Henderson v. State
Henderson v. State
Opinion
This is a consolidated appeal resulting from the appellant's conviction of the following crimes against D.V.: 1) burglary in the first degree, in violation of §
In Ex parte Grayson,
"Absent a showing of abuse of discretion, a trial court's ruling on a motion for change of venue will not be overturned. Ex parte Magwood,
426 So.2d 929 ,931 (Ala.), cert. denied,462 U.S. 1124 ,103 S.Ct. 3097 ,77 L.Ed.2d 1355 (1983). In order to grant a motion for change of venue, the defendant must prove that there existed actual prejudice against the defendant or that the community was saturated with prejudicial publicity. Sheppard v. Maxwell,384 U.S. 333 ,86 S.Ct. 1507 ,16 L.Ed.2d 600 (1966); Franklin v. State,424 So.2d 1353 (Ala.Crim.App. 1982). Newspaper articles or widespread publicity, without more, are insufficient to grant a motion for change of venue. Anderson v. State,362 So.2d 1296 ,1298 (Ala.Crim.App. 1978). As the Supreme Court explained in Irvin v. Dowd,366 U.S. 717 ,723 ,81 S.Ct. 1639 ,1642-43 ,6 L.Ed.2d 751 (1961);" 'To hold that the mere existence of any preconceived notion as to the guilt or innocence of an accused, without more, is sufficient to rebut the presumption of a prospective juror's impartiality would be to establish an impossible standard. It is sufficient if the juror can lay aside his impression or opinion and render a verdict based on the evidence presented in court. . . .'
"The standard of fairness does not require jurors to be totally ignorant of the facts and issues involved. Murphy v. Florida,
421 U.S. 794 ,799-800 ,95 S.Ct. 2031 ,2035-2036 ,44 L.Ed.2d 589 (1975). Thus, e'[t]he proper manner for ascertaining whether adverse publicity may have biased the prospective jurors is through the voir dire examination.' Anderson v. State,362 So.2d 1296 ,1299 (Ala.Crim.App. 1978)."
The record indicates that the appellant called as a witness an employee at a local television station in an attempt to prove that pretrial publicity had saturated the community. The record further indicates, however, that that particular witness testified that the appellant's case had been reported as a routine news story by his station and had not been inordinately publicized. More importantly, the voir dire of the prospective jurors was not made a part of the record. Thus, the appellant failed to prove that he was actually prejudiced by pretrial publicity. See Irvin v. Dowd,
The appellant's argument is unsupported by the record. The record indicates that the trial court granted the appellant's motion for an independent examination but denied a request for funding of that examination. Prior to the filing of this motion, the appellant was examined by a psychiatrist provided by the State. That psychiatrist testified that the appellant did not exhibit any psychotic symptoms. Moreover, the trial court, in a pretrial hearing on the motion, determined that the appellant possessed the ability to communicate with his attorney and that he understood the proceedings against him.West v. State,
On McLeod v. State,
"A motion for a continuance is addressed to the sound discretion of the trial court, and his decision will not be overturned on appeal absent a showing of abuse of that discretion. Fletcher v. State,
291 Ala. 67 ,68 ,277 So.2d 882 ,883 (1973). Where a motion for continuance is made on the ground that a witness or evidence is absent, however, the motion should be granted if the following criteria are met:" '(1) the expected evidence must be material and competent; (2) there must be a probability that the evidence will be forthcoming if the case is continued; and (3) the moving party must have exercised due diligence to secure the evidence.' "
"Ex parte Saranthus,
501 So.2d 1256 ,1257 (Ala. 1986), quoted in Reese v. State,549 So.2d 148 ,151 (Ala.Cr.App. 1989)."
See also McFarland v. State,
Because the appellant has failed to show that the denial of the motion for a continuance prejudiced him, the judgment of the trial court on that issue is affirmed.
