Yeomans v. State

Decision Date27 February 2004
PartiesJames Donald YEOMANS v. STATE of Alabama.
CourtAlabama Court of Criminal Appeals

John L. Knowles, Geneva, for appellant.

Troy King and William H. Pryor, Jr., attys. gen., and Regina F. Speagle, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

COBB, Judge.1

James Donald Yeomans was convicted of four counts of capital murder following the beating and shooting deaths of his wife, Julie Ann Yeomans, and her parents, Jake and Sylvia Simmons; he was sentenced to death. This appeal followed. We remand with directions for further proceedings.

On January 20, 2000, James Donald Yeomans was indicted for four counts of capital murder for the November 22, 1999, deaths of his wife and her parents. Specifically, he was charged with three counts of capital murder under § 13A-5-40(a)(10), Ala.Code 1975, for killing two or more persons during one course of conduct. He was also charged with one count of murder during the course of a robbery, § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Ala.Code 1975, for killing Julie Ann Yeomans during the course of the theft of her purse and its contents, while using force against Julie and/or her parents. Yeomans pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. Pursuant to defense motions that were granted by the trial court, two mental-health experts conducted psychological evaluations of Yeomans. After a jury trial, which began on March 26, 2001, Yeomans was convicted of all four counts of capital murder. The jury then recommended, by a vote of 11-1, that the death sentence be imposed. On July 18, 2001, following a separate sentencing hearing, the judge adjudicated Yeomans guilty of four counts of capital murder and imposed the death sentence as to each count. Yeomans filed a motion styled "Motion for Judgment of Acquittal Notwithstanding the Verdict" and a motion for a new trial. Those motions were denied.2

Jody Simmons, the 21-year-old son of victims Jake and Sylvia Simmons and the sister of victim Julie Yeomans,3 testified that in November 1999, when the murders occurred, he was 20 years old and was living at home with his parents. He left the house at 6:30 a.m. on the day of the murders, a Monday, leaving his parents, Julie, and her three children in the kitchen. Julie and the children had spent the previous night with their parents, he said. He returned home at 11:30 a.m. to have lunch, and he noticed that a window on his mother's automobile had been broken. When he entered through the back door of the house he immediately noticed that a shotgun, which was usually kept in a bedroom closet, was lying across a chair in the den near the back door. As Jody walked into the house, he saw his mother's purse on the table, so he walked toward the living room to see whether anyone else was home. He then saw his mother just inside the living room doorway, covered in blood. His father was on the living room floor, also covered in blood. Jody left the house and drove to the police station; he had not seen the body of his sister, Julie. He did not return to the house that day.

On cross-examination, Jody stated that Julie had been married to another man before she married Yeomans. She and her first husband had two children, Casey and Brandon. She and Yeomans had a daughter, Lee Ann, who was two years old at the time of the murders.

Baxter Etheridge testified that on the morning of the murders he traveled past the Simmons house between 7:30 and 8:00 a.m. As he passed by the house, he saw a young woman jump off a small porch and push a tall, slender man so hard that he was almost knocked down. Etheridge stated that after he drove for approximately one mile, he turned his vehicle around to drive past the house again to be sure that everything was all right. When he passed the house again, he saw the young woman standing beside a car; it appeared to him that she might have been crying. He did not see the tall, slender man or anyone else at that time. Etheridge testified that he turned his vehicle around again in order to continue in the direction he had originally been traveling that morning. When he passed by the Simmons house the third time, a few minutes after his second pass by the house, he did not see the woman standing by the car, but he saw someone in the doorway of the house. It appeared that the person was backing into the house and was pulling something into the house with him. Officer Keith Galloway of the Geneva Police Department testified that at 1:22 a.m., several hours before the murders, he saw Yeomans and his teenaged son walking on a rural road. Galloway stopped Yeomans to ask what he was doing out there at that time of night, and Yeomans told him he was going to see his brother-in-law to get a ride to work. Galloway thought his answer was odd, because he knew that Yeomans worked at Outdoor Aluminum, and Yeomans had already walked past that business by the time Galloway stopped him.

