Pearson v. State
Pearson v. State
Opinion
This court's opinion of November 29, 1983, is withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted in its place.
Appellant was sentenced to life without parole after being found guilty of robbery in the first degree by a Chilton County Circuit Court jury.
This case involves the armed robbery of the Clanton Holiday Inn in which the desk clerk, who was also a part-time police dispatcher, was shot. The robber pulled a small revolver on the clerk, Mr. Williams, and said, "Don't make me kill you," and started looking into the office safe. Williams pulled his .357 revolver from a desk top, the two struggled, and the clerk was *Page 965 shot in the lower abdomen. The perpetrator pushed Williams off of him, went back to the safe, got a bank money bag with $50 in quarters, took his and Williams's gun and left in a "silvery-green" colored car with a dark top. Williams promptly called the police, described the appellant as well as the car, and asked for medical assistance.
That night, Deputies Payton and Doss of the Shelby County Sheriff's Department received the "BOLO" call and stopped a car fitting the description given travelling north on I-65 from the direction of Clanton. The passenger in the car fit Williams's description of the robber. The deputies had the men get out of the car and Deputy Payton patted down the driver and arrested him on an outstanding traffic warrant. Then Deputy Doss patted down the passenger in the car, who turned out to be Pearson, the appellant. A plastic bag of what appeared to be marijuana was found on him and he was arrested for violation of the Alabama Uniformed Controlled Substances Act. Around 6:00 a.m. the next morning, the deputies returned to the scene of the arrest, looked around and found the money bag with the .357 Magnum revolver and the $50 in quarters inside, about two feet from the guard rail at the side of the interstate. Williams later identified the revolver as his.
Since the appellant and his car fit the description of the robber and the getaway car, there was sufficient evidence to establish the requisite probable cause that appellant had committed a felony. Douglas v. State,
"The primary object of the constitutional provision and question was to prevent depositions or ex parte affidavits . . . being used against a prisoner in lieu of a personal examination and cross-examination of the witness in which the accused has an opportunity, not only of testing the recollection and sifting the conscience of the witness, but of compelling him to stand face to face with the jury in order that they may look at him, and judge by his demeanor upon the stand and the manner in which he gives *Page 966 his testimony whether he is worthy of belief." Cited in Douglas v. Alabama,
380 U.S. 415 ,85 S.Ct. 1074 ,13 L.Ed.2d 934 (1965).
Appellant was not denied the right of confrontation.
Second, it is contended that identification of the appellant as the perpetrator was insufficient. The identification procedure was certainly not so impermissibly suggestive to create a substantial likelihood of irreparable misidentification. See Donahoo v. State,
The U.S. Supreme Court in Neil v. Biggers,
Williams, whose conduct during the robbery was courageous, identified a Polaroid photograph of the appellant the very same night. The description he gave was reasonably accurate. Mr. Williams observed the appellant for 6 to 7 minutes during the course of the robbery. For the most part, this observation was made face-to-face. Every factor in this case weighs in favor of an accurate identification. If the evidence already recited were not absolutely conclusive, it should be noted that appellant's fingerprint was lifted from the .357 Magnum pistol found with the money bag by the side of the road. We do not view it as significant that, in Williams's work as a police radio dispatcher, he later saw the appellant around the jail.
"Any conviction in any jurisdiction including Alabama, shall be considered and determined to be a felony conviction if the conduct made the basis of that conviction constitutes a felony under Act 607, Sec. 130 (4), Acts of Alabama 1977, page 812 (§
13A-1-2 (4), Alabama Criminal Code), or would have constituted a felony under that section had the conduct taken place in Alabama on or after January 1, 1980."
Consequently, the five convictions in Illinois, although they would be treated as one conviction under Illinois law, are to be treated as five separate convictions under Alabama law.
By inference, therefore, we conclude that the state carried the burden of proof as regards these previous felonies, as contemplated by Rule 6, Temp. Rules of Crim. Procedure, specifically Rule 6 (b)(3)(iii), both as to the identity of the perpetrator of the crimes in Illinois and as to the proper use of those prior felonies to enhance punishment. Accordingly, this case is due to be affirmed.
STATE'S PETITION FOR REHEARING GRANTED; APPELLANT'S PETITION FOR REHEARING OVERRULED; RULE 39 (k), A.R.A.P., MOTION DENIED; ORIGINAL OPINION WITHDRAWN; AFFIRMED.
All the Judges concur except BOWEN, P.J., who concurs in result only.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Andrew Pearson v. State.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published