Officers DeVane and Shirah took the appellant to the hospital to have a rape kit examination. Although the appellant was under arrest and had been given the Miranda warnings as per Miranda v. Arizona,
In Bradley v. State,
"[B]efore the [Miranda] warnings need be given, it must be established that the subject was both 'in custody' and under 'interrogation' by police officers. . . . [I]n order to be in custody, an individual must be subject to "formal arrest or restraint in freedom of movement of the degree associated with a formal arrest." ' "
In West v. State,
" 'Incriminating statements made in the course of casual conversation are not the products of a custodial interrogation.' United States v. Satterfield,
743 F.2d 827 ,849 (11th Cir. 1984). Volunteered statements are not rendered inadmissible in the absence of Miranda warnings. See McWilliams [v. State], supra [476 So.2d 1244 ] at 1245-46 [(Ala.Cr.App. 1985)]; Stahl [v. State], supra [426 So.2d 909 ] at 914 [(Ala.Cr.App. 1982)]; Satterfield, supra at 849. The trial court committed no error by admitting the appellant's volunteered statement. Shewey v. State,48 Ala. App. 730 ,267 So.2d 520 (1972); Bills v. State,49 Ala. App. 726 ,275 So.2d 706 (1973); Ala. Digest, Criminal Law, Key No. 412.1(1).' "
" 'The granting of a mistrial is an extreme measure and should be exercised only when manifestly necessary or when the ends of justice would otherwise be defeated.' Free v. State,
495 So.2d 1147 ,1157 (Ala.Crim.App. 1986). The grant or denial of a motion for mistrial lies within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be reversed absent a clear abuse of discretion. Free; Favor v. State,389 So.2d 556 (Ala.Crim.App. 1980)."
The record reveals that the prosecutor did show the jury a pair of ladies' white panties. Defense counsel's objections were sustained on grounds of relevancy. No curative instruction was sought, however. Desimer v. State,
"In the present case, there is no showing that the appellant was unduly prejudiced by the jury's viewing the weapons. In Benford v. State,
435 So.2d 1327 (Ala.Cr.App. 1981)e, the appellant argued that because the jury had an opportunity to view a weapon and a glove, which were not admitted into evidence, he was entitled to a mistrial. This court, however, was not persuaded that the action resulted in any prejudice to the appellant, nor are we persuaded in the instant case that the appellant was prejudiced." 'An error that might have been prejudicial in a close case does not require reversal when the evidence of the defendant's guilt is strong. Further, in such a case the defendant must show that the trial court's error was, in fact, prejudicial to him. Moreover, before a criminal conviction is to be reversed, it must appeal to the court that the error complained of has probably injuriously affected the substantial rights of the defendant.' "
Here, as in Gray, supra, the appellant failed to show that the error complained of injuriously affected any of his substantial rights. Therefore, we conclude that the appellant was not prejudiced by the jury's seeing the ladies' underwear, although it was never admitted into evidence.
Our examination of the record indicates that the prosecutor's comments were not made a part of the record. It is the duty of the appellant to submit a complete record. Abbott v.State,
The evidence presented by the State tended to show that the victim was dressing for a party when the appellant burglarized her home, put a knife to her throat, and proceeded to drag her outside, where he then raped and sodomized her at knifepoint.
Section
"(a) A person commits the crime of kidnapping in the second degree if he abducts another person.
"(b) A person does not commit a crime under this section if:
"(1) The abduction is not coupled with intent to use or to threaten to use deadly force,
"(2) The actor is a relative of the person abducted, and,
"(3) The actor's sole purpose is to assume lawful control of that person.
"The burden of injecting the issue of defense under this subsection is on the defendant, but this does not shift the burden of proof.
"(c) Kidnapping in the second degree is a Class B felony."
"Abduction is defined at §
"(2) Abduct. To restrain a person with intent to prevent his liberation by either:
"a. Secreting or holding him in a place where he is not likely to be found, or
"b. Using or threatening to use deadly physical force."
In Newton v. State,
"In order to establish kidnapping in the second degree, the State must show that the accused prevented the liberation of the victim either by the use of or threat or use of deadly physical force, or with intent to secrete the victim in a place where she was not likely to be found. The State does not have to prove both."
Here, the State established that the appellant threatened to use physical force against the victim. Thus, the State did not have to show the appellant's intent to secretly confine the victim. Accordingly, there was sufficient evidence to find the appellant guilty of kidnapping in the second degree.
The record indicates, however, that the appellant failed to preserve these issues for appellate review by way of objection or a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. Toles v.State,
The record indicates that the trial judge orally sentenced the appellant to 20 years' imprisonment on the kidnapping conviction. However, the case action summary sheet indicates that the appellant was sentenced to 90 years' imprisonment.
It is well stated that "recitals in the judgment or minute entries impart absolute veracity unless contradicted by other portions of the record." Harper v. City of Troy,
REMANDED FOR PROPER SENTENCING.
All Judges concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- David Charles Henderson v. State.
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published