Sullens v. State
| Citation | 878 So.2d 1216 |
| Parties | Andrew Lee SULLENS and Terry Lee Sullens v. STATE of Alabama. |
| Decision Date | 21 March 2003 |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
Charles A. Flowers III, Birmingham; and Gerald Gregory White, Birmingham, for appellants.
William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and G. Ward Beeson III, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.
Alabama Supreme Court 1021471.
The appellants, Andrew Lee Sullens and his father Terry Lee Sullens, were convicted of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, a violation of § 13A-11-61(a), Ala.Code 1975.1 The trial court sentenced them to serve terms of 10 years in prison, but split the sentences and ordered them to serve 60 days in the Jefferson County Jail followed by 5 years on supervised probation. Terry filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied after conducting a hearing. This appeal followed.
The evidence showed that, in February 2001, James Weems ("Jimmy") lived in a house with his wife, Valerie Weems; his stepson; his stepdaughter, Erica Holcomb; Elizabeth Hurt; and Hurt's fiance, Daniel Lovell. Jimmy testified that, late in the evening on February 22, 2001, he learned that Erica was leaving and would not be living in the house any longer. When he went outside, Erica was already gone. However, he saw a vehicle "parked just above our driveway." (R. 67.) He stated that Andrew was in the backseat of the vehicle and that he had what appeared to be a 12 gauge shotgun in his lap.
Because Jimmy wanted to talk to Erica, he and Elizabeth drove to the Sullens' residence. He parked in the road near the driveway and walked toward a vehicle that was parked in the driveway. Eddie Franks, Erica's boyfriend, was sitting in the front passenger side of the vehicle, and Andrew was sitting in the backseat on the driver's side. Jimmy tried to pull Eddie out of the vehicle, but he was not able to do so. At that point, Andrew "got out of the vehicle with his gun and attempted to intervene." (R. 74.) Afterward, Eddie walked around the vehicle, and Jimmy approached Andrew. Jimmy and Andrew "started exchanging words," Jimmy approached Andrew and asked him "if he was going to shoot an unarmed man," and Andrew said, "`Yes, if I have to.'" (R. 76.) During all of this time, the men were exchanging profanities. Also, during this time, Terry came out of the house "carrying a .38 Special." (R. 78.)
Jimmy and Eddie then "got into it again," and Jimmy approached Eddie. (R. 77.) At that point, Andrew stepped back, chambered a round in his shotgun, and said, "`Eddie, back up, I don't want you in the spread." (R. 77.)2 Elizabeth then approached Jimmy and eventually got him to move back toward his vehicle. Andrew and Terry followed them to the vehicle, and Terry told them that they were not leaving, that they were under citizen's arrest, that law enforcement authorities were on their way, and that he would shoot if they tried to leave. Jimmy cursed at Terry, got into the driver's seat of his vehicle, and cranked the vehicle. Terry walked in front of and to the left of the vehicle to keep Jimmy from leaving, but Jimmy went around Terry on the right and started driving down the road. As he did, "they opened fire on" him. (R. 82.) At least one round hit the vehicle and shattered the glass, another round hit a tire, and several other rounds hit various places on the vehicle.
Jimmy and Elizabeth both testified that they were initially told to leave because law enforcement authorities had been called. They also testified that Jimmy did not have a weapon at any time during the confrontation. Finally, Elizabeth testified that Jimmy did not hit Terry with his vehicle as he was driving away, and Jimmy testified that he did not believe he hit Terry with his vehicle as he was driving away.
Terry testified that he agreed to let Erica move into his house. He also testified that he "was told that [Jimmy] was known to be violent and there was a possibility that he would be upset if she left the house." (R. 316.) Subsequently, Andrew, his son, called him on a two-way radio, told him there was trouble outside, and asked him to call law enforcement authorities. He called law enforcement authorities and then went outside to find out was happening. At that time, he saw Jimmy "butting up against Andrew repeatedly knocking him backwards" and "cussing as loud as he could." (R. 317.) He went into the house, retrieved a revolver, and returned to the yard, where Jimmy and Andrew were moving toward Jimmy's vehicle. Jimmy turned toward him and told him he was not going to be able to protect his family. Terry testified that he "felt extremely threatened for [his] family's safety" and that he went toward Jimmy's vehicle to get his license plate number. (R. 319.) After he got the number, he started walking around the front of the vehicle to return to his house, and he heard Andrew "holler out, `Citizen's arrest.'" (R. 321.) He testified that, as he walked in front of the vehicle, Jimmy started turning the steering wheel in his direction and that the vehicle started moving toward him. He further testified that Jimmy's vehicle hit him and spun him around. Afterward, he "instinctively ... started shooting down there at the tire" and fired five times. (R. 323.) He testified that he did not ever threaten to shoot Jimmy and Elizabeth. Finally, he admitted that he did not see Jimmy with a weapon.
