Peterson v. State, 4 Div. 997
| Decision Date | 02 November 1982 |
| Docket Number | 4 Div. 997 |
| Citation | 426 So.2d 494 |
| Parties | Cecil Oscar PETERSON v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
L. Joel Collins of Smith, Smith & Collins, Phenix City, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen., and Joseph G.L. Marston, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
Murder; life imprisonment.
The nude body of Bertha Mae Mayfield was found on a dirt road in Russell County, Alabama, around 11:30 A.M. on April 2, 1981. The cause of death was determined to be two deep stab wounds, one to the front of the neck and one to the front of the chest. The victim had also sustained injuries consistent with being run over by an automobile traveling at a slow speed while she lay on soft ground. The forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy stated that he believed all of these injuries occurred at approximately the same time.
During the investigation of this homicide, a gray, 1966 Mercury owned by Sammie Washington was impounded and searched. A white footie with blue trim was found beneath the back seat and a knife was found underneath the left side of the driver's seat. No bloodstains or fingerprints were found on the knife. The tread design of one of the tires matched the tread design of at least two of the tire prints found near the victim's body.
The victim had lived with her mother, Irene Wilkerson, at 820 Fifth Avenue, Columbus, Georgia. Also living at this residence were the victim's three minor daughters; the victim's sister, Dorothy Taylor; the sister's son, Perry Taylor; and one Nathaniel Green. On the evening of April 1, 1981, and early on the morning of April 2, 1981, Columbus police officers twice responded to calls reporting fights resulting in injuries at the Wilkerson residence. Neither the appellant nor the victim was directly involved in these altercations.
Officer Henry Antoine answered the second call at approximately 2:30 A.M. He testified that he saw two females and perhaps four males when he arrived. He identified the females as the victim and her mother and one of the males as Nathaniel Green. Green was the injured party and he was later taken to the hospital. Officer Antoine testified that appellant resembled one of the males present, but that he could not positively state that appellant was present.
The State's key witnesses were the victim's two young daughters, Tracy and Sharon Johnson.
Tracy, who was ten years old at the time of the trial, testified that in early April, 1981, she was living at her grandmother's house in Columbus, Georgia. She stated that her mother lived there at times and at other times lived at the appellant's house.
Tracy testified that she and her sister, Sharon, were watching television in their grandmother's room when the appellant came to the house to see the victim. Appellant and the victim went into the children's bedroom and Tracy saw appellant choking the victim. The victim called for her mother (Irene Wilkerson). Mrs. Wilkerson "peeped her head in the door" and told appellant to "get up off of her." Appellant got up and walked out of the room. The victim followed him and asked him not to leave.
The child heard, but did not see, appellant slap the victim, followed by a thud. She then heard her grandmother say to her aunt, "Dorothy, did you see how hard Cecil hit my baby?"
The appellant called Perry Taylor (the child's cousin) in from the front porch and they carried the victim out to Sammie Washington's car and placed her in the floor of the back seat. Tracy stated that she observed this from the living room window. She did not see the victim move or hear her say anything during this time. Appellant got in the driver's seat, Taylor got in the back, and they drove away.
Tracy further testified that the victim was wearing bluejeans, a gray pullover sweatshirt, footies, and tennis shoes when appellant and Taylor carried her out. She identified the footie retrieved from under the back seat of Sammie Washington's car as one her mother had worn that night.
The testimony of Sharon Johnson, the victim's eleven-year-old daughter, was essentially the same. The trial testimony of both children was consistent with statements given to the police on April 7, 1981. However, both children had given prior inconsistent statements. In her first statement, Tracy said a black man named "C" came to the house with the victim. He threatened to kill the victim if she did not leave with him, but he left alone. He later returned, then left around 11:00 P.M. accompanied by the victim. Tracy said she did not hear them say anything. Her next statement essentially followed her trial testimony up to the point when her grandmother spoke to her aunt. She stated that her grandmother then said appellant put the victim over his shoulder and left.
Sharon's first statement was to the effect that her mother left the house with a man named Walter Taylor. In a subsequent statement she said that Walter Taylor left alone and afterwards her mother was fighting with Nathaniel Green. (It is clear from the record that Green's injury did not occur as a result of this fight.)
All the statements made by Tracy and Sharon were admitted into evidence at appellant's trial and defense counsel questioned both children about their inconsistent versions of the night's events.
After appellant's trial and conviction, the district attorney learned that the children were saying that their grandmother stabbed their mother at the house in Columbus, Georgia. Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Davis, the prosecutor at appellant's trial, went to Detroit, Michigan, where the children live with an aunt, and talked with them.
At the hearing on appellant's motion for new trial, Davis testified that both children had told him that their grandmother stabbed their mother with a knife they referred to as a "Dutch." In addition, Sharon recanted her trial testimony and said that although she saw appellant and Taylor at the house, she did not see them carry the victim out to Sammie Washington's car. Davis stated that Sharon was very reluctant to say anything about her grandmother's involvement and that he had, in fact, had a great deal of difficulty in persuading her to talk to...
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