Coleman v. State
Coleman v. State
Opinion
The defendant was indicted for the first degree murder of Clara Mae Hargrove. Alabama Code 1975, Section 13-1-70. A jury found him guilty of murder in the second degree. Sentence was twenty years' imprisonment.
Here there is no evidence which would support a reasonable inference of self-defense. Although one witness told the police that the defendant was "talking loud" to the deceased, his testimony was clear and uncontradicted that the deceased and the defendant had not been and were not arguing prior to or at the time of the shooting.
The State's evidence reveals that the homicide occurred while the deceased and the defendant were alone in a bathroom. After a shot was heard, the defendant came out and said that he had "accidentally" shot the deceased. Later, he said that someone else had shot the deceased while she stood facing the window. The deceased was killed by a "contact wound" to her forehead.
The defendant presented evidence that the day before the shooting the deceased, who lived with the defendant on weekends, was seen removing a pistol from the headboard of the defendant's bed. The murder weapon was never found.
Considering the evidence, and especially the defendant's statements, if the theory of the killing is that death resulted from the accidental discharge of the pistol over *Page 835
which there had been a scuffle, the question of the intoxication of the deceased was "wholly immaterial" and the questions seeking to elicit such evidence were properly overruled. Harrell,
Also, the theory that someone else fired the fatal shot involves no element of self-defense. Shepard v. State,
Since there was no evidence to support any theory of self-defense, whether or not the deceased was intoxicated was immaterial.
The judgment of the circuit court is affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
All Judges concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Floyd Lee Coleman, Jr. v. State.
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published