Cochran v. State

111 So. 3d 148, 2012 WL 2481649, 2012 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 45
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJune 29, 2012
DocketCR-10-0516
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 111 So. 3d 148 (Cochran 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
Cochran v. State, 111 So. 3d 148, 2012 WL 2481649, 2012 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 45 (Ala. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

BURKE, Judge.

Jeffrey Olen Cochran appeals his convictions for second-degree sodomy, a violation of § ISA-6-64, Ala.Code 1975, possession of obscene matter containing a visual depiction of a person under 17 years of age engaged in an obscene act, a violation of § 13A-12-192(b), Ala.Code 1975, and first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation of § 13A-12-213, Ala.Code 1975. Cochran was sentenced to 60 months in prison for each conviction. All three sentences were to run consecutively.

Before trial,' Cochran moved the trial court to suppress evidence seized from his residence, to dismiss the indictment for possession of obscene matter, to sever the unlawful-possession-of-marijuana charge, and to allow him to present testimony indicating that C.K., the victim, had provided sexually explicit photographs of herself to another person. After a hearing, the trial court denied all those motions.

At trial, the victim, C.K., testified that she was born on July 5, 1990, and that Cochran was born on January 29, 1966. In June 2003, C.K. met Cochran through the Internet, and they began to regularly communicate with each other. C.K. and Cochran communicated through the Internet or by telephone for approximately three months. During that time, C.K. told Cochran that she was 13 years old. Initially, Cochran told C.K. that he was 16 years old, but before they met face-to-face he admitted that he was 37 years old. In August 2003, C.K. and Cochran met face-to-face for the first time. The meeting occurred at C.K’s house while C.K’s mother was out with some friends. C.K. testified that a couple of weeks after their initial face-to-face meeting, Cochran returned to her house and they had sex in the back of his vehicle. C.K. testified that she had sex with Cochran again on or about January 1, 2004, at his residence, which he shared with his parents. According to C.K., she and Cochran then had sex approximately once a month until she turned 16 years old. C.K. testified that she and Cochran engaged in sexual intercourse and oral sex. C.K. believed that she was in a romantic relationship with Cochran. According to C.K., her sexual encounters with Cochran increased after she turned 16 years old. (R. 93.)

C.K. also testified that while she was 16 years old, Cochran’s son, who is approximately 1 year younger than C.K., took a photograph of her and Cochran engaged in a sexual act. In September 2006, C.K. developed that photograph at the CVS pharmacy where she worked, and she gave the photograph to Cochran. C.K. testified that Cochran kept the photograph in his bedroom. The photograph was introduced into evidence at trial, and it is the basis of the possession-of-obseene-matter charge against Cochran. The photograph was date-stamped by CVS one-hour photo on September 27, 2006.

C.K. testified that her relationship with Cochran ended in June 2008. According [152]*152to C.K., Cochran came to her house at about 3 a.m. on June 9, 2008, and he was yelling and banging on the windows of the house. Later that day, C.K.’s mother went to the Houston County Sheriffs Department and met with Detective Bill Raf-ferty. C.K.’s mother gave Detective Raf-ferty a handwritten letter from Cochran to C.K. C.K. was then interviewed at the Child Advocacy Center. C.K. initially denied having a sexual relationship with Cochran, but she eventually told the interviewer about her sexual relationship with Cochran.

On June 10, 2008, Detective Rafferty obtained and executed a search warrant on Cochran’s residence. During the search, Detective Rafferty and the other officers who were with him recovered additional letters between C.K. and Cochran, the photograph of Cochran and C.K. engaged in a sexual act, a plastic bag holding five empty plastic bags and loose marijuana, a plastic bottle holding marijuana seeds, a plastic bottle holding marijuana, a container holding loose marijuana and seven partially burned cigars, four individual plastic bags each holding marijuana, a plastic bag holding loose marijuana and six partially burned cigars and four partially burned hand-rolled cigarettes, scales, and a metal spoon that contained some residue. All of those items were discovered in Cochran’s bedroom. The total weight of the marijuana was 7.62 grams. Cochran was then arrested and interviewed.

Cochran testified in his own defense at trial. Cochran testified that he did not have sex with C.K. until after she turned 16 years old. Cochran testified that he did not have any knowledge of the photograph depicting him and C.K. engaged in a sexual act before it was discovered by the officers in a drawer in his bedroom. Cochran admitted that the marijuana discovered in his bedroom belonged to him, but he testified that he only smoked marijuana and that he never sold marijuana to anyone. Cochran’s son testified that, contrary to C.K’s testimony, he did not take the photograph of his father and C.K. engaged in a sexual act.

The jury found Cochran guilty of second-degree sodomy, possession of obscene matter, and first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana. After Cochran was convicted and sentenced, he filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied. Cochran timely filed his notice of appeal to this Court.

On appeal, Cochran states his first issue, as follows: “The Court erred by denying Cochran’s motion to sever the trial of the marijuana charge from the trial of the sex charges.” Cochran’s brief, at 15. However, all of Cochran’s legal argument under this issue statement concerns the trial court’s alleged failure to properly consolidate the offenses under Rule 13.3, Ala. R.Crim. P.,1 not the trial court’s alleged error in failing to sever the offenses under [153]*153Rule 13.4, Ala. R.Crim. P.,2 once they had been consolidated.

Until Cochran filed his posttrial motion for a new trial, he did not argue before the trial court that the offenses had been improperly consolidated. At the end of a pretrial hearing concerning several different motions, the following exchange occurred:

“[Defense counsel]: The last written [motion], I think I may have said. If I may inquire that each of these cases are separate indictments. Therefore, I did not file a motion to sever. Am I correct in assuming that the State was not planning on trying them all together?
“[Prosecutor]: I’m not sure who will be trying that. I would assume that we would probably ask the Court to consolidate them.
“[Defense counsel]: At that time, I will have my motion. Judge.”

(Supp. R. 18.)

Immediately before the trial began, a hearing was held concerning several different motions, and the following exchange occurred at the beginning of that hearing:

“[Defense counsel]: The case 1587, Judge, we would ask that be severed. They were not indicted together. There are four separate case numbers.[3] Real briefly. Judge, the other cases deal with allegations of rape and child pornography. When those came up, there was a search warrant issued. When they executed the search warrant, they found a small amount of marijuana. We just move to sever that count from the others. We are afraid that would be unduly prejudicial.
“[Prosecutor]: Judge, the State would be opposed. The marijuana was found at the same time as the obscene material that is the basis of the pornography charge was found. And, also, it is all one continuous tied case.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
111 So. 3d 148, 2012 WL 2481649, 2012 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 45, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cochran-v-state-alacrimapp-2012.