Carr v. State

319 So. 2d 744, 56 Ala. App. 125, 1975 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1299
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedAugust 19, 1975
Docket6 Div. 858
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 319 So. 2d 744 (Carr v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carr v. State, 319 So. 2d 744, 56 Ala. App. 125, 1975 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1299 (Ala. Ct. App. 1975).

Opinion

HARRIS, Judge.

Appellant was convicted of robbery and the jury fixed his punishment at twenty years in the penitentiary. At arraignment, attended by counsel, he pleaded not guilty. He was adjudged guilty and sentenced in accordance with the verdict of the jury. He gave notice of appeal and was found to be indigent. He was furnished a free transcript but is represented by new and retained counsel on this appeal.

Appellant did not testify in his behalf but offered testimony in support of his alibi.

On November 8, 1973, between the hours of 1:45 and 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon, the Dolly Madison Thrift Store which was then located at 1101 North Twenty-Sixth Street was robbed by two Negro men. Mrs. Sue Hollis was working in the bakery department and was alone at the time the two men came in. Another girl who was employed at the store had gone to the bank to make a deposit. She described one of the men as being two to three inches shorter than the other one. She stated that both men were wearing three-quarter length beige colored coats. She said both had on hats, — “brownish-beige, pooched-out hats with a little brim across the front.”

Mrs. Hollis further testified that both men carried open knives, but the smaller of the two did all the talking. She said he grabbed the throat of her uniform and said, “ You__, you say anything and I’ll cut your throat from here to here.” He told her to open the cash register and go to the back of the store and lie on the floor. She opened the cash register and went to the back followed by this man. The tall man went behind the counter. When she got to the back, she kind of stooped down and the man said, “Lay down,_, and give me those rings and that watch you have on.” She described the rings as a wedding band and an engagement ring and they were worth a total of six hundred dollars, that the watch was a Hamilton watch, and it was worth forty-five dollars. After taking her jewelry the man walked toward the front of the store. He returned in a few seconds and said, “ — , come open the register.” She got up and went to the register. The register was jammed and she could not open it. He told her, “If you don’t opeñ the register, I am going to cut your throat.” She said, “Well, I am sorry but I can’t open it.” They returned to the back and she got on the floor. The same man came back to her for the third time [127]*127and said, “Where’s your purse ?” She told him where her purse was located and he got her purse which she said was worth twenty-five to thirty dollars. She had forty dollars in change in her purse. Mrs. Hollis further testified that she had not seen her rings, watch, purse or money since the day of the robbery.

After the robbers left she went to the cash register and found it empty. She called the police and several officers responded immediately. She gave them a description of the robbers and told them the robbery lasted a good five minutes during which time she got a good look at them in broad daylight in a well lighted store.

The next day an officer brought her a number of photographs and she immediately identified appellant as the man who put the knife to her throat and threatened her life and she also identified the tall man who turned out to be one Percy McAlpine. She subsequently attended a lineup and identified the two men who robbed her on November 8, 1973. She also made a positive in-court identification of appellant.

Allen Cabiness testified that every other day he delivered ice to the Dolly Madison Thrift Company and that on November 8, 1973, around 1:30 p. m., he went to this place to make a delivery and his driver drove the truck right up to the door. He stayed in the truck while the driver went inside the store. While he was sitting in the truck, he observed two black males come out of the place and go down the street. He did not observe them long enough to give a description of them. His driver came back to the truck and told him no one was in the store. He got out and walked to the back and found a woman lying on the floor. That this woman looked around and saw him coming and said, “Oh, am I glad to see you.” He asked her what happened and she said, “They robbed me.”

Mr. B. J. Mann, a patrolman with the Birmingham Police Department, was on special detail investigating robberies and house burglaries and was riding in an unmarked car. He heard a radio dispatch at 1:45 p. m. describing a robbery and giving the tag number and the description of a white Mercury automobile and bearing tag number 25-22489, 1973, Alabama. He spotted the automobile in the 3800 block of First Avenue, North, eastbound. He was westbound and turned over into the eastbound lane. He noticed two or three units following this car. He stopped the car at 2:15 p. m. He was present when other officers arrested three Negroes who were riding in this car.

Officer Mann made an inventory search of the Mercury automobile. From the record :

“Q. What were the articles ?
A. I have listed one blue sweater; two pair mens pants, one brown pair, one green pair; two shirts; one pair shoes; one maroon jacket, sweater type jacket; one plaid coat, half length; one plastic raincoat; one cream jacket; one maroon flop hat; one spare tire assembly; one bumper jack; one four-way lug wrench; one glass with 7-Up on the glass; one empty watch box; five pounds of Irish potatoes; and one gallon can.
Q. Do you recall if any individual taken to the City Jail, or wherever they were taken, had on a cream colored jacket?
A. Yes, sir.”

Officer Mann further testified that the rear window on the Mercury was a plastic window and was taped up and this was described in the radio dispatch that he picked up. He stated he did not find the rings, watch, purse or any money in the. car when he was making the inventory search.

Mr. Sam Monteith was called as a witness for the state. He testified. that he owned and operated the Springaire Cleaning Center located at 3916 Tenth Avenue, North, and that his place was next door to [128]*128the East Birmingham Variety Store; that he was at his place of business on November 8, 1973, around 1:30 p. m., when a Mrs. Pearline Brown came in his place to wait until the East Birmingham Variety Store, where she was employed, opened for business. He stated that Mrs. Brown was ill in the hospital at the time of appellant’s trial.

He further testified that he had a conversation with Mrs. Brown on that occasion concerning three black men and as a result of that conversation, he noticed three black males get in a white Mercury convertible automobile and that the rear window was taped up with silver or masking tape, the complete window. He got the tag number of the automobile but at appellant’s trial could remember only the first two numbers denoting the county. The first two numbers were “25.” He called the Birmingham Police Department and gave an officer the tag number and a description of the automobile and told the officers the car was occupied by three black males. He stated that one of the men had on a knit cap and one had on a hat but he didn’t know about the third man, and it seemed to him they were wearing some kind of blousy shirts.

On direct examination Mr. Monteith testified that he had not seen either of these three men prior to that date. On cross-examination the following occurred:

“Q. (BY MR. HILLIARD) Mr. Monteith, have you seen the person to my left before?
A.

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Related

Willie Carr v. State of Alabama
586 F.2d 462 (Fifth Circuit, 1978)
Williams v. State
340 So. 2d 1144 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1976)

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Bluebook (online)
319 So. 2d 744, 56 Ala. App. 125, 1975 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1299, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carr-v-state-alacrimapp-1975.