Martin v. State
| Decision Date | 16 April 2010 |
| Docket Number | CR–07–0276. |
| Citation | 62 So.3d 1050 |
| Parties | Brent E. MARTINv.STATE of Alabama. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE
Alabama Supreme Court 1091044.
Jeremy W. Armstrong, Phenix City, for appellant.Troy King, atty. gen., and Todd E. Hughes, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.KELLUM, Judge.1
Brent E. Martin was indicted for three counts of capital murder. In case no. CC–06–364, Martin was charged with the murder of Darryl Carrillo during the course of a kidnapping in the first degree or an attempt thereof, see § 13A–5–40(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975; in case no. CC–06–365, Martin was charged with the murder of Johnnie Randolph III during the course of a kidnapping in the first degree or an attempt thereof, see § 13A–5–40(a)(1), Ala.Code 1975; and in case no. CC–06–671, Martin was charged with the murder of two or more persons, Darryl Carrillo and Johnnie Randolph III, by one act or pursuant to one scheme or course of conduct, see § 13A–5–40(a)(10), Ala.Code 1975. A jury found Martin guilty of all three charges and, by a vote of 10–2, recommended that Martin be sentenced to death. The trial court followed the jury's recommendation and sentenced Martin to death.2
The evidence adduced at trial indicated the following. In 2001, Martin married Lakeisha Randolph. Randolph had a daughter, Nakayla, from a previous relationship. During their marriage, Martin and Randolph had a son, B.J. The marriage deteriorated and Randolph left Martin in the summer of 2005. Randolph and her two children moved in with her mother and her younger brother, Johnnie Randolph III (“Johnnie”), at her mother's residence in Phenix City. During the first week in September 2005, Martin telephoned Randolph several times and went to her place of employment. During their numerous conversations, Martin demanded that Randolph return to him all jewelry he had purchased for her during their marriage. He also accused her of dating another man and threatened to kill her. Randolph told Martin that their marriage was over and that she was going to hire a divorce lawyer. On September 8, 2005, Martin telephoned Randolph and asked if she had had a change of heart about the marriage; Randolph informed Martin that she had not changed her mind about ending the marriage and that she was going to see a divorce lawyer the following day. Martin then said: “[B]itch, you ain't going to live to see tomorrow.” (R. 1450.)
Later that same day, at approximately 4:15 p.m., Randolph, who was at a friend's house, received a telephone call from Johnnie asking her to bring him $25 because he had a flat tire that needed to be repaired. Johnnie initially asked Randolph to bring the money to their mother's residence but then telephoned her two additional times, changing the location of the meeting each time. As Randolph was driving to meet Johnnie, she saw her friend, Alicia Dixon. She stopped and spoke with Dixon, asking Dixon to pick up then six-year-old Nakayla from her after-school program—the same program Dixon's five-year-old daughter, Amari, attended—and to take Nakayla to Randolph's mother's house. Dixon agreed.
When Dixon arrived at Randolph's mother's house with Nakayla, she saw Johnnie's automobile and blew the horn, but no one came outside; she then telephoned Randolph. Randolph assured Dixon that if Johnnie's automobile was there, he was also still there, and she asked Dixon to take Nakayla inside the house. Dixon found the side door to the house unlocked, and she and Nakayla entered. As Dixon called for Johnnie, Martin entered the house behind her and pointed a gun at her and Nakayla. Dixon said that Martin appeared to be on drugs and that he asked her where Randolph was. Dixon responded that she did not know. Martin then ordered Dixon and Nakayla outside to an automobile parked nearby. When they got to the automobile, Dixon saw Johnnie sitting in the backseat with his hands bound; Johnnie's friend, Darryl Carrillo, was seated in the front passenger seat, also with his hands bound. Joseph Ogletree was sitting in the driver's seat.
As Dixon and Nakayla were led out of the house and to the automobile, Amari, who was still in Dixon's automobile, apparently saw what was happening and attempted to flee. However, Martin instructed Ogletree to drive up the street to where Amari was running. Martin told Dixon that if she did not get her daughter in the car, he would kill Amari. Dixon instructed Amari to get in the car and Amari did. After Dixon was in the car, she received a telephone call from Randolph on her cellular telephone. By that time, Randolph had become suspicious that something was wrong and had already telephoned the police. Martin took Dixon's telephone away from her, told Randolph that he had hostages, and then hung up. Believing that Martin was holding the hostages at Randolph's mother's residence, the police surrounded the house and began attempting to negotiate for the release of the hostages. However, before he had left the house, Martin had programmed the telephone in the house to forward all incoming calls to his cellular telephone.
