Turner v. State

• Decision Date: 16 June 1995
• Docket Number: CR-94-0134
• Parties: Willie Lee TURNER v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 1371

674 So.2d 1371

Willie Lee TURNER v. STATE.

CR-94-0134.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

June 16, 1995.

Rehearing Denied Sept. 29, 1995.

Certiorari Denied Jan. 26, 1996

Alabama Supreme Court 1950059.

Lindsey Mussleman Davis and Donald Holt, Florence, for Appellant.

Jeff Sessions, Atty. Gen., and Joseph Marston, Asst. Atty. Gen., for Appellee.

LONG, Judge.

Willie Lee Turner, the appellant, was convicted of felony murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The State's evidence tended to show the following: Arthur Davis, a friend of the appellant's, went to the appellant's home in Sheffield, Alabama, on the morning of April 22, 1993, and washed the appellant's automobile as a favor to him. R. 713, 716-21. Davis testified that, while he was washing the appellant's car, a man drove up and spoke to the appellant. R. 721-24. After the man left, the appellant told Davis that he knew who had his safe, R. 725, which had apparently been stolen from the appellant sometime earlier. The appellant and Davis then got into another automobile owned by the appellant, a red Buick Electra convertible, and with the appellant driving, drove to Florence. R. 717-18, 726-28. While driving around Florence, the appellant asked Davis to find a baseball bat. 726-28, 738-40, 863. Davis directed the appellant to his ex-girlfriend's house, where they obtained a baseball bat. R. 738-40.

Davis testified that the appellant and Davis then picked up Dennis Summerhill at his house in Florence. R. 726-29. They then drove around in the area. R. 730. While they were stopped at a stop sign, the appellant had a conversation with Kenny Bates, who was in another car. R. 730. The appellant told Bates that he knew who had his safe. R. 731. They drove around in the area some more, and eventually went to the house of an individual named "Zap." Bates followed in his car. R. 731-33. They saw Zap and Billy Joe Shelby at Zap's house. R. 732. At this time, Jessie Howell, the appellant's brother, drove up. R. 734. Howell told the appellant that he knew who had the appellant's safe. R. 734.

Davis testified that they stayed at Zap's house for about one hour. R. 736-37. Then everyone but Zap left together and went to Sheffield. R. 742-44. The appellant drove his red convertible. Davis rode in the front passenger seat and Summerhill rode in the backseat. R. 742-43. Howell drove Bates's car and Bates and Shelby rode with him. R. 743-44. Howell followed the appellant. R. 745. They approached Sheffield on Atlanta Avenue and were stopped at a train crossing for about an hour. R. 744-46. They then proceeded across the railroad tracks and stopped briefly at Mimi's Lounge on Atlanta Avenue. R. 746-47. They all then left together and proceeded up Atlanta Avenue until the appellant saw Calvin Ricks driving his car. R. 747-48. The appellant pulled his car up beside Ricks's car and Howell pulled the car that he was driving behind Ricks's car. R. 749.

Davis testified that the appellant then exited his car, walked to Ricks's car, and asked Ricks where the appellant's safe was located. R. 750-51. The appellant grabbed Ricks by the collar and pulled him out of his car. R. 754. Then he dragged him toward a garden area, asking him more than five times where his safe was located. R. 756-57. Ricks responded that he did not know what the appellant was talking about. R. 757. After they arrived at the garden area, they fought for about eight minutes. R. 762. Davis testified that he saw the appellant strike Ricks, throw him to the ground, and straddle him. R. 759-61. He then saw Howell, who apparently had exited the car he had been driving, kick Ricks about two times in the face while the appellant hit him with his fist about three or four times. R. 759-62. Summerhill, who apparently had exited the appellant's car, then took the bat and struck Ricks on the head. R. 763-64.

Davis testified that the appellant and Summerhill then picked Ricks up, helped him walk to the appellant's car, told him to get into the car, and put him into the backseat. R. 767-70, 774, 873. Ricks was conscious at that time, resisted a little, and repeatedly stated that he had not taken the appellant's safe. R. 769-70. They then drove on Atlanta Avenue in the same direction from which they had come, with the appellant driving, Davis riding in the front passenger seat, Summerhill riding in the backseat, and Ricks riding behind Davis. R. 770-72, 774. Summerhill then gave the bat to the appellant. While the appellant continued to drive, he repeatedly told Ricks that Ricks was going to tell the appellant where his safe was located, striking Ricks across the leg with the bat each time. R. 773. They faced oncoming traffic, and the appellant told Ricks to lie down in the floorboard but he did not do so. R. 775-76. They came to a stop sign and made a right turn. R. 776. Summerhill then told Ricks to lie down, and he hit him on the head with the bat. R. 776. They drove to the front of Helen Keller Hospital and stopped at a stoplight there. R. 776-77, 779. At that point, Summerhill continued telling Ricks to lie down. Ricks resisted, and Summerhill hit him on the head with the bat. R. 777-78. Finally, Summerhill told Ricks that he would kill him if he did not lie down, and Ricks then did so. R. 778, 784. They then went to a park. R. 779-83.

