Boutwell v. State

183 So. 2d 774, 279 Ala. 176, 1966 Ala. LEXIS 972
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 3, 1966
Docket3 Div. 206
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 183 So. 2d 774 (Boutwell v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Boutwell v. State, 183 So. 2d 774, 279 Ala. 176, 1966 Ala. LEXIS 972 (Ala. 1966).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Appellant was indicted for murder in the first degree by a grand jury of Escambia County, Alabama. He was tried and convicted of murder in the second degree, from which judgment of conviction he appeals. The • sentence was 30 years imprisonment in the penitentiary for the murder of Shirley Ann Mosley.

Defendant was an indigent-and unable to employ counsel to represent him either at the preliminary, when he was bound over to the action of the grand jury, or when he was tried on a plea of not guilty in the nisi prius court. Prior to arraignment, the trial judge of the circuit court of Escambia County, where he was convicted, on petition of defendant for counsel appointed him an experienced and capable trial lawyer who performed the duties for which he was appointed. Defendant was also represented by appointed counsel at the preliminary trial.

Defendant’s plea of not guilty to the charges embraced in the indictment was entered in the presence of defendant’s counsel at the arraignment.

On the date of the arraignment, March 30, 1965, the defendant, through his attorney, filed a verified motion for a change of venue. He asserted that he could not get a fair trial in Escambia County on account of some alleged prevailing conditions. The petition was presented at the time without comment from defendant’s counsel and overruled on that date. Counsel then indicated that he desired to be heard on the motion. The court thereupon set Friday, April 2, 1965, as the time and occasion to hear the motion.

Testimony on the motion was taken on that date. This testimony consisted mainly of the introduction of several newspapers published in Escambia County, and one in Florida adjoining said county. These newspapers, which are before us, gave publicity to the charge against defendant and statements that he had confessed to the murder. Also, some detective magazines, not published in ' Escambia County, but distributed therein, with details of the crime and the confession, were introduced. No oral testimony 'was taken by either side.

On motion of the State, the question vel non of a fair trial for defendant in Escambia County was passed' for determination on voir dire examination of the special jury summoned to hea-r the evidence, if selected. Sections 63 and 64, Title 30, Code of 1940.

On voir dire, it- appears that 35 jurors, in answer to the question, “Have you read any newspaper stories at any time about the death of Shirley Ann Mosley?” held up their hands which indicated that they had. No juror held up his hand in answer to the question, “Have you read any magazine stories at any time about the death of Shirley Ann Mosley?”. In answer to the question, “Have you heard any radio broadcasts about the death of Shirley Ann Mosley?”, no juror indicated that he had. On being asked if they subscribed to certain newspapers, the responses were as follows: The Brew-ton Standard, 9; Atmore Advance, 6; Esca Rose Journal, 1; Mobile Press, 25; Montgomery Advertiser, 9. In answer to the question if they had discussed the case with any one, there were no affirmative answers or signs. None indicated that he had expressed an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of .the charge, no juror held up his hand. The court thereupon asked the jurors if they knew of any reason why they could not give the defendant a fair and impartial trial, taking into consideration the newspaper articles and the publicity given the case in Escambia County. No juror indicated that he had *179 been affected by the publicity or ' was biased by any of the news media. The court thereupon. overruled the defendant’s motion for a change of .venue. Defendant excepted.

On motion for a change of venue (§ 267 et seq., Title 15, Code of 1940) in a criminal case, defendant has the burden of showing to the reasonable satisfaction of the trial court that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had and an unbiased verdict cannot reasonably be expected. Tiner v. State, 271 Ala. 254, 122 So.2d 738(2).

■We quoted, with approval, in the Tiner case, supra, an observation1 of this court in Godau v. State, 179 Ala. 27, 36, 60 So. 908, as follows:

“So long as we have newspapers we may expect to have through them the report of crimes, and it is not to be unexpected that, when a homicide is committed and discovered under circumstances like the present — even if the defendant’s account of the entire matter is the truth — -the newspapers of the community, answering the public interest, will furnish the defendant with at least some material upon which to base an application similar to the one under discussion. * * * ”

The foregoing applies also to radio and television news reporting. Tiner v. State, supra.

We do not discover from the newspapers and magazines offered in evidence any inflammatory statement, or other matter, on which we can base a conclusion that the appellant could not receive a fair and impartial trial in Escambia County. Tiner v. State, supra. The motion for a. change of .yenue was overruled without, error.

It appears from ■ the evidence that the nude dead body of Shirley Ann Mosley, possibly 18 or 20 years of age, was discovered early in the morning of May 18, 1964, in Little Escambia Creek in Escambia County, Alabama. The point of discovery was between Pollard and Flomaton. The signs indicated that she had been dragged for twenty-five or. thirty feet across a sand bar to the edge of the water and the body found lodgment in the bottom of the creek. The sheriff contacted a State Toxicologist, Dr. Nelson E. Grubbs, at Mobile, Alabama.

Dr. Grubbs, 'whose qualifications as a toxicologist were conceded by the defendant, testified for the State that on or about May 18, 1964, he performed an autopsy on the body of Miss Mosley at the funeral home in Flomaton, Alabama. He further testified the body revealed that she had a bruise over the right eye; there was an abrasion under her chin approximately an inch and one half ■ by an inch long. There was an abrasion on the neck.

Also the witness testified that he performed an autopsy on the body of Miss Mosley; that he “opened * * * and examined” the body “from the pubic region to the neck, dissected the skin away from the neck around the skull and observed the findings therein.” The autopsy also consisted “of an examination of the trachea, the esophagus, lungs, the heart, thorax area, stomach and other organs.” Further • he answered questions as follows:

■ “Q. Now -1 want to go' back 'and ask you about the examination of the trachea and throat and just tell us what you found there please sir?
“A. I found at the base of the, tongue at the top of the trachea or wind pipe, that it was crushed, hemorrhagic and bleeding, or leaking blood which had extended down into the trachea into the upper part of the lungs.
“Q. What does that examination there and your findings indicate to a person trained in the science of toxicology Mr. Grubbs? ‘
*180 “A. It indicates strangulation.
“Q.

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Bluebook (online)
183 So. 2d 774, 279 Ala. 176, 1966 Ala. LEXIS 972, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boutwell-v-state-ala-1966.