Andrew testified that he and his wife went with Eddie to pick Erica up from the Weems' residence. However, he stated that he did not have a weapon in his vehicle at that time. He also testified that, because he had heard that Jimmy had a reputation for being violent and because he knew Jimmy might follow them to his house or to Eddie's house, he got his shotgun after he returned to his house. When Jimmy arrived, he and Eddie were in a vehicle, and he radioed for his father to call law enforcement authorities. Jimmy confronted Eddie, and Andrew got his shotgun and got out of the vehicle. Eventually, Jimmy left Eddie, approached Andrew, and yelled in his face about shooting an unarmed man. Andrew told him he would shoot if he had to, and Jimmy "chest-butt[ed]" him five or six times. (R. 363.) Jimmy then told him he could not protect his family and Eddie, and he refocused his attention on Eddie. Terry came out, announced that law enforcement authorities were on their way, and went to get Jimmy's license plate number. Elizabeth and Jimmy then got into the vehicle, and Jimmy continued to use profanities. Andrew told Jimmy not to leave because he was under citizen's arrest, and Jimmy lunged at him and yelled more profanities at him. Andrew moved away from the vehicle, and Terry walked toward the front of the vehicle. The vehicle then started moving toward Terry and eventually hit Terry. "[B]ecause [he] thought that [Terry's] life was in danger," Andrew started shooting at the vehicle to stop it, and he fired three shots. (R. 370.) He also testified that he heard Terry start shooting "[j]ust a split second before" he started shooting. (R. 378.)
Eddie testified that Jimmy tried to get him out of the vehicle, but he was not able to do so, and Andrew told him to stop. At that point, Jimmy walked around the vehicle toward Andrew, "chest-butt[ed]" Andrew four or five times, and asked if he was going to shoot an unarmed man. (R. 277.) Afterward, Elizabeth and Jimmy fell, and Jimmy refocused his attention on Eddie. Eddie testified that Jimmy "had some kind of metal ring around his hand ... [a]ll the way across his knuckles," that he starting pushing him on the chest with his fist, and that he stated, "`[Y]ou are mine.'" (R. 279.) They exchanged more words, and Jimmy walked toward his vehicle. While he was doing so, he made a comment about Andrew's father not being able to protect his family. Eddie looked away briefly, and when he turned around, he (R. 281.) Eddie testified that he also saw Terry firing at the vehicle. Finally, he testified that he did not hear Terry or Andrew threaten to shoot Jimmy and Elizabeth.
(C.R.34.) Section 13A-11-61, Ala.Code 1975, provides:
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Lansdell v. State
...error. Indeed, both this Court and the Alabama Supreme Court have previously rejected similar claims. See, e.g., Sullens v. State, 878 So.2d 1216, 1220-1228 (Ala.Crim.App.2003) (defendants charged with discharging firearm into occupied vehicle not entitled to relief on claim that indictment......
-
Ex parte State, No. 1080395 (Ala. 8/21/2009)
...those cases that the indictments sufficiently apprised the defendants of the nature of the charges against them. See Sullens v. State, 878 So. 2d 1216 (Ala. Crim. App. 2003), and the cases cited therein. However, none of those cases dealt with the vehicular-homicide statute, and this Court ......
-
Ex parte State of Alabama. ,.
...those cases that the indictments sufficiently apprised the defendants of the nature of the charges against them. See Sullens v. State, 878 So.2d 1216 (Ala.Crim.App.2003), and the cases cited therein. However, none of those cases dealt with the vehicular-homicide statute, and this Court did ......
-
McGuire v. Strange
...Class C felonies are strict liability offenses, some level of mental culpability is required for conviction. See Sullens v. State, 878 So.2d 1216, 1221 (Ala.Crim.App.2003) (finding that a criminal provision did not define a strict liability offense because the provision did “not expressly s......