Simmons v. State, 8 Div. 479
| Citation | 412 So.2d 1239 |
| Decision Date | 06 October 1981 |
| Docket Number | 8 Div. 479 |
| Parties | Joey Lynn SIMMONS, a/k/a Jimmy Lee Smith v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Warren E. Mason, Jr., Huntsville, for appellant.
Charles A. Graddick, Atty. Gen. and Deborah Hill Biggers, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.
This is an appeal from a judgment of conviction on a plea of guilty of robbery in the first degree and sentence to imprisonment for thirty-five years.
During the arraignment it was made known to the Court by defendant's attorney, and by defendant by documents signed by both, that defendant waived his right to a trial by jury and desired to plead guilty to robbery in the first degree as charged in the indictment. Among several questions the trial judge asked the defendant was the question, "What did you do that prompted you to plead guilty?" The defendant replied in part, "... I was drunk at the time and didn't know what I was doing...."
The only issue on appeal is whether the trial court should have accepted the plea of guilty without further inquiry of the defendant as to his intoxication. It is clear that in all other respects all requirements were met for the acceptance of a plea of guilty and adjudication thereon.
No part of the transcript, other than that which is contained in the statement of defendant quoted above, pertains to the extent of his claimed intoxication.
If a person is so drunk or so under the influence of intoxicating liquor or drugs that he is incapable of forming the required felonious intent to steal, he cannot be convicted of larceny. Johnson v. State, 32 Ala.App. 217, 24 So.2d 228 (1945); Green v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 342 So.2d 419 (1977).
Robbery, as now proscribed by statutory law, "embraces acts which occur in an attempt to commit or the commission of theft, or in immediate flight after the attempt or commission." Code of Ala., § 13A-8-40(b). The statement of defendant can be properly construed as an assertion that he was so drunk as to make him incapable of possessing the requisite criminal intent to commit the alleged crime. On the other hand, the statement, under the circumstances here involved, is somewhat cryptic and is worthy of further investigation as to its full signification.
Before coming to a conclusion as to the validity vel non of the judgment of conviction and sentence, we remand the case to ...
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Smith v. State, 6 Div. 756
...phrase. Under the criminal code, the separate offense of assault with intent to rob has been combined into robbery. Simmons v. State, 412 So.2d 1239 (Ala.Cr.App.1982); Marvin v. State, 407 So.2d 576 (Ala.Cr.App.1981). The crime of attempted robbery also constitutes robbery under the new cri......