Weldon v. State, 6 Div. 450

• Decision Date: 17 April 1973
• Docket Number: 6 Div. 450
• Parties: Charles Edward WELDON, alias v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 183

280 So.2d 183

50 Ala.App. 477

Charles Edward WELDON, alias v. STATE.

6 Div. 450.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

April 17, 1973.

Rehearing Denied May 15, 1973.

Charles O. Caddis, Birmingham, for appellant.

William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and David W. Clark, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

W. J. HARALSON, Supernumerary Circuit Judge.

The appellant was charged with the first degree murder of William James Wells, convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for ten years.

At the conclusion of the evidence offered by the State, the appellant moved to exclude because of the alleged failure of the State to prove venue. This motion was correctly overruled by the court since the record shows direct testimony offered by the State that the offense complained of happened in Birmingham.

At the conclusion of the oral charge to the jury, the appellant requested several charges in writing, some of which were given and some were refused. Among those refused was Charge No. 28, which is as follows: 'Gentlemen of the jury, assault and battery is included in the charge against the defendant. Refused, Watson, J.'

As we view this case, this is a question of importance to be decided in determining whether or not there is error to reverse under the testimony as reflected by the transcript of the record.

Title 15, Section 323, Code of Alabama 1940, provides:

'When the indictment charges an offense of which there are different degrees, the jury may find the defendant not guilty of the degree charged, and guilty of any degree inferior thereto, or of an attempt to commit the offense charged; and the defendant may also be found guilty of any offense which is necessarily included in that with which he is charged, whether it be a felony, or a misdemeanor.'

Under the provisions of this statute it has been held that assault and battery are included within an indictment for murder which when requested in writing should be given unless 'inapplicable to or not justified by the facts.' Duncan v. State, 30 Ala.App. 356, 6 So.2d 450; Moore v. State,36 Ala.App. 551, 60 So.2d 708; Keel v. State, 29 Ala.App. 191, 194 So. 416.

If the charge was merely an abstract statement of the law, and not applicable as to the evidence, of course there would be no error in its refusal. Kelly v. State, 235 Ala. 5, 176 So. 807; Duncan v. State,supra.

No matter how slight the evidence may be supporting the defense offered by the appellant, he is entitled to have a correct statement of law given to the jury by the court and the determination of its weight is for the jury. Duncan v. State, supra; Stovall v. State, 34 Ala.App. 610, 42 So.2d 636.

Defendant is entitled to charge on lesser offenses included in the indictment if there is any reasonable theory from the evidence which would support the position. Stovall v. State, 34 Ala.App. 610, 42 So.2d 636. Duncan v. State, supra.

Under the holdings of the above cited authorities, if the appellant did not cause or contribute to the death of the deceased, William James Wells, either by a blow on the head or if he was not a conspirator with anyone else in any action which caused his death, then this charge should have been given.

A brief reference to the evidence will show the State's contention that appellant first appeared at the home of the deceased (Wells) and his common-law wife, Mrs. Audrey Wells, on the morning of May 8, 1971. Appellant had a scuffle with two other men outside of deceased's apartment, after which the other men left. A few minutes later on, as the deceased was seated on a bed in his bedroom in the presence of his wife and Robert Earl Ray, the appellant appeared in the room and struck the deceased on the head with a baseball bat twice; that shortly thereafter Robert Earl Ray knocked the appellant off the bed onto the floor, and thereafter two other persons, Charles Ray and Ben Frank Ray, brothers of Robert Earl Ray, appeared on the scene; that in the meantime, deceased's wife was restrained in the kitchen of the apartment by appellant. She heard sounds from the bedroom of a beating and stomping of the deceased, and when she was...