Ogletree and Martin left the area with the hostages before the police arrived; a short time later they came back to the area and saw the police. Martin then telephoned Randolph and told her again that he was holding everyone close to her hostage and told her that he was going to kill all of them. During the next several hours, Ogletree and Martin held the hostages captive in the car and drove back and forth between Phenix City and Columbus, Georgia; at one point, they also drove to Tuskegee, where Martin grew up. During these several hours, Martin and Ogletree both ingested cocaine and Martin drank alcohol. Testimony indicated that Ogletree was a willing participant in the crimes for the most part, but that he did ask Martin on more than one occasion to let the hostages go, pointing out that two of them were children. 3 Martin refused, stating that the hostages would testify against him if he let them go.
Throughout the night, Martin made several telephone calls to various people, including Randolph; he bragged that he was going to kill several people that night and that he would be on the television show “America's Most Wanted” by the following day. At one point, Martin told Randolph again that he was going to kill all of his hostages, and that he would then find and kill her, and then kill all of her family members. In addition, Martin repeatedly threatened to kill his hostages. Specifically, Martin told his hostages several times that they were going to die, and he asked them if they had anything to say before their deaths. Martin also asked his hostages to give him a reason not to kill them; however, when Dixon indicated that he should not kill her because she had two small children, he told Dixon that that was not a good enough reason for him not to kill her.
At one point, while in Tuskegee, Ogletree drove to an isolated area, and Martin ordered Dixon and Carrillo out of the car. Martin then asked them if they had any last requests, and Dixon and Carrillo begged for their lives. Martin agreed to spare their lives at that point, and ordered them back into the car. However, sometime between 11:00 p.m. and midnight that night, Ogletree drove to a secluded area in Phenix City and stopped the car. At that point, Martin asked Johnnie and Carrillo if they had any last requests; both begged Martin not to kill them. Martin, however, ordered Johnnie and Carrillo to get out of the car and to walk off the side of the roadway. After instructing the two to kneel, Martin then shot both Johnnie and Carrillo in the back of their heads.
Martin got back in the car, and Ogletree drove away from the area, headed toward Columbus, Georgia. Shortly after the execution of Johnnie and Carrillo, a police negotiator was able to get a telephone call through to Martin, at which point Martin told the negotiator that he had killed some of the hostages; Martin did not state how many people he had killed. It was at that point in the evening that the police first discovered that Martin was not inside the house on 20th Avenue, and they began searching for him; they also located the bodies of Johnnie and Carrillo. On their way to Columbus, Georgia, Martin told Dixon that he had decided to rape her, and he ordered Dixon to take off all of her clothes. Dixon removed her shoes and pants, but when she informed Martin that she was menstruating at the time, Martin changed his mind and told Dixon that he would not rape her.
Once in Columbus, Georgia, Martin telephoned his cousin, Carla Branscomb; he told Branscomb that he had killed two people, that he had hostages, and that he “was all over the news.” (R. 1085.) Sometime after that telephone call, Ogletree stopped and Martin ordered Dixon to get out of the car. When Martin turned his head, Dixon, clad only in a shirt and underwear, seized the opportunity to escape and fled—leaving the two children in the car. When Martin again telephoned his cousin in Columbus, Georgia, she begged him not to kill his hostages. Martin also again telephoned Randolph; he told her that he was going to kill Nakayla before he would allow Nakayla to speak with Randolph.
Eventually, the car Ogletree was driving ran out of gas on Macon Road in Columbus, Georgia. Martin spoke with Branscomb's daughter, Courtney McDonald, and asked her to bring him some gas. McDonald agreed to bring gas to Martin, but only if Martin would agree to give up the hostages. At that point, Martin informed McDonald that Dixon had escaped and that he had only the two children with him. McDonald agreed to bring Martin gas if he would give her the children in return; Martin agreed. McDonald, Branscomb, and Branscomb's son, George McDonald (“George”) then left to meet Martin. However, when they arrived, instead of giving them the children, Martin got into Branscomb's car with the two...
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