Davis v. State

207 So. 2d 649, 44 Ala. App. 284, 1967 Ala. App. LEXIS 477
CourtAlabama Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 13, 1967
Docket8 Div. 79
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 207 So. 2d 649 (Davis v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Alabama Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Davis v. State, 207 So. 2d 649, 44 Ala. App. 284, 1967 Ala. App. LEXIS 477 (Ala. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinions

PRICE, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was convicted of the offense of burglary in the first degree. Punishment was fixed at imprisonment in the penitentiary for the term of ten years.

The indictment charged that “Ben Esmond Davis, whose name is unknown to the Grand Jury other than as stated, did in the nighttime, with the intent to steal, break into and enter an inhabited dwelling, to-wit: A dwelling house located at 2419 Penn Street, Huntsville, Alabama, owned or in the possession of Dr. Buford L. Whitt and which was occupied by Dr. Buford L. Whitt, a person lodged therein * * (Italics supplied by us.)

The demurrer raised the points that the indictment, (1) charged no crime; (2) did not negate the joint ownership or possession of defendant with that of Dr. Whitt; (3) failed to show defendant was not a lawful occupant of the dwelling at the time of the alleged breaking and entering.

Counsel’s argument in brief is that the “statement of the charge is insufficient for two reasons, viz: (1) It is incomplete in that the word ‘by’ is omitted immediately following the word ‘owned,’ and therefore the charge fails to negate the possession by the appellant of the dwelling he is alleged to have entered; and (2) The word ‘owned’ as used in the indictment, is not synonymous with possession, and, construing the indictment most strongly against the pleader upon demurrer, the indictment at best merely charges that Dr. Whitt was the owner of the fee in the premises, and was not in possession.”

The form provided for indictments under Section 85, Title 14, Code 1940, which denounces the offense with which appellant was charged and convicted, reads as follows:

“29. Burglary in first degree. (§ 85 of Title 14.)
A. B. did, in the nighttime, with intent to steal (or to commit arson in the first degree, or other designated felony, as the case may be, or in the alternative)' break into and enter an inhabited dwell[287]*287ing (or other house or building within the statute, describing it and giving the name of the owner or person in possession) which was occupied by C. D., a person lodged therein, against,” etc. (Italics supplied.) Title 15, Sec. 259 Code, supra.

The indictment followed substantially the language of the statute as well as the statutory form of indictment, and sufficiently negatived any lawful right of the defendant to enter the dwelling. It is our conclusion that the word “owned” as used here is synonymous with possession, and the omission of the word “by” did not render the indictment demurrable. The demurrer was properly overruled.

Dr. Whitt testified that on May 22, 1965, he was living with his family at 2419 Penn Street, Huntsville, Alabama. On that night the family went to bed early and Dr. Whitt was asleep when, shortly after nine o’clock, one of his young daughters awakened him, saying, “Daddy, somebody is breaking into our house.” There were no lights on inside the house. Dr. Whitt got out of bed, removed his pistol from a night stand beside the bed and walked down the hall toward the kitchen. He saw a man in the kitchen doorway and fired his pistol at him. The back door rattled and he “saw a glimpse of a moving object” through double windows in his den from which he could see out onto his patio. He fired three times through these windows. After this he turned on the outside lights and looked out through the den windows. He saw a man’s hand “sticking up over the edge of the patio” from a flower bed next to it. He also saw this person pitch some gloves over in front of the garage door and saw him throw some other objects.

Mrs. Whitt telephoned the police and they arrived within ten to fifteen minutes. The gloves and other objects remained where they had been thrown by the man who was lying in the flower bed until the police came.

On cross-examination Dr. Whitt stated he heard a man cry out after he fired the fourth shot and saw the man “flip.” He did not identify the objects as gloves at the time they were thrown. At this time the man in the flower bed was saying, “Oh, I’m shot;” “Don’t let me lay out here and bleed to death;” “I’m 28 years old and I’ve never been in trouble before;” “Come out here and do something for me.” The first policemen to arrive were Evans and Jones. Later Owen, Brady and Stephens, all Huntsville police officers, arrived. Two screwdrivers and a flashlight were found on or near the concrete driveway. Dr. Whitt testified he had not noticed these objects on his property before the night of the incident.

On redirect examination Dr. Whitt identified a photograph, State’s Exhibit 5, as correctly depicting the storm door leading from the patio to the utility room of his residence, this being the door leading into his home that he saw the man coming out of. He said the “marks or pushed in places” shown on the door in the picture are between a quarter and a half inch wide and are just below the door knob.

Mr. Norman Stephens, a police officer of the City of Huntsville, testified that at 9:27 o’clock the evening of May 22, he arrived at Dr. Whitt’s home and went directly to the back yard where he saw appellant lying down; that he noticed a small amount of blood on appellant’s back as he was loaded into an ambulance.

On cross examination this witness stated when he arrived appellant was lying next to the porch “with one arm on his head and moaning and groaning.” Dr. Whitt was standing on the edge of the porch with a pistol in his hand. Appellant appeared to be weak and he smelled the odor of alcohol on appellant’s person.

Officer Robert Owen testified when he arrived at the Whitt home the appellant, had been removed, but officers Jones and, Stephens were there. He “searched the. [288]*288crime scene” and found “a pry mark * * * on the aluminum storm door,” what appeared to be bullet holes in a window, blood in a flower bed, a pair of gloves in front of the garage door, two screwdrivers near the concrete driveway and a small flashlight on the driveway. He identified State’s Exhibits 8 and 9 as the gloves, State’s Exhibits 10, 11 and 12 as the flashlight and screwdrivers. These articles were introduced in evidence.

No evidence was offered on behalf of defendant.

The appellant contends he was due the affirmative charge because: “(1) There was no substantial evidence in the case to authorize a finding by the jury that the appellant broke into the dwelling * * * (2) in the nighttime, and (3) there was no direct testimony as to Dr. Whitt’s want of consent to the alleged breaking and entering.” The insistence in brief is that there is a complete absence of testimony tending to show that the windows, doors or other openings to the Whitt house through which a person might enter were closed before the alleged entry, and that, “although there was adequate proof of entry, there was no proof of the mode of entry.”

In addition to the evidence set out hereinabove, Dr. Whitt was asked on cross examination, “q. There is a back door to the utility room; is that correct?” His answer was: “A. It comes in off the patio, the door that was prized open.” The witness drew a diagram of his home on a blackboard and in explaining it to the jury, said: “There is a door coming in here, and a door going from the utility room into the kitchen and den.” We are of opinion the evidence was sufficient to show a breaking and entering.

On the question of nonconsent to the entry by the owner of the premises, the appellant cites and relies on Mitchell v.

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Davis v. State
207 So. 2d 656 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1968)
Davis v. State
207 So. 2d 649 (Alabama Court of Appeals, 1967)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
207 So. 2d 649, 44 Ala. App. 284, 1967 Ala. App. LEXIS 477, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/davis-v-state-alactapp-1967.