Minor v. State
| Decision Date | 29 October 1999 |
| Citation | 780 So.2d 707 |
| Parties | Willie Dorrell MINOR v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Randall Scott Susskind, Montgomery; and L. Dan Turberville, Birmingham, for appellant.
Bill Pryor, atty. gen., and A. Vernon Barnett IV, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.
On Application for Rehearing
This Court's opinion of August 27, 1999, is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted therefor.
During the July 1995 term, a Tuscaloosa County grand jury returned an indictment charging the appellant, Willie Dorrell Minor, with the capital offense of murder when the victim is less than 14 years old. See § 13A-5-40(a)(15), Ala.Code 1975. The jury returned a verdict finding Minor guilty of capital murder as charged in the indictment. The jury, by a vote of 12 to 0, recommended that Minor be sentenced to death. A sentencing hearing was held on July 23, 1996, and on that same day, the trial court entered a written sentencing order, which included findings of fact. (C.R.311-15.) In that order the trial court held:
"After carefully considering the jury's advisory verdict, and after carefully weighing and balancing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the court finds that the aggravating circumstances outweigh the mitigating circumstances and the court sentences the defendant to death by electrocution."
(C.R.315.) On July 26, 1996, Minor filed a motion for new trial. On September 24, 1996, the trial court, after a hearing, entered a written order denying Minor's motion for a new trial. This appeal followed.
The evidence at trial tended to show that Ebious Jennings, Minor's two-month-old son, died as a result of being severely shaken and beaten.
Ebious was born on February 13, 1995. Dr. Elizabeth Cockrum, a pediatrician at Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa, testified she examined Ebious when he was about two hours old. Dr. Cockrum stated that at the time of her examination Ebious was "a normal, healthy term baby." (R. 598.) On February 15, 1995, Dr. Cockrum performed Ebious's discharge examination and again determined that he was a "healthy baby." (R. 604.) Linda McGarroh, a registered nurse at the Tuscaloosa County Health Department, testified she performed a two-week checkup on Ebious on February 27, 1995, and "found him to be a normal baby." (R. 623.) Donna Richardson, a registered nurse at the Tuscaloosa County Health Department, testified that on April 12, 1995, she examined Ebious for his two-month checkup and determined "that [the baby's health] was fine." (R. 642.)
Dorothy Richardson, Ebious's greatgrandmother, testified that on April 15, 1995, she saw Ebious at "around 6 o'clock [p.m.]" and "he was fine." (R. 650-51.) Diana Pitts, Ebious's grandmother, testified that she saw Ebious that same evening between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and that he "seemed fine and happy." (R. 755.)
Lakeisha Jennings, Ebious's mother, testified that she shared an apartment with Minor. On April 15, 1995, between 9:35 p.m. to 9:40 p.m. she left the apartment and entrusted Ebious and her other two children to Minor. According to Lakeisha, when she left the children in Minor's care, Ebious was "okay"; he was not injured or hurt. (R. 679.) When Lakeisha returned to the apartment, she went into her bedroom and saw Ebious lying on the bed. Lakeisha testified that while she was in the bedroom, Minor entered the room, picked Ebious up, and sat down on the bed. A short time later Lakeisha joined Minor on the bed. While seated beside Minor, Lakeisha talked to Ebious and called his name. Ebious, however, did not respond. Lakeisha noticed that his eyes were half open, that he did not appear to be breathing, and that he was not moving. According to Lakeisha, she immediately telephoned her mother, Diana Pitts, and asked her to come over, because Ebious "didn't look too good and he wasn't breathing." (R. 673.) After Diana arrived and examined Ebious, Lakeisha and Diana decided to take Ebious to Druid City Hospital (D.C.H.). Lakeisha stated that in her haste as she was leaving the apartment with Ebious in her arms, she hit her arm on the door frame. (R. 674.) Lakeisha testified that they waited for Minor to get in the car before leaving for the hospital. Diana repeatedly blew the car's horn to hurry Minor. Just as they had decided to leave without him, Minor ran out of the apartment and got in the car. Lakeisha testified that she held Ebious on the way to the hospital. Once at the hospital, Minor, however, "grabbed the baby from [Lakeisha] and took him into the hospital." (R. 678.)
Lakeisha admitted that Ebious had previously fallen off the couch in her apartment. (R. 703.) However, she denied hitting Ebious's head on the door frame as she was leaving the apartment. (R. 713.)
Diana Pitts testified that on the evening of April 15, 1995, Lakeisha telephoned her and said "[M]y baby don't look right." (R. 746.) Diana testified that she went to Lakeisha's apartment and found that Ebious "was just [lying] there" on the bed. (R. 747.) Diana reiterated Lakeisha's testimony that after she, Lakeisha, and Ebious got inside the car to take Ebious to the hospital, they had to wait to leave because Minor took "so long." (R. 748.)
