Evans v. State

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama

Evans v. State

728 So. 2d 1164, 1998 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 233, 1998 WL 678086

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided October 2, 1998·No. CR-95-1491·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

BROWN, Judge.

This ease was originally assigned to another judge on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. It was reassigned to Judge Brown on December 10,1997.

Edward Lewis Evans was convicted of four counts of murder made capital in connection with the brutal stabbing deaths of Mrs. Katie Gates and her four year-old great-granddaughter, Ivory Gates.1 The jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on each of the capital murder convictions. On March 29, 1996, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing and sentenced the appellant to death by electrocution.

On December 22, 1997, while this appeal was pending, Evans attempted suicide. In January 1998, Evans’s attorney advised this Court that his client had attempted suicide, and “[tjhough still alive, Mr. Evans did severe damage to himself.... [H]is neck was broken and ... he suffered severe brain damage. He has not regained consciousness since, and the doctors now believe that he never will.” Counsel further advised that “the appeal ... may now be, or soon become, moot.”

On August 8, 1998, Evans died. On August 27, 1998, the appellant’s counsel filed a motion to dismiss, citing as grounds the death of the appellant. Based on the foregoing, this appeal is dismissed as moot. See Rule 43(a), Ala.R.App.P.; Kennedy v. State, 690 So.2d 1225 (Ala.Cr.App.1997).

APPEAL DISMISSED.

LONG, P.J., and McMILLAN and BASCHAB, JJ., concur. COBB, J., recuses.

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BROWN, Judge.

This ease was originally assigned to another judge on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. It was reassigned to Judge Brown on December 10,1997.

Edward Lewis Evans was convicted of four counts of murder made capital in connection with the brutal stabbing deaths of Mrs. Katie Gates and her four year-old great-granddaughter, Ivory Gates.1 The jury recommended a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on each of the capital murder convictions. On March 29, 1996, the trial court conducted a sentencing hearing and sentenced the appellant to death by electrocution.

On December 22, 1997, while this appeal was pending, Evans attempted suicide. In January 1998, Evans’s attorney advised this Court that his client had attempted suicide, and “[tjhough still alive, Mr. Evans did severe damage to himself.... [H]is neck was broken and ... he suffered severe brain damage. He has not regained consciousness since, and the doctors now believe that he never will.” Counsel further advised that “the appeal ... may now be, or soon become, moot.”

On August 8, 1998, Evans died. On August 27, 1998, the appellant’s counsel filed a motion to dismiss, citing as grounds the death of the appellant. Based on the foregoing, this appeal is dismissed as moot. See Rule 43(a), Ala.R.App.P.; Kennedy v. State, 690 So.2d 1225 (Ala.Cr.App.1997).

APPEAL DISMISSED.

LONG, P.J., and McMILLAN and BASCHAB, JJ., concur. COBB, J., recuses.

Evans v. State, 728 So. 2d 1164, 1998 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 233, 1998 WL 678086 (Ala. Ct. App. 1998).

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Opinion

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