Worthington v. State

• Decision Date: 09 September 1994
• Citation: 652 So.2d 790
• Parties: Miguel Rudy WORTHINGTON v. STATE. CR 93-825.
• Court: Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals

Page 790

652 So.2d 790

Miguel Rudy WORTHINGTON v. STATE.

CR 93-825.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

Sept. 9, 1994.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 21, 1994.

Certiorari Denied Jan. 6, 1995

Alabama Supreme Court 1940188.

William Willingham, Talladega, for appellant.

James H. Evans, Atty. Gen., and Steve Willoughby, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee.

BOWEN, Presiding Judge.

Miguel Rudy Worthington, the appellant, was convicted of the intentional murder of David Marler and was sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. He raises six issues on this direct appeal from that conviction.

I.

The appellant asserts that the statements he made to the arresting officer prior to the time he was advised of his Miranda ¹ rights were improperly admitted into evidence. Those comments directed the police to the bloodstained clothes worn by the appellant on November 13, 1992, during the commission of the murder.

The appellant was arrested in Florida by Corporal Lonel Daniels of the Santa Rosa County, Florida Sheriff's Department based on an Alabama warrant charging the appellant with murder. Corporal Daniels' son, Billy, was a friend of the appellant's. Daniels arrested the appellant while the appellant was walking on the road in front of Corporal Daniels' house. Daniels testified that he placed the appellant in his patrol car and that the appellant

"asked me if I would do him a favor. And I told him I would try. Not knowing what it was I said I would try. He advised me at that time that he had put some clothing, personal clothes on Panhandle Trail. He said that is near the end of the first road, he said behind a telephone post. And he asked me if I could pick them up for him since he was going to jail. I told him I would look for them and try to do so.

"At that time he said also that there was some clothing that he had that had blood on it, he said is up under the bridge at Gulf Breeze. The bridge going over. He said, 'It's under the plastic there.' He said, 'I have them in a bag.' He said, 'I put them under there and I marked an X on the wall.' He said, 'I marked an X where they were."

"....

"And when he got through with that, I said, 'Miguel, if I were you I wouldn't answer any more questions until after you have been advised of your rights.' Which at that time he said, 'I don't have anything else to say.' " R. 226-28.

"Miranda has never been held to apply to statements voluntarily made by defendants. If a defendant spontaneously volunteers information, either before or after being given the Miranda warnings, those statements need not be suppressed." United States v. Edwards, 885 F.2d 377, 387 (7th Cir.1989). See also Crawford v. State, 479 So.2d 1349, 1352 (Ala.Cr.App.1985) ("An unsolicited remark, not in response to any interrogation, does not fall within the Miranda rule"); United States v. Lawrence, 952 F.2d 1034, 1036 (8th Cir.) ("The protections afforded a suspect under [Miranda ] apply only when the suspect is both in custody and being interrogated. A voluntary statement made by a suspect, not in response to interrogation, is not barred by the Fifth Amendment and is admissible with or without the giving of Miranda warnings."), cert. denied, 503 U.S. 1011, 112 S.Ct. 1777, 118 L.Ed.2d 434 (1992).

"Any statement given freely and voluntarily without any compelling influences is, of course, admissible in evidence. The fundamental import of the privilege while an individual is in custody is not whether he is allowed to talk to the police without the benefit of warnings and counsel, but whether he can be interrogated.... Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by [the holding in Miranda ]."

Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 478, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1630, 16 L.Ed.2d 694 (1966). See also Britton v. State, 631 So.2d 1073, 1078 (Ala.Cr.App.1993); Williams v. State, 601 So.2d 1062, 1072 (Ala.Cr.App.1991). The appellant's statement and the bloodstained clothes found as a result of the appellant's statement were admissible evidence.

II.

The appellant argues that the State failed to present a prima facie case of murder. He contends that the State's case was based solely on circumstantial evidence too weak to uphold a conviction, because, he says, the only testimony that connected the appellant with the murder was the testimony of the victim's brother, William Marler, who the appellant alleges was intoxicated at the time of the incident; the State did not produce a murder weapon; and the autopsy did not prove that the victim's death resulted from injuries received in a stabbing. Additionally, the appellant contends that the evidence established that he acted in self-defense.

In Harris v. State, 649 So.2d 1315, 1321-22 (Ala.Cr.App.1994), this Court set forth the legal principles governing the review of a conviction based on circumstantial evidence. Applying those principles in this case, we find that the appellant's conviction is supported by considerable evidence, both direct and circumstantial. An eyewitness (the brother of the victim) identified the appellant as the person whom he saw repeatedly stabbing the victim, who was unarmed, with a knife. The credibility of that witness was a question for the jury. The appellant's sister-in-law testified that the appellant confided that "he had gotten into a fight" and that he "thought he cut" the victim. R. 327. Corporal Daniels testified as to incriminating statements made by the appellant.

Additionally, there was evidence that the appellant was at the scene of the murder and that he and the victim had been arguing. Pants belonging to the appellant were stained with the blood of the same type as that of the victim. The victim suffered several cut and stab wounds consistent with wounds caused by a knife. Some wounds sustained by the victim appeared to be defensive wounds.

"A jury is not bound by the testimony of the only eyewitness, otherwise it would be impossible to obtain a conviction where an accused is the only witness to a crime. Circumstantial evidence will support a conviction as strongly as direct evidence provided it points to the guilt of the accused. Kelsoe v. State, Ala.Cr.App., 356 So.2d 735 (1978)."

Bufford v. State, 382 So.2d 1162, 1170 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 382 So.2d 1175 (Ala.1980). The appellant's argument that the State failed to present a prima facie case of intentional murder is without merit.

The appellant attempted to portray the victim to the jury as drunk and aggressive on the night of the homicide. The appellant testified that the victim threatened him. However, the appellant could not remember exactly what occurred that night. He testified:

"[I]f I actually picked up [a knife] on the [kitchen counter] at that time, I don't know. Because, by about that time we were meeting. It was just seconds, if that.... All I really remember is I had my left hand on his shoulder and I had my right hand up like this. Now, if I had--I don't know if I had a knife in my hand. I would like to know if I had a knife in my hand."

______

"... [T]he next thing I really remember is I'm [lying] on the floor and William was on top of me and telling me to let go of the knife. And at which time I looked in my right hand and I had a knife in my hand." R. 394, 389.

" ' " 'The weight and credence given the testimony of the accused as to the issue of self-defense is a question for the jury.' Garraway v. State, 337 So.2d 1349, 1353 (Ala.Cr.App.1976)." ' " Brooks v. State, 630 So.2d 160, 162 (Ala.Cr.App.1993). " ' "The issue of self-defense invariably presents a question for the jury whose verdict will not be disturbed on appeal. '[E]ven if the evidence of self-defense is undisputed, the credibility of the defendant with respect to the evidence of self-defense is for the jury, and [it] may, in [its] discretion, accept it as true or reject it.' Mack v. State, 348 So.2d 524, 529 (Ala.Cr.App.1977)." ' " Brooks v. State, 630 So.2d 160, 162 (Ala.Cr.App.1993).

The question of the appellant's guilt has been decided by a jury, which apparently rejected the appellant's claim that he was acting in self-defense when he killed the victim. "When the jury's verdict is supported by the evidence, this court's function is not to reweigh the evidence or [to] substitute its judgment for that of the jury." Gayle v. State, 616 So.2d 378, 380 (Ala.Cr.App.1993).

III.

The appellant contends that the trial court abused its discretion in permitting State's rebuttal witness Steven David Woodle to testify regarding an altercation he had had with the appellant during which the appellant used a knife as a weapon. The trial court ruled that the testimony had already been "testified to." R. 473. " 'A defendant cannot complain of the admission of improper evidence when he himself has testified to the same facts.' Lewis v. State ex rel. Evans, 387 So.2d 795, 807 (Ala.1980)." Rowe v. State, 522 So.2d 328, 330 (Ala.Cr.App.1988).

During appellant's cross-examination of Deputy Mike McBurnett, the appellant introduced a copy of the police "radio log" for October 8, 1992. McBurnett explained that the log reflected that on October 8, Anita Anglin Worthington, the appellant's wife, had telephoned the police complaining that there was a disturbance at the victim's residence and that a weapon was involved. R. 205. At the appellant's request, the police log was admitted into evidence. R. 204.

The appellant testified on direct examination that on October 8, 1992, he had had an altercation with the victim at a party at the victim's house and that Billy Anglin (the appellant's brother-in-law) had had to restrain the victim to prevent the victim from attacking the appellant. R. 397-99. On cross-examination, the appellant testified that later the same evening someone who had been at the party "beat up" Billy Anglin. R. 401. The defense did not object to the State's asking the appellant if he had "already pulled a knife ... and slash[ed] it at ... David [Wood...