Thomas v. State
Thomas v. State
Opinion
Cedric Thomas, the appellant, was charged in a two-count indictment with noncapital murder and robbery. After a jury verdict of guilt on each count, the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment for each offense. The State's evidence tended to show that Thomas was an accomplice, along with one Calvin Turner and others, in the robbery and murder of eighty-two year old Mrs. Mae Bell Wright of Gadsden. Aside from independent testimony that Thomas pawned some of Mrs. Wright's jewelry shortly after her murder, the primary evidence linking him to the robbery and murder consisted of the following statement he gave to the Gadsden police:
"I am making this statement in regards to the death of Mrs. Wright on Ewing Ave. Gadsden, Alabama. I am making this statement in the presence of Lt. O'Bryant and Sgt. C.D. Hopper after having my rights explained to me. I understand each and every one of my rights as they were explained. On Thursday March 31, 1983, I was at home in the 6th Street project. I came out at approximately 6:30 P.M. I looked across the street and saw Crump and Fish tank outside Peggy Patterson's apartment. Crump had a big stick in his hand. Crump and Peggy was arguing and were cursing each other. Crump and Fishtank turned and walked out to the basketball court and stayed for a few minutes. They came back in a few minutes and Fishtank told me that he knew where we could make a lick. I asked him where and he said in North Ga. I asked him if there was any money and he said Yes, a bunch. I told him that we would go and check it out. I looked and saw that Davey Moore was parked in the parking bay in a Blue 65 Chev. Davey was driving and Fish Tank got in the front. Me and Crump got in the back seat. We left there and drove up Ewing Ave. We drove up to Crest Ave. (Dirt Road). It had already been decided that Crump and Fish tank was going in the house. On Crest we let Fish Tank and Crump out of the car and me and Davey went to Cleaners Hangers and Parked. Davey said we would wait on them there. It was some where between 10:00-11:00 P.M. when they went inside the house. It seemed as if they was in the house about 25-30 minutes. Fish Tank and Crump came running back to the car and they were give out. They both jumped in the back seat and Fish tank said We may be in trouble. When he said this it scared me because I knew he had done something. We left there and went back to the projects. Fish tank and Crump had some purses with them. When we got back to the projects, I jumped him about my money and Fish tank gave me a $20.00 bill and three rings. I got out of the car and Fish tank, Davey and Crump left. The next day I took two of the rings and pawned them in my own name at Jakes. I got $15.00 for the two rings. About a week later I ran into Fish tank and cracked him about what he done to the old lady. He said he hadn't killed any Damn body and didn't know what he was talking about. Fish tank hit me with a iron pipe. He has been going around in the projects saying he was going to kill me. I have not talked to Crump or Davey since the killing. This statement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and no threats or promises have been made to get me to make this statement. It is being typed for me by Lt. O'Bryant."
The indictment follows the language of §
The State was not required to indict Thomas for felony-murder pursuant to §
Widespread publicity, without more, does not entitle the accused to a change of venue. McCray v. State,
Thomas was charged specifically with intentionally causing the death of Mrs. Wright. The section under which *Page 903
Thomas was indicted provides that a person commits the crime of murder if "[w]ith intent to cause the death of another person he causes the death of that person or of another person." §
The trial judge charged:
"A person commits the crime of murder if he causes the death of another person and in performing the act or acts which cause the death of the person he intends to kill that person or if he commits or attempts to commit robbery in any degree and in the course — And in the furtherance of that — Of the crime that he is committing or attempting to commit or in immediate flight therefrom he or another participant causes the death of any person.
"To sustain the charge of murder in this case the State by the evidence must prove beyond a reasonable doubt each of the following elements of the offense: That Cedric Thomas — No, that Mae Bell Wright, the deceased is dead, and, second, that the Defendant, Cedric Devon Thomas or another participant caused the death of Mae Bell Wright and that is, that she died as a result of strangulation as charged in the indictment, which was caused by the Defendant or another participant at the time of her death."
This was blatant error. The trial judge instructed the jury that they could find Thomas guilty of the intentional murder charged in the indictment if they found that he eitherintentionally killed Mrs. Wright or that he or another caused her death in the commission of the robbery.
A comparison of the above portion of the judge's charge with Alabama's felony-murder doctrine codified at §
An oral instruction on subsection (3) felony-murder constitutes a fatal variance from an indictment charging subsection (1) intentional murder unless felony-murder can be deemed a lesser-included offense of intentional murder. See Exparte Washington,
It is clear that murder during the course of a robbery as specified in §
The Court's references to felony-murder were not harmless here because liability under §
Thus, the jury may have convicted Thomas of murder without finding that he had the intent to kill Mrs. Wright. Relying on the court's charge that they could find Thomas guilty of murder if they determined that he or another participant killed the victim in the course of robbing her, the jury would have been authorized to convict Thomas of a crime not charged in the indictment. In finding error we have applied the same analysis and reasoning as *Page 904 did our Supreme Court in Washington, supra.
The judgment of conviction is reversed and the cause remanded to the Etowah Circuit Court.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
All Judges concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Cedric Thomas, Alias Cedric D. Thomas, Alias Cedric Devon Thomas v. State.
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published