Stallings v. State
Stallings v. State
Opinion
The appellant, Harold V. Stallings, was convicted of first-degree robbery, a violation of §
"(a) A person commits the crime of robbery in the first degree if he violates Section
13A-8-43 and he:"(1) Is armed with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument; or
"(2) Causes serious physical injury to another.
"(b) Possession then and there of an article used or fashioned in a manner to lead any person who is present reasonably to believe it to be a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument, or any verbal or other representation by the defendant that he is then and there so armed, is prima facie evidence under subsection (a) of this section that he was so armed."
Section
"(a) A person commits the crime of robbery in the third degree if in the course of committing a theft he:
"(1) Uses force against the person of the owner or any person present with intent to overcome his physical resistance or physical power of resistance; or
"(2) Threatens the imminent use of force against the person of the owner or any person present with intent to compel acquiescence to the taking of or escaping with the property."
In Porter v. State,
"`In a prosecution for first degree robbery, the robbery victim does not actually have to see a weapon to establish the element of force; his or her reasonable belief that the robber is armed is sufficient. Dinkins v. State,
584 So.2d 932 (Ala.Cr.App. 1991); Breedlove v. State,482 So.2d 1277 (Ala.Cr.App. 1985). The test to determine whether a person reasonably believes that an object is a deadly weapon is a "subjective" one. James v. State,549 So.2d 562 (Ala.Cr.App. 1989). "It focuses on the `reaction of the victim to the threats of the robber.' State v. Hopson,122 Wis.2d 395 ,362 N.W.2d 166 ,169 (1984)." 482 So.2d at 1281.'
"Rice v. State,
The evidence showed that, on March 26, 1998, Raymond Lamar Osborne was working as a cashier at the U.S.A. Petroleum gas station on Highway 280 in Russell County, Alabama. At approximately 4:15 a.m., the appellant drove into the parking lot and told Osborne he wanted a pack of cigarettes. Osborne testified that the following occurred thereafter:
"Generally, I would step to the door and ask, but he was speaking kind of *Page 869 low, so I had to step onto the stoop so I could hear him.
". . . .
"[The appellant asked for a] pack of Dorals. I said, `What kind, full flavor, light, shorts, menthol, 100s?'
"He said menthol shorts.
". . . .
"I turned around and went back in and pulled the Dorals out of the overhead rack. I walked back out the door and I handed them to him. I said $1.10 and I handed them to him. He gave me $1.10. I come in and hit Doral on the key, all total, $1.10, opened the drawer. I dropped the dollar in and put the dime in and closed it. That is when I felt him put something in my side, and he said, `Give me the money.'
"And I looked at him like `Huh?' And he said, `Give me fucking money. I ain't playing.'"
(R. 18.) Osborne then opened the cash register, put his hands beside it, and allowed the appellant to take the money out of it. Osborne subsequently testified that, although he did not see a gun, he believed the "something" the appellant put in his side may have been a gun.
From the evidence presented, the jury could have concluded that Osborne reasonably believed that the appellant had placed a gun in his side. See Porter, supra; §
REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.*
Long, P.J., and McMillan, Cobb, and Fry, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Harold v. Stallings v. State.
- Cited By
- 15 cases
- Status
- Published