Hall v. State

863 So. 2d 1079, 2003 Ala. LEXIS 139, 2003 WL 21040291
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMay 9, 2003
Docket1020355
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 863 So. 2d 1079 (Hall v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. State, 863 So. 2d 1079, 2003 Ala. LEXIS 139, 2003 WL 21040291 (Ala. 2003).

Opinions

HOUSTON, Justice.

Darryl Pierrie Hall was convicted of three counts of robbery in the first degree, violations of Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-8-41, and four counts of kidnapping in the second degree, violations of Ala.Code 1975, § 13A-6-44. Hall was sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the robbery convictions, and to 20 years’ imprisonment on each of the kidnapping convictions. The Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Hall’s convictions, with an unpublished memorandum. (No. CR-00-1180, October 18, 2002) — So.2d - (Ala.Crim.App.2002) (table). We granted Hall’s petition for a writ of certiorari, and we now affirm the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

I.Procedural Histo'ry

After a transfer to the circuit court from the juvenile court, Hall was charged with three counts of first-degree robbery, four counts of second-degree kidnapping, one count of first-degree rape, and one count of first-degree sexual assault for events that allegedly occurred in connection with the robbery of a Montgomery day-care center. Hall entered a plea of not guilty to all the charges. He was subsequently tried on three separate occasions.

At Hall’s first trial, the jury found him not guilty of rape and sexual abuse, but was unable to reach a verdict on the robbery and kidnapping charges, and a mistrial was declared. In Hall’s second trial, the jury was again unable to reach a verdict on the robbery and kidnapping charges and another mistrial was declared. Hall’s third trial resulted in the jury finding Hall guilty of the robbery and kidnapping charges. (Unless otherwise indicated, hereinafter the term “trial” in this opinion refers to Hall’s third trial.)

Hall filed a motion for a judgment of acquittal or, in the alternative, a motion for a new trial. After a hearing, the trial court denied Hall’s motion.

The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Hall’s convictions and sentences in an unpublished memorandum.

II.Issues on Appeal

There are two issues before this Court: Whether the trial court’s denial of Hall’s motion for a judgment of acquittal or for a new trial, which was based on claims of 1) perjured testimony and 2) ineffective assistance of trial counsel, was proper; and whether Hall’s confession was voluntary and thus properly admitted into evidence.

III.Analysis

A. The denial of Hall’s postverdict motion

Hall’s motion for a judgment of acquittal or for a new trial was based on claims of perjured testimony and ineffective assistance of trial counsel. “ ‘ “It is well established that a ruling on a motion for a new trial rests within the sound discretion of the trial judge. The exercise of that discretion carries with it a presumption of correctness, which will not be disturbed by this Court unless some legal right is abused and the record plainly and palpably [1082]*1082shows the trial judge to be in error.” ’ ” Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc. v. Towner, 663 So.2d 892, 895 (Ala.1995)(quoting Kane v. Edward J. Woerner & Sons, Inc., 543 So.2d 693, 694 (Ala.1989), quoting in turn Hill v. Sherwood, 488 So.2d 1357 (Ala.1986)).

1. Perjured testimony

During his trial, Hall asserted an alibi defense; he contended that at the time of the robbery and kidnapping, he was at home making telephone calls to friends. The State countered Hall’s alibi defense with the testimony of Charles Chambers, an employee of BellSouth Telephone Company. Chambers testified that had Hall made the outgoing calls he claimed to have made at the time of the robbery BellSouth’s records would have revealed those calls; Chambers further testified that the records did not indicate that any such calls had been made.

After the trial, it was discovered that Chambers’s testimony was incorrect. Chambers had testified that records of outgoing telephone calls from BellSouth customers were kept for 18 months; however, the records were kept for only 60 days and the data was then erased. Chambers testified as follows in a subsequent affidavit:

“At the time I testified on January 26, 2001, it was my understanding that local outgoing call information was kept for a period of eighteen months.
“I have since learned that my testimony on January 26, 2001, was erroneous. In fact, local outgoing call information is not kept for eighteen months ... information for flat rate subscribers has a retention period of sixty (60) days, like the incoming call records. All of the accounts about which I testified were flat rate subscribers.
“The time period that was being reviewed with regard to the above referenced telephone accounts was beyond [BellSouth’s] retention period.”

Therefore, after 60 days, there would have been no records to indicate whether Hall had or had not made the telephone calls he claimed to have made at the time of the incident forming the basis for the charges against him.

Hall contends that, because of this false testimony, the trial court should have granted him a new trial.

In Ex parte Frazier, 562 So.2d 560, 569-70 (Ala.1990), this Court adopted the following standard:

“In order to grant a motion for new tidal alleging perjured testimony, the trial court must be reasonably well satisfied 1) that testimony given by a witness at trial is false; 2) that there is a significant chance that had the jury heard the truth, it would have reached a different result; 3) that the evidence tending to prove the witness’s perjury has been discovered since the trial; and 4) that that evidence could not have been discovered before or during trial by the exercise of due diligence.”1

The first requirement established in Frazier is “that testimony given by a witness at trial is false.” The record clearly indicates that Chambers’s testimony was false. In fact, Chambers himself states in his affidavit that the testimony he gave during Hall’s trial “was erroneous.”

The second requirement established in Frazier is “that there is a significant chance that had the jury heard the truth, it would have reached a different verdict.” In the present case, this requirement has not been met.

[1083]*1083During the hearing on Hall’s motion for a new trial, a juror (“Juror L.”) testified, among other things, that Chambers’s testimony concerning the telephone records was not given a great deal of weight by a majority of the jurors in reaching the verdict.2 In its order denying Hall’s motion for a new trial, the trial court stated:

“[Hall] contends that the jury was left with a false impression of the existence of phone records of BellSouth. This evidence was offered to rebut the defense of alibi by [Hall], Testimony and affidavits of the two witnesses at trial were considered at the hearing. The witnesses testified that their original testimony as to the length of time the records of BellSouth are retained was in error. In fact, testimony from the trial did not indicate that there were no calls, but ‘we have no record of those — any calls for those days.’ ... Furthermore, [Juror L.] made it clear that in the deliberations of the jury, the jury ignored the evidence of the phone records.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hutcherson v. State
243 So. 3d 855 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2017)
Whited v. State
180 So. 3d 69 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2015)
Whited v. State
180 So. 3d 49 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2014)
Foye v. State
153 So. 3d 854 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2013)
E.H.G. v. E.R.G.
73 So. 3d 634 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2011)
Ex Parte Erg
73 So. 3d 634 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2011)
Hall v. Thomas
611 F.3d 1259 (Eleventh Circuit, 2010)
Hall v. Thomas
623 F. Supp. 2d 1302 (M.D. Alabama, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
863 So. 2d 1079, 2003 Ala. LEXIS 139, 2003 WL 21040291, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-state-ala-2003.