Lawley v. State, 7 Div. 266
Court | Supreme Court of Alabama |
Writing for the Court | LIVINGSTON |
Citation | 264 Ala. 283,87 So.2d 433 |
Parties | Lankford LAWLEY v. STATE of Alabama. |
Decision Date | 10 May 1956 |
Docket Number | 7 Div. 266 |
Page 433
v.
STATE of Alabama.
[264 Ala. 284] Wilton W. Rabren, Columbiana, for appellant.
John Patterson, Atty. Gen., and Owen Bridges, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
LIVINGSTON, Chief Justice.
Lankford Lawley was tried in the Circuit Court of Shelby County, Alabama, on an indictment containing two counts; one count charging rape, and the other charging carnal knowledge of, or abuse in the attempt to carnally know, Linda Sue Bass, a girl under the age of twelve years. He was found guilty and his punishment fixed at life imprisonment in the state penitentiary. The court entered a judgment accordingly, and it is from this judgment that the appeal is taken.
The appellant's principal contention is that reversible error was committed by the trial judge in instructing the jury as to the possibility of parole in case the defendant were convicted and sentenced to serve time in the penitentiary. The state admits error, but argues that the error was cured by subsequent remarks by the trial judge.
The transcript reveals that after the case had been submitted to the jury, and the jury had retired to the jury room, the
Page 434
jury returned into open court and the following proceedings were had:'By the Court: Gentlemen, is there some question of law you want to ask me; I can't help you as to a question of fact.
'By Juror: We would like to ask the number of years that he would be eligible for parole.
'By the Court: Well, I don't think they have any number. They have certain rules down there, depending on a good record; a man can qualify for probation after a certain length of time. In other words one with a life sentence gets paroled lots of times but he is supposed to serve a third of his sentence. Different ones have different times.
'By Juror: Will he always be eligible for parole?
'By the Court: It is possible with a life sentence if he makes a good record he might qualify for parole in 15 years, maybe, that is altogether up to the Board of Pardons. Gentlemen, if that information is helpful, that is as near as I can tell you about it.
'By Mr. Rabren: We object to the instructions of the Court given to them regarding this.
'By the Court: I haven't given them any instructions. That has got nothing to do with this case, gentlemen. The fact is that is information I was trying to give you in answer to your question. That isn't a question before you gentlemen and shouldn't enter into it; it has got nothing to do with the facts in this case and not really a part...
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Williams v. State, 6 Div. 761
...consistently held that it is improper for a trial judge to answer a juror's question about the pardon and parole laws. Lawley v. State, 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433 (1956); Robinson v. State, 335 So.2d 420, 423-25 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 335 So.2d 426 (1976). "(T)he view of most of the c......
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People v. Morse, Cr. 7339
...In reversing a rape conviction which involved only imprisonment, and not the death penalty, as here, the court in Lawley v. State (1956) 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433, stated that '(I)n arriving at a proper sentence to be imposed on a defendant, the proportionate part thereof which probably or......
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State v. White, No. A--103
...preponderate heavily the other way. See Annotation, 35 A.L.R.2d 769 (1954), and later decisions not there considered. Lawley v. State, 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433 (Sup.Ct.1956); Scarber v. State, 226 Ark. 503, 291 S.W.2d 241 (Sup.Ct.1956); McGruder v. State, 213 Ga. 259, 98 S.E.2d 564 (Sup.C......
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State v. Remmers, No. 59952
...Broyles v. Commonwealth, 267 S.W.2d 73, 76 (Ky.1954). Other courts have reached the same conclusion in similar cases. See Lawley v. State, 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433, 435 (1956) ("the jury was planning to add to the length of sentence in order to compensate for a parole before the entire se......
-
Williams v. State, 6 Div. 761
...consistently held that it is improper for a trial judge to answer a juror's question about the pardon and parole laws. Lawley v. State, 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433 (1956); Robinson v. State, 335 So.2d 420, 423-25 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 335 So.2d 426 (1976). "(T)he view of most of the c......
-
People v. Morse, Cr. 7339
...In reversing a rape conviction which involved only imprisonment, and not the death penalty, as here, the court in Lawley v. State (1956) 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433, stated that '(I)n arriving at a proper sentence to be imposed on a defendant, the proportionate part thereof which probably or......
-
State v. White, No. A--103
...preponderate heavily the other way. See Annotation, 35 A.L.R.2d 769 (1954), and later decisions not there considered. Lawley v. State, 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433 (Sup.Ct.1956); Scarber v. State, 226 Ark. 503, 291 S.W.2d 241 (Sup.Ct.1956); McGruder v. State, 213 Ga. 259, 98 S.E.2d 564 (Sup.C......
-
State v. Remmers, No. 59952
...Broyles v. Commonwealth, 267 S.W.2d 73, 76 (Ky.1954). Other courts have reached the same conclusion in similar cases. See Lawley v. State, 264 Ala. 283, 87 So.2d 433, 435 (1956) ("the jury was planning to add to the length of sentence in order to compensate for a parole before the entire se......