Latia Pitts, Lakeisha's sister, testified that she accompanied her mother, Diana, to Lakeisha's apartment after Lakeisha telephoned about Ebious. Latia Pitts testified that she saw Lakeisha with Ebious in her right arm and saw Lakeisha "hit her left arm on the—on the wall." (R. 760.) She testified unequivocally that Lakeisha did not hit Ebious's head on the door frame as they were leaving. Latia stated that while her mother and Lakeisha waited in the car, Minor was "running around and stuff...." (R. 761.) Latia testified that her mother blew the horn of her car and screamed at Minor "telling him to come on." (R. 761.) Cindy Perkins, a registered nurse employed at D.C.H., testified that she was on duty the night Ebious was brought to the hospital. Perkins said when Ebious arrived at the hospital he was not breathing and he had no pulse.
Dr. Steve Lovelady, an emergency-medicine physician at D.C.H., testified that when he examined Ebious in the emergency room Ebious had no pulse and he was not breathing. Dr. Lovelady stated that although acute cardiac life-support procedures were immediately implemented, the emergency room personnel were able to establish a pulse for only a few minutes. Dr. Lovelady's examination of Ebious revealed no external bruises, but Ebious's X-rays indicated "multiple rib fractures." (R. 799.) Additionally, during his examination of Ebious's eyes, Dr. Lovelady discovered bleeding in the retina. According to Dr. Lovelady, the retinal bleeding was a sign that Ebious had been violently shaken to such a degree that severe brain damage could have occurred (the violent shaking that results in brain damage is known as "shaken baby syndrome"). Dr. Lovelady testified that Ebious's injuries constituted the most severe case of shaken baby syndrome he had ever seen. Dr. Lovelady further testified that the X-ray of Ebious's skull revealed at least two skull fractures. Dr. Lovelady explained that the severity of this injury is magnified by the fact that an infant's bones are more bendable than those of adults and, therefore, are harder to break. Lastly, Dr. Lovelady testified about Ebious's internal bleeding. When asked if the injuries suffered by Ebious could have resulted from Ebious's falling off a sofa, Dr. Lovelady rejected the hypothesis because the injuries suffered by Ebious were "too severe" to have been caused by a fall from a sofa. (R. 807.)
Dr. Ashley Evans, a pediatrician on the staff at D.C.H., testified she was called to the hospital on the evening on April 15, 1995. Dr. Evans testified that her examination of Ebious revealed severe bilateral hemorrhages in Ebious's retina. Dr. Evans concurred with Dr. Lovelady's opinion that the injuries suffered by Ebious indicated that Ebious had been severely shaken. (R. 918.) On a doll provided by the state, Dr. Evans demonstrated the amount of force needed to inflict the type of injury caused by shaken baby syndrome. Dr. Evans also illustrated how an individual, if he squeezed hard enough while shaking an infant, could fracture the infant's ribs. (R. 921.) Dr. Evans testified that the X-rays taken of Ebious's abdomen indicated fresh fractures. According to Dr. Evans, "shaking alone [would] not cause a fracture." (R. 930.) Dr. Evans further testified that in her opinion Ebious suffered, at a minimum, three traumatic events, including severe shaking, a blow or blows to the head, and a blow or blows to the abdomen.
Dr. Kenneth Warner, a physician with the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, performed the autopsy on Ebious. Dr. Warner indicated that his examination revealed that Ebious's injuries included 12 recently fractured ribs, internal bleeding caused by a torn liver and a torn spleen, skull fractures, and trauma to the scrotum area. According to Dr. Warner, the cause of Ebious's death was blunt-force trauma to the head and chest, in addition to the brain damage caused by shaking.
When asked about the amount of force necessary to cause the type of fractures suffered by Ebious, Warner stated:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Brown v. State
... ... However, such evidence is clearly relevant in the consideration of the finder of fact concerning competency. Cf. Minor v. State, 780 So.2d 707, 727-28 (Ala.Crim.App.1999), rev'd on other grounds, 780 So.2d 796 (Ala.2000) (in which the appellant's contention that the trial court improperly allowed the State to use the results of his mental examination to determine competency to stand trial during a bond hearing was ... ...
-
McGowan v. State
... ... Moreover, the record before this court does not indicate any Brady or discovery violation under Ex parte Monk. See Minor v. State, 780 So.2d 707, 738-40 (Ala.Crim.App.1999), rev'd on other ground, 780 So.2d 796 (Ala.2000) ... McGowan contends that the trial court erred in denying his "Motion to Require Disclosure of Any and All Information Concerning Prospective Jurors Which May Be Favorable to ... ...
-
Centobie v. State
... ... The appellant's argument regarding evidence of flight directly conflicts with this Court's decision in Minor v. State, 780 861 So.2d 1123 So.2d 707, 767 (Ala.Crim.App.1999). That case states: ... "`The trial court may exclude relevant evidence when its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of unfair prejudice. Spellman v. State, 473 So.2d 618 (Ala.Cr.App. 1985) ; C. Gamble, ... ...
-
Perkins v. Dunn
... ... Perkins's Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus by a Person in State Custody under a Death Sentence, (doc. 1), 1 seeking relief from his state-court conviction for capital murder and death sentence. Perkins was ... Code 13A-5-51(4) The defendant was an accomplice in the capital offense committed by another person and his participation was relatively minor. This circumstance does not exist. There was no evidence of an accomplice, and the Defendant's participation was major. Defendant admitted causing ... ...