated. On the other hand, it is to be reasoned, we think, that according to the evidence, if the mental faculties of defendant had not been impaired by intoxication, he could have prevented the collision between the two automobiles and the resultant death of Suzette Lynn Hartley would have thereby been avoided.
In accordance with what we have stated above, we decide appellant's first issue adversely to appellant.
The second issue presented in brief of counsel for appellant is as follows:
"That the Court erred in not granting Mr. Knighten's Motion to Exclude the State's Evidence on the blood test."
We now quote a large part of the argument contained in the brief of counsel for appellant as to ISSUE II:
The response in appellee's brief to ISSUE II is as follows:
making an analysis. This consent was given orally and witnessed by at least one other person who testified at trial. (One of the nurses working in the hospital.)
We think that the authorities cited by counsel for appellant tend to support the position of appellee rather than that of appellant, particularly the opinion of Judge Tyson in Delarosa v. State, 384 So.2d 876 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 384 So.2d 880 (Ala.1980).
This issue is captioned in brief of counsel for appellant as follows:
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