Chambers v. State

181 So. 3d 429, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 28, 2015 WL 1780088
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided April 17, 2015·No. CR-13-1216·Published·Cited by 4 cases

Opinion

KELLUM, Judge.

The appellant, Jakarrey Deanthony Chambers, was convicted of two counts of murder, a violation of § 13A-6-2, Ala.Code 1975. The circuit court sentenced Chambers to 99 years’ imprisonment on each count, to be served consecutively.

The evidence presented at trial established the following pertinent facts. On January 29, 2011, Tasha Reed went to check on Roy Ezell and Sherley Ezell after she was unable to reach them by telephone. Reed considered Roy and Sherley to be her “godmomma” and “goddaddy.” (R. 244.) Reed decided to leave a note at the Ezells’ house after she was unable to reach them by telephone. When Reed arrived at the Ezells’ house, she noticed that their newspaper was in the front yard and that the mailbox was full. Reed,- who had a key to the- “burglar bar door” of the Ezells’ house, testified that the door could be locked only from the outside with a key. While attempting to open the door to the house, Reed looked through broken blinds in the window next to the door and saw Roy and Sherley lying on the floor with blood around them. Reed immediately ran to the neighbor’s house to telephone the police. Reed informed police that the door was locked when she arrived at the Ezells’ house.

Officer Zack Davis with the Mobile Police Department was dispatched to the Ezell residence and arrived at approximately 5:30 p.m. When Davis arrived he saw Sherley Ezell lying face down in the doorway, covered in blood. Sherley did not initially appear to be breathing but gasped for air after officers secured the scene. She was immediately transported to the hospital for treatment but died days later from her injuries. Officer Davis also saw Roy Ezell lying face down and covered in blood with a knife embedded in his back. Autopsies performed on Roy and Sherley indicated that both had blunt-force trauma tó the head consistent with having been struck with a baseball bat.

At the scene, officers found a pipe, similar to one used for smoking crack, and -a lighter on the electrical box in an unfinished area of- the garage. While photographing the ' scene, Ronnie Myers, a crime-scene investigator with the Mobile Police Department at the time, rolled Roy’s body over and found “a [fingerjtip of [432] a plastic latex glove .underneath his body.” (R. 307.) Forensic testing on a sample of blood taken from the latex glove indicated a mixture of blood with a “major [DNA] profile and a minor contributor.” (R. 425.) The major DNA profile belonged to Roy, and Chambers was included as a possible minor contributor. ■ According to the DNA profile, 1 in 209,000 random unrelated African-American individuals have a DNA profile that would be included as a possible contributor. Officers also discovered a bloody shoe print near Roy’s body that one of the officers believed was made by á Nike Air Force One athletic shoe. Photographs and measurements of the shoe print-were sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for analysis. The results of the analysis indicated that the shoe imprint found at the scene most closely corresponded to a Nike Air Jordan Fusion athletic shoe.

Police later searchéd a black Kia automobile owned by the Ezells and found in the possession of Chambers at Chambers’s residence. Using luminal, police detected blood on the right front floorboard mat, as well as a small amount of blood on the steering wheel. Underneath the floorboard mat, police found a dark red area that was dry, but not “scaly” and did not appear to be very old. (R. 315.) Forensic testing indicated that Sherley’s blood matched the blood found on the floorboard mat. Officers also found a pair of black Nike Air Force One athletic shoes in the trunk of the vehicle and various clothing.

During their investigation, police learned that Chambers had free access to the Ezells’ house. . Reed testified that Chambers knew the Ezells and was around their house often around the time , of the murders. In the early morning hours on the ■ day of the murder, Roy. telephoned Chambers at least 44 times.

Chambers gave six statements to police. Chambers gave his first statement to police on January 29, 2011. During his statement, Chambers confirmed that he was close to the Ezells and that he regularly drove the black Kia. Investigator Charles Bagsby testified that there were some inconsistencies in' Chambers’s first statement to police. Police confronted Chambers a second time the following day regarding the inconsistencies in his first statement. Bagsby questioned Chambers a third time in June 2011 after the forensic testing had been completed. Chambers gave Bagsby several inconsistent versions of what had happened. Initially, Chambers stated that a third person entered, the Ezells’ house, robbed them, and killed them with a baseball bat. Then Chambers stated that a Frye Park'gang was involved and named two members who had allegedly committed the crime. Chambers next alleged that a man named Michael Glenn was responsible for the murders. Chambers claimed Glenn was armed with a 9-mm handgun and described Glenn wearing “school clothes” during the murder, but denied seeing Glenn’s shoes. (R. 485.) Bagsby testified that at times during the interview Chambers admitted being present when the murders occurred and on at least one occasion Chambers told Bagsby ■the location. of Sherley’s body. Bagsby testified that at other rimes Chambers denied being present at the Ezells’ house when the murders occurred,

On June 12,' 2011, Chambers initiated contact with'police ánd gave his fifth statement in the investigation. Chambers informed police that Glenn was wearing a pair of black Nike Air Force One shoes and blue jeans when he' murdered the Ezells. Chambers also alleged that Glenn .was armed- with a baseball bat, which Ghambers stated Glenn retrieved from behind the door of the Ezells’ house. -'Cham[433] bers denied ever wearing gloves inside the Ezells’ house..

During his sixth and final statement to police, Chambers told Bagsby that he went to the Ezells’ house after work to make sure that they were “okay” but found them dead inside the house. (R. 493.) Chambers stated that he then went to CiCi’s Pizza with his girlfriend. Bagsby testified that Chambers did not telephone police upon finding the Ezells’ bodies because “he said he was scared, [and] that was pretty much it.” (R. 493.) Chambers was unable to explain how the door was locked after he left the Ezells’ house.

After both sides rested and the circuit court instructed the jury on the applicable principles of law, the jury found Chambers guilty of two counts of murder. Chambers subsequently filed a motion for a new trial that the circuit court denied. This appeal followed.

I.

Chambers first contends that the circuit court erred when it denied his motion for a judgment of.acquittal becaüse, he argues, the State presented circumstantial evidence that was insufficient to overcome the presumption of innocence and reasonable doubt. Chambers contends that the State failed to prove that he intended to cause the deaths of the Ezells.1

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Chambers v. State, 181 So. 3d 429, 2015 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 28, 2015 WL 1780088 (Ala. Ct. App. 2015).

181 So. 3d 429 (Chambers v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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