Marion Spivey testified that at approximately 7:00 a.m. on the day of the murders, he was driving a tractor on the road behind the Simmons house. He saw Jake and Sylvia Simmons and Julie and James Yeomans talking in the front yard. He saw a small child standing behind the adults. He did not see anyone pushing anyone else, and he did not hear anyone shouting.

Casey Rogers testified that he was nine years old and that his mother was Julie Yeomans. He was eight years old when his mother was killed, and that he had been living with his mother, his younger brother and sister, and James Yeomans. Yeomans's two sons, Alan and Donald, were also living with them. Casey said that Yeomans and his mother argued and fought on Saturday night before the murders. He did not know whether his mother hit Yeomans, but he thought "a couple of licks was passed." (R. 491.) Casey testified that his mother pulled a knife on Yeomans and told him that he had better stay away from her. Casey said that he thought that his mother was injured that night.

On Sunday morning, Casey's grandparents, Jake and Sylvia Simmons, came to the Yeomanses' residence. Casey said that he was playing with a triangle-shaped "football" made from a piece of notebook paper. Before Casey and his four-year-old brother, Brandon, left with their grandparents, Julie took Casey's paper football and told him that she wanted to write his name in it. When Casey got into his grandparent's car, he unfolded the paper football because his mother often drew pictures for him on such occasions. This time, Julie had written him a note, Casey said. The note instructed Casey to say nothing to his grandparents about what had happened between her and Yeomans until they had left the yard. Sylvia Simmons took the note from Casey and put it in her purse.

After the Simmons left the Yeomanses' residence with Casey and Brandon, they drove to the police station. After the grandparents spoke to the police, they went to the Simmonses' residence. Sometime later, on Sunday evening, Julie arrived at her parents' home and she brought Lee Ann, Casey's younger half-sister, with her. Julie and the three children spent the night with the Simmonses.

Casey testified that all of the family members were awake and in the kitchen on Monday morning when his Uncle Jody went to work. Casey said that the rest of the family intended to enroll him in the local school that morning. Casey, Brandon, and Lee Ann were in the backseat of their grandparent's automobile, he said, and his mother and grandparents were coming outside to get into the car. Yeomans and his son, Alan, appeared from behind the carport. Yeomans told Julie that he wanted her and Lee Ann to come home with him. Casey said that his mother refused and she told Yeomans that "she was tired of being beaten on...." (R. 502.) Yeomans then told Julie to get Lee Ann and her belongings and he would take her home. Casey said that Julie refused Yeomans's request, and the two argued and yelled.

Casey testified that his grandfather said he was going to get his shotgun and walked toward the house. Yeomans told Alan to block the door, and he did. Casey said that Alan and Jake "tied up and wrestled and fell down the stairs and stuff." (R. 503.) Casey said that, somehow, Yeomans got his mother and grandmother into the house. The three children had remained in the car during this time.

Casey and Brandon then got out of the car. At Casey's direction, the car doors were locked with Lee Ann inside. Casey explained, "I just wanted to keep her as safe as I could because I didn't think she wanted to see what was going to happen." (R. 504.) Casey and Brandon then ran toward the house. Jake and Alan were still wrestling in the yard.

When Casey entered the house, he saw his grandmother on floor. He knew she had been hurt because her glasses were broken and had fallen off and blood was "coming out of her face." (R. 505.) Casey asked where his mother was, and his grandmother pointed toward the hallway. Casey went to his mother, who was on the floor "with blood coming out of her head." (R. 506.) Casey hugged her and got blood on his shirt, he said. Yeomans told Casey and Brandon to sit on the couch, and they did. Casey said that he and Brandon were crying and that Brandon was screaming, so Yeomans told them, while brandishing a metal pipe, to shut up or they would be next. Casey had previously seen the metal pipe in his grandparents' front yard. Yeomans went outside, and Casey went to check on his mother. He asked Julie what had happened and she told Casey that Yeomans had hit her. Casey asked what Yeomans had hit her with, because he knew Yeomans could not have hit her that hard with his hand and because he had not seen Yeomans hit his mother. Julie did not answer Casey's questions, so he returned to the couch.

Casey testified that he saw Yeomans drag Jake Simmons by the hand up the porch stairs and into the house. He then saw Yeomans hit his grandfather on the head with the pipe. Casey said that he and Brandon remained on...

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