Watts v. State
Decision Date | 29 June 1976 |
Docket Number | 7 Div. 434 |
Citation | 337 So.2d 91 |
Parties | Roy WATTS v. STATE. |
Court | Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals |
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and Gary R. Maxwell, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.
Second degree murder; sentence: twenty years imprisonment.
Pursuant to Rule 2(b), Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, Rules 2(a), 31(a) and 31(c) are hereby suspended and this cause restored Ex mero motu to the rehearing docket of this Court.
On rehearing, it appears that this Court must determine if an appeal must be dismissed on failure of the appellant to file a brief, pursuant to Rules 2(a), 31(a) and 31(c), A.R.A.P., or whether Title 15, § 389, Code of Alabama 1940 precludes such dismissal.
Upon reconsideration of this cause, § 389, supra, requiring that we search the record for error, appears to control. This is especially true in light of the flexibility given the appellate courts in the Rules of Appellate Procedure. It should be noted that Rule 2(a)(2) states that an appeal May be dismissed for failure of the appellant to file a brief. Such dismissal is not mandatory. The Supreme Court likewise has applied the Rules with considerable flexibility. Pendleton v. State, Ala., 329 So.2d 144 (1976).
Title 15, § 389, supra, has long been construed to the effect that the filing of a brief is not essential to an appeal in a criminal case. Higginbotham v. State, 262 Ala. 236, 78 So.2d 637 (1955).
Our prior opinion in this cause, dated April 20, 1976, is hereby withdrawn.
Appellant was convicted of second degree murder for shooting his divorced wife in the back with a shotgun. The evidence is clear and uncontroverted that the shooting was the cause of death and that the appellant did the shooting. His chief defense was that of insanity.
Appellant introduced testimony from two psychologists as to his insanity at the time of the offense. Likewise, lay witnesses were called in his behalf who testified as to appellant's unusual conduct after his wife left him. The State introduced lay witnesses who testified that the appellant appeared sane to them. Needless to say, the testimony concerning appellant's sanity was conflcting.
Title 15, § 422, Code of Alabama 1940, states:
(Emphasis supplied.)
In Smith v. State, 54 Ala.App. 237, 307 So.2d 47 (1975), this Court stated:
47 Ala.App. at 733, 261 So.2d at 71. (Citations omitted). (Emphasis ours).'
In the instant case, the question of appellant's sanity was the subject of lengthy testimony. The trial judge gave a full and detailed charge to the jury on that issue and the jury, by its verdict, found adverse to the appellant.
A color photograph showing the wound in the back of the victim was admitted into evidence over objection of the appellant. While the photograph showed an amount of blood and an open...
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Ex parte James
...and to assure a final judgment of this court in the instant case conformable to the present views of this court"); Watts v. State, 337 So.2d 91 (Ala. Crim.App.1976) (restoring a case to the rehearing docket ex mero motu); Dye v. Kansas State Supreme Court, 48 F.3d 487, 490-91 (10th Cir.1995......
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Dotch v. State
...438; Nichols v. State, 267 Ala. 217, 100 So.2d 750 (1958); McHugh v. State, 53 Ala.App. 473, 301 So.2d 238 (1974).” Watts v. State, 337 So.2d 91, 92 (Ala.Crim.App.1976) (photograph was illustrative of testimony concerning the nature and location of the wound and was properly admitted althou......
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Dotch v. State, No. CR-07-1913 (Ala. Crim. App. 4/2/2010)
...Nichols v. State, 267 Ala. 217, 100 So. 2d 750 (1958); McHugh v. State, 53 Ala. App. 473, 301 So. 2d 238 (1974)." Watts v. State, 337 So. 2d 91, 92 (Ala. Crim. App. 1976) (photograph was illustrative of testimony concerning the nature and location of the wound and was properly admitted alth......
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Bedford v. Attorney General of State of Ala., 90-7266
...provides that "an appeal may be dismissed ... if an appellant fails to file [a] brief." (emphasis added). See Watts v. State, 337 So.2d 91, 91 (Ala.Ct.Crim.App.1976) ("It should be noted that Rule 2(a)(2) states that an appeal may be dismissed for failure of the appellant to file a brief. S......