Swanson v. State
| Decision Date | 24 May 1977 |
| Docket Number | 7 Div. 430 |
| Citation | 346 So.2d 1166 |
| Parties | Sider SWANSON (a/k/a Sider G. W. Swanson) v. STATE. |
| Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
On April 22, 1977, the Supreme Court of Alabama remanded this cause to this Court for a consideration of the merits of the appeal, determining that pursuant to this Court's opinion and order of October 19, 1976, the trial court had proceeded to construct insofar as possible a correct transcript of the evidence pursuant to the provisions of Title 7, Section 827(3), Code of Alabama 1940, as amended. The transcript sent this Court by the Circuit Court is in the form of a narrative recital of the original evidence offered at trial except for comments from time to time interposed by defense counsel, the prosecuting attorney and the trial court to make clear insofar as possible the nature of the rulings on the various points of evidence which were initially presented on original trial. We commend the court below for its effort, though we have formerly expressed some misgivings because of the affidavit of the defense counsel contained in this record.
The indictment establishes that the appellant was charged with the first degree murder of one Ollie Kirksey by striking her with a hatchet. The jury found the appellant guilty of murder in the second degree, and fixed punishment at imprisonment in the penitentiary for life. The trial court then entered judgment which set sentence in accordance with this verdict.
The principal dilemma with which this Court is confronted is attempting to pass upon the three assertions of error, which are: (1) Testimony pertaining to the cause of death being given by a coroner; (2) The admission of gruesome photographs of the victim into evidence; and (3) The admission of a statement given the arresting officers on the night of the offense by the appellant, who asserts that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress and motion to exclude because of the mental condition of the appellant, the appellant contending that such alleged confession was not the product of a rational intellect and free will, and was thus inadmissible.
The tenor of the State's evidence was to the effect that on the night of January 29, 1973, police officers were summoned to the home of Ollie Kirksey, 1220 West Fourteenth Street, Anniston, Alabama, to investigate an incident involving the appellant and one Ollie Kirksey. The tenor of the appellant's evidence was through his sister, Annie Swain, and others, and to the effect that the appellant was mentally incompetent and had been in and out of mental hospitals in Michigan and Alabama for a period of more than twenty years, that they believed the appellant to be insane. Similar testimony was given by the appellant's sister, Mrs. Gladys Ware. The appellant at trial also presented the testimony of Dr. Samuel J. Crawford of the Calhoun Cleveland Health Center who testified that he had examined Sider Swanson on May 28, 1973, and determined, in his opinion, the appellant could not choose between right and wrong and was in fact a paranoid schizophrenic, and a very ill person.
The State of Alabama in its case presented the testimony of Mrs. Annie Swain, who testified that she had previously seen Ollie Kirksey, her aunt, alive on January 29, 1973, and viewed her body at the home about 10:15 p. m. that evening, and that she saw no visible life signs. She further testified that the appellant, Sider Swanson, lived with Ollie Kirksey next door. She further testified that the appellant had been in and out of mental hospitals most of his life, but that she knew of no hard feelings or difficulties between the appellant and the deceased.
County Coroner Ralph Phillips testified that he had been serving in this capacity for some eight years as of January 29, 1973, and had examined the bodies of a number of deceased persons, that he had assisted the toxicologist when autopsies were performed. He stated that no autopsy was performed on the body of the deceased, Ollie Kirksey, because it was apparent from examining her head wound that she had been killed by a blow to her head administered by a sharp instrument. He testified, over objection, that such blow was the cause of death.
Several photographs made by Mr. Phillips at the scene were then identified and admitted, over objection, as State's Exhibits Nos. 1-9.
Annie Swain was then recalled by the State and testified that prior to going next door to the home of the deceased, she had heard a knock at the door, and upon opening it, she saw the appellant, who told her there had been trouble next door and that Ollie Kirksey had tried to kill him. She testified that the appellant stated to her that he had struck Ollie Kirksey in the head with a hatchet as she was going for a butcher knife. She testified that she immediately notified the police and told the appellant to go back next door and wait there for their arrival.
Anniston Police Officer Thomas P. Hanlon testified that he went to the home of Ollie Kirksey at 1220 West Fourteenth Street in Anniston about 10:22 on the evening of January 29, 1973. Upon arrival at this address, he saw the appellant, Sider Swanson, standing in the front yard and asked him if he had been involved in a fight inside the house. He stated that they walked to the front porch and he looked inside and saw what appeared to be a body of a black female lying on the floor with no visible life signs. He immediately read a Miranda card warning to the appellant and advised him that he could remain silent, and any statement by him could be used against him. He further told the appellant that if he could not afford an attorney, one would be appointed to represent him. He stated that the appellant replied that he understood his rights and did not want an attorney. Officer Hanlon further testified that neither he nor anyone in his presence made any threat, offered any inducement, hope of reward, or other incentive to obtain a statement, and that the appellant volunteered the comment, "he and his aunt had an argument and that she had tried to kill him, that he hit her in the head with a hatchet." Officer Hanlon described the appellant as being very calm, showing no emotion, and being very cooperative.
On cross-examination Officer Hanlon did state that the time lapse was very short for the questioning, but that on two occasions the appellant did appear disoriented as to time and place, and that he stopped questioning him.
Anniston Police Detective Gary Carroll testified that he interrogated the appellant at police headquarters about 10:45 p. m. on January 29, 1973. He stated that he read the appellant a Miranda card warning and the appellant advised him that he understood his rights, that he had been previously advised of his rights. Detective Carroll further testified that there was no threat, inducement, intimidation, or hope of reward made or offered in order to obtain a statement from the appellant. He said that he then wrote out a statement, which the appellant signed in his presence, and it was also witnessed by William R. Turner, in which he described a fight with his aunt that evening, and as his aunt was going to get a butcher knife he hit her with a hatchet, then went next door and told his neighbor, Mrs. Annie Swain what had happened.
On cross-examination, Detective Carroll did state that at least twice during his conversation with the appellant, Sider Swanson, that evening, he did appear strange and that his mind wandered. He stated on one occasion the appellant said his aunt had been following him on a bus from Michigan to Anniston.
Following this, the State then presented items of physical evidence, such as the hammer and the hatchet found at the scene.
The appellant made a motion to exclude the State's evidence, asserting that the State had not made out a prima facie case, had not properly proved the cause of death through a person competent to testify, that gruesome photographs had been admitted into the evidence, and that the appellant did not knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently waive his right of self incrimination and his right to remain silent. The appellant also asserts that due to his mental condition and past mental history, he could not make an intelligent or voluntary statement.
The appellant contends that the allowance of Coroner Ralph Phillips' testimony as to the cause of death of the deceased was reversible error. This contention is based on the grounds that the witness was not qualified...
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...personal observations does not render his testimony inadmissible. Woodard v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 401 So.2d 300 (1981); Swanson v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 346 So.2d 1166 (1977). Furthermore, in Smoot v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 381 So.2d 668 (1980), we held the Chief Medical Investigator of the Jeffe......
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...on an observation of the external portion of the body and the autopsy report from the State Toxicologist. In the case of Swanson v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 346 So.2d 1166, the Court of Criminal Appeals upheld the trial court's ruling that a coroner of eight years experience, who had the opportu......
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...established that a coroner can testify as to the cause of death. See Woodard v. State, 401 So.2d 300 (Ala.Cr.App.1981); Swanson v. State, 346 So.2d 1166 (Ala.Cr.App.1977); Vaughn v. State, 347 So.2d 582 (Ala.Cr.App.1977). Additionally, Haynes's testimony was cumulative of other testimony of......
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