Davis testified that when they arrived at the park, the appellant and Summerhill exited the car and grabbed Ricks, and they began to walk. R. 785-86. The appellant again asked Ricks where the appellant's safe was, Ricks responded that he did not know, and the appellant hit him across the shoulder with the bat. R. 786. The appellant then appeared to try to hit Ricks on the other shoulder with the bat, but Ricks ducked, and was hit in the head instead. R. 788-89. Ricks then fell to the ground. R. 789. Ricks stood up and began to walk off, and the appellant hit him across the leg with the bat, causing him to fall to the ground again. R. 791-93. Summerhill then took the bat, pulled Ricks to his feet again, and hit Ricks on the side of the head with the bat. R. 793-94. Ricks fell again. The appellant and Summerhill asked him about the safe, and he said that he would tell where it was. R. 795-96. Then the appellant helped Ricks to his feet, and they took him to a nearby stream where the appellant tried to wash the blood from Ricks's face. R. 796-97, 801. Davis then saw the police and told the appellant and Summerhill that the police were there. Davis did not see the appellant again after that point. Davis and Summerhill ran through the woods. R. 802-03, 807-08.

Officer Jeff Lamon of the Sheffield Police Department testified that on April 22, 1993, the police department received several telephone calls concerning a fight. R. 38-39. After talking with his dispatcher, he drove his patrol car to Riverfront Park in Sheffield looking for a red convertible with a white top. R. 40-42. He parked his vehicle near the entrance of Park West. R. 42, 44. He then saw two men, one of whom was the appellant. R. 44-45. He shouted at them, and they ran away from him into the park. R. 44, 49, 52-53. Several other law enforcement officers, including Investigator Steve Guthrie of the Sheffield Police Department, joined Officer Lamon. R. 50-52. Less than 20 minutes after Officer Lamon saw the two men, the appellant emerged from the woods and was apprehended by Officer Lamon, Investigator Guthrie, and another officer. R. 52-53.

Investigator Guthrie testified that he arrived on the scene at about 4:00 p.m. R. 527-28. When the appellant was taken into custody, Investigator Guthrie went into the woods at the point where the appellant had emerged and found Ricks lying in a ditch. R. 537-38. He had a pulse, was breathing, and was conscious. R. 539-541. Medical help was requested, and Ricks was taken away by ambulance. R. 540, 547.

Dr. Ed Uhlman, medical director of the emergency department of Helen Keller Hospital on April 22, 1993, was present in the emergency room of the hospital that day, and testified that Ricks was dead when he arrived. R. 234, 236, 240.

Dr. Kenneth E. Warner, a forensic pathologist employed as a medical examiner by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, performed the autopsy on Ricks. He testified that an external examination revealed a laceration over the right eyebrow, four lacerations to the side of the head, and a laceration on the back of the head. R. 318-22. Dr. Warner determined that Ricks was struck on the head a minimum of six times. R. 331. Dr. Warner determined the cause of death to be cranial cerebral trauma, which he explained was injury to both the skull and the brain. R. 330-31. He testified that Ricks died from a combination of the blows he received to the head. R. 332.

I.

The appellant contends that the "the mandates of Batson ¹ and applicable Alabama law were not followed." Appellant's brief at 17. Before the qualification of the jury venire, defense counsel moved for a continuance and to quash the venire. R. 6. He stated that the jury list had originally contained the names of 225 venirepersons, but that the trial court had excused 105 of those venirepersons before trial without notice to the appellant. R. 4-5. A person identified in the record on appeal only as "the clerk" stated that only 120 names remained on the list. R. 5. A copy of the original jury list was admitted into evidence. R. 14. Defense counsel stated that there were 9 black venirepersons on that list who had been excused and that he had highlighted their names. He also stated that there were 29 black venirepersons remaining on the list and that he had highlighted their names. R. 16-17. The copy of the original list is not contained in the record on appeal. Both parties stipulated that the appellant was black. R. 17. The appellant's motion for continuance and to quash the venire was denied. R. 11, 15.

Following the qualification of the venire, defense counsel again made...