Johnson v. State

470 So. 2d 1333, 1985 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4894
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 26, 1985
Docket3 Div. 868
StatusPublished

This text of 470 So. 2d 1333 (Johnson 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
Johnson v. State, 470 So. 2d 1333, 1985 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4894 (Ala. Ct. App. 1985).

Opinion

BOWEN, Presiding Judge.

Mabel Johnson was indicted for the murder of her husband, Paul Edward Johnson. A jury convicted her of manslaughter. Sentence was five years’ imprisonment. Three issues are raised on appeal.

[1335]*1335I

The defendant argues that the State’s own evidence proved that she shot her husband in self-defense. The evidence is un-contradicted that the defendant and her husband had been fighting and that he had “jumped on her” the day of the killing, as he had numerous times before. The real issue is whether the defendant was in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm when she fired.

In her confession, the defendant stated that her husband knocked her down and kicked her: “We tussled and tussled, and then I snatched my pocketbook and ran out the door. He followed me out of the house, chasing me, and then I pulled out my gun [from my purse] and told [him], ‘Paul, I’m tired of you beating on me’, and that is when I shot him.” The defendant stated that she shot because she “was scared he would choke me to death.” At the end of her statement to the police, she volunteered that “all I was trying to do was scare him. I wasn’t trying to hit him. I didn’t mean to kill him.”

The .32 caliber bullet entered Mr. Johnson “on the left side, more toward the back than toward the front” and traveled from left to right. Expert testimony proved that the pistol was over thirty inches away from Mr. Johnson when fired.

In denying the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict, the trial judge issued a handwritten order stating [as best this Court can determine]: “Under the facts of this case considering[?] the distance between the deceased and the defendant when shot fired, the fact that the shot was fired outside the residence, and photos of the defendant do not support her contention of a beating; the fact that the bullet entered the deceased on the left side under his arm toward his back; the fact that there is a clear inference that the defendant shot because the deceased had mistreated her in the past as opposed to immediate self defense. In the Court’s judgment all of the above requires the Court to submit this cause to the jury.”

“On a motion to direct a verdict in favor of an accused, this court is required to consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution.” Dooley v. State, 437 So.2d 1385, 1386 (Ala.Cr.App.1983).

The record and testimony support the findings of the trial court. King v. State, 355 So.2d 1148, 1150 (Ala.Cr.App.1978).

II

The record does not support the contention that the trial court erred in not allowing defense counsel to impeach the character of the victim by the use of several grand larceny convictions.

The defense offered evidence of the victim’s bad character for violence. In rebuttal, the State called Jonas Williams, who testified that he knew “nothing about no fighting.” On cross examination, defense counsel was permitted to ask Williams, “Do you know that Paul Johnson had served time in prison for assault with intent to murder?”; and “Did you ever hear that he had hit a small child with a baseball bat and severely injured it?” Williams testified that he had not heard these things and that even if he had it would not change his opinion of the deceased.

The alleged error is found in the following portion of the record:

“Q. Did you know that he [victim] had served time in prison, I believe, on three or four occasions for grand larceny?
“A. No, I do not know nothing about that.
“Q. If you had known he had served this time in prison, would that have changed your opinion of him?
“MR. BROWN [Assistant District Attorney]: Objection. No proof of that.
“THE COURT: Wait just a minute. I sustain it, as to grand larceny.
“Q. Did you know that he had been shot by a police officer while committing a crime?
“A. No, I did not know that.
“MR. BROWN: Objection. Totally improper.
[1336]*1336“THE COURT: I sustain that.”

Williams also testified that he did not know that the defendant had had her husband arrested “for threatening and assaulting her.” The issue presented here was first raised in an amendment to a motion for new trial wherein defense counsel asserts that “the victim had been convicted of four cases of grand larceny in Montgomery County. The State Code, 13A-11-70, defines larceny as a crime of violence. Therefore, it was proper to show these convictions to impeach the state witness.”

The general rule is found in C. Gamble, McElroy’s Alabama Evidence § 33.03(4) (3rd ed. 1977):

“When a witness testifies to the victim’s good general reputation for peace and quiet, the defense then has the right to cross-examine the witness by testing his knowledge of the victim’s reputation. This cross-examination is generally accomplished by asking the witness if he has heard rumors imputing acts or qualities to the victim that are inconsistent with his good general reputation for peace and quiet. This questioning is regarded as a means of testing the witness’ true knowledge of the victim’s reputation. It should be remembered, however, that it is not permissible to ask the witness if he has heard rumors imputing to the victim acts or qualities which are not inconsistent with a good general reputation for peace and quiet.”

See also DeArman v. State, 71 Ala. 351, 360-61 (1882).

The crime of larceny is classified as a “crime of violence” for certain purposes (“for purposes of this division”) having to do with the use or possession of a pistol. Alabama Code 1975, § 13A-11-70. See Jackson v. State, