Williams v. State
| Decision Date | 12 August 1977 |
| Citation | 350 So.2d 708 |
| Parties | In re Thomas Niza WILLIAMS v. STATE of Alabama. Ex parte Thomas Niza Williams. SC 2477. |
| Court | Alabama Supreme Court |
Ian F. Gaston, Mobile, for petitioner.
William J. Baxley, Atty. Gen., and David W. Clark, Asst. Atty. Gen., opposed.
Williams allegedly robbed the same store twice. He was tried for armed robbery on a plea of not guilty, was convicted, and was sentenced to 25 years in the State penitentiary. At his trial, Williams took the witness stand only once, and this was on a motion to suppress evidence without the presence of the jury. The Court of Criminal Appeals, 350 So.2d 707, affirmed the conviction, holding that Williams' not guilty plea placed his identity in issue so as to justify admission of the victim's testimony regarding a subsequent robbery of the same store. The court stated:
Williams petitioned for and was granted writ of certiorari on the grounds that the opinion below is in conflict with Mason v. State, 259 Ala. 438, 66 So.2d 557 (1953), and Baker v. State, 19 Ala.App. 437, 97 So. 901 (1923). Pursuant to Rule 39(k) of the Alabama Rules of Appellate Procedure, he also requested addition of "the fact that the State's only eye witness to the robbery in question testified emphatically that she based her identification of the Petitioner solely on his presence in the store the first time that he robbed her."
The issue presented is, does a plea of not guilty, where the defendant offers no other defense, and where the witness made a positive identification based upon her observation of defendant at the first robbery, place his identity in issue, so as to justify admission of a separate and distinct subsequent offense. The answer is no. Admission of evidence of the subsequent robbery is reversible error.
Under our system of criminal law the indictment's purpose is to inform the defendant of the charges, and to limit and make specific the charges he will have to face at trial. If upon the trial of a fixed and separate charge, evidence of other separate and distinct offenses is permitted, the result is that the defendant is actually being tried for a series of crimes. Therefore, the general rule in this State is that evidence of distinct and independent offenses is not admissible in the trial of one accused of a crime. Brasher v. State, 249 Ala. 96, 30 So.2d 31 (1947); Harden v. State, 211 Ala. 656, 101 So. 442 (1924).
The State contends this case falls within the identity exceptions. We disagree. This court said in Mason that there were exceptions to the general rule and summarized them as knowledge, intent, plan or design, motive, identity and inseparable crimes. On the matter of identity, Mason quoted Judge McElroy's The Law of Evidence in Alabama :
" ...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Thigpen v. Thigpen
... ... 1 After exhausting his remedies in state court, 2 Thigpen petitioned the district court for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging several constitutional defects in his conviction and sentence ... Holman Prison, a maximum-security facility ... Page 1006 ... Early in the morning of April 17, Thigpen and another escapee, Pedro Williams, were walking along a dirt road near the prison when they heard a pickup truck approaching and hid in some bushes. When the driver, an elderly ... ...
-
Scott v. State
... ... 476 U.S. at 173, 106 S.Ct. at 1764. Alabama Courts have consistently held likewise. See Williams v. State, 556 So.2d 737 (Ala.Crim.App.1986), rev'd in part, 556 So.2d 744 (Ala.1987) ; Edwards v. State, 515 So.2d 86, 88 (Ala.Crim.App.1987) ; Martin v. State, 494 So.2d 749 (Ala.Crim.App.1985). Lee v. State, 44 So.3d 1145, 116162 (Ala.Crim.App.2009), quoting Sockwell v. State, 675 So.2d ... ...
-
Coleman v. State
... ... Appellant cites Williams v. State, 350 So.2d 708 (Ala.1977), in support of his contention. The trial court admitted the testimony as being of the res gestae and constituting a continuing course of conduct. The trial court in admitting the testimony apparently relied on our holding in Summers v. State, 348 So.2d 1126 ... ...
-
Copeland v. State
... ... State, supra; Thomas v. State, supra; Hayes v. State, 384 So.2d 623 (Ala.Cr.App.1979), cert. quashed, 384 So.2d 627 (Ala.1980); Breen v. State, supra ... In the present case, the appellant's identity was placed in issue by his alibi defense. Thomas v. State, supra; Williams v. State, 350 So.2d 708 (Ala.1977). The similarities between the prior rape and the rape the appellant is now charged with easily meet the standard for admission of collateral crimes. In particular, the two incidents were committed in the same neighborhood, in fact, on the same street. The ... ...