Jackson v. State
Jackson v. State
Opinion
Appellant, Carnel Jackson, was indicted April 17, 1981, in a three-count indictment, under the Alabama Death Penalty Act, 1975 Ala. Acts 213 (September 9, 1975), for robbery or an attempt thereof when the victim is intentionally killed, rape when the victim is intentionally killed, and murder in the first degree wherein two or more human beings are intentionally killed by one or a series of acts. §§ 13A-5-31(a)(2), (3), and (10), Code of Alabama (Supp. 1978) (repealed 1981).1
This case arose out of an incident involving Myra Faye Tucker and her husband, Terry Wayne Tucker, which occurred on *Page 649 January 17, 1981. The bodies of the Tuckers were discovered on an old mining road in Jefferson County, Alabama, on that date. They had been murdered where they were found, had been dead only a few hours, and had been killed by shotgun blasts. A few days thereafter, Jackson, Jerry Steven Godbolt,2 and Wayne Anthony Agee3 were arrested and charged with the crime.
The case was tried before a jury, and on November 19, 1981, the jury returned a verdict of guilty of two of the capital offenses charged in the indictment, i.e., rape when the victim is intentionally killed, and murder in the first degree when two or more human beings are intentionally killed by one or a series of acts, §§ 13A-5-31(a)(3) and (10). The count of the indictment charging robbery when the victim is intentionally killed was removed from the jury's consideration by the granting of a motion for a judgment of acquittal due to failure of proof. A sentencing determining hearing was held in accordance with Beck v. State,
On appeal, we affirmed. Jackson v. State,
The instant appeal is from appellant's second trial on the two counts of the indictment *Page 650
upon which he had been previously convicted, i.e., the rape and intentional killing of Myra Faye Tucker, § 13A-5-31(a)(3), and the intentional killing of Myra Faye Tucker and Terry Wayne Tucker by one or a series of acts, § 13A-5-31(a)(10), wherein he was convicted again after a jury trial on both counts as charged. The second trial was conducted in accordance with the bifurcated procedures outlined in Beck v. State. After a sentencing hearing, the jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without parole, the vote being nine for life without parole and three for death. The trial court then held a separate hearing and, after weighing the aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and considering the recommendation of the jury, sentenced appellant, on May 6, 1988, to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. From this second conviction and sentence, appellant prosecutes this appeal. It is unnecessary to restate the general facts of the case. They are fully set out in Jackson,
We have thoroughly reviewed the totality of the circumstances surrounding the confession, and we are again convinced that the confession was voluntarily given after a knowing and intelligent waiver, by appellant, of his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. No new facts have developed nor have there been any changes in the law that would cause us to change our previous opinion. We reaffirm and adopt our opinion previously rendered on this issue in the first appeal. Id. at 741-46. We find that appellant's confession was properly admitted into evidence.
Appellant argues in his brief that, because he was a juvenile at the time of his confession, it should not have been admitted into evidence without a showing that an attorney was present representing him at the time the confession was made. He cites §§ 12-15-1(3)(a) and (b), Code of Alabama 1975, and Bracewellv. State,
"Q. [Prosecutor to Officer Gay]: And, did you also take a statement from Jerry Godbolt and Wayne Agee in this case?
"A. Yes, sir. I did.
*Page 651"Q. And, based on the statements that you took from them, did you arrest Carnel Jackson?
"MR. TURBERVILLE [Defense Counsel]: Your Honor, I object to that. That is hearsay, and I ask that [it] be stricken.
"THE COURT: It would probably be unwise to go into the foundation of the arrest. It would be full of, perhaps, impermissible things."MR. TURBERVILLE: And ask for a mistrial based on that.
"THE COURT: No, sir, I can't do that.
"MR. TURBERVILLE: Ask the jury not to consider it.
"THE COURT: Well, I sustained the objection, Dan. And there was no response before I sustained the objection.
"MR. TURBERVILLE: Well, the question, your Honor, is so prejudicial that I would like to — just the mere question — and the prosecutor knows in pulling that out —
"THE COURT: Well, I will try to talk to them a little bit. You understand, as you know from yesterday, the day before, the lawyers are advocates. They are down there making objections to things that they believe are inadmissible, and I make the call.
"And if I sustain an objection and there is no answer, it is just as though the question were never asked.
"Is that fair enough? Can you live with that? Good.
"MR. TURBERVILLE: Judge, in all due respect, I am not being facetious, but if someone ran through here naked and you asked them to put it out of their mind, they couldn't do it.
"THE COURT: That would be different, wouldn't it? That would be a little bit different.
"MR. LOFTIN: I have no further questions of Sergeant Gay."
Appellant contends that the prosecutor's question placed an inference, in the minds of the jurors, that the co-defendants had implicated him in the crimes charged. He argues that the question impliedly injects a nontestifying co-defendant's extrajudicial statement inculpating him, violating his right of confrontation. However, the trial court sustained appellant's objection to the question. The question was never answered. In addition, the trial court properly instructed the jury to disregard the question by instructing that, when the court sustained an objection to a question before it was answered, "it is just as though the question were never asked."
We do not believe that the question objected to here created a situation so prejudicial that it could not have been eradicated from the minds of the jury. We believe that the action of the trial judge removed any possible prejudice that might have arisen as a result of the question. See Minor v.State,
Appellant more particularly questions the accuracy of the deformities. Here, Sergeant Gay testified that the photograph accurately depicted Godbolt's deformities. Even appellant's own witness, Marvin Mabry, identified the photograph as that of Godbolt. The admission of photographic evidence rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. Updyke v. State, *Page 652
For the above reasons, this case is due to be, and it is hereby, affirmed.
AFFIRMED.
All Judges concur.
"Although we know that the United States Supreme Court has not yet ruled on whether Batson v. Kentucky is to be applied retroactively, this court does not need to await revelation from the federal judiciary when our own state constitution also guarantees to a criminal defendant the equal protection of the laws. Sections 1, 6, and 22, Ala. Const. 1901, combine to guarantee equal protection of the laws."
516 So.2d at 772. Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court did hold that Batson would be applied retroactively to all cases pending on direct review. Griffith v. Kentucky,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Carnel Jackson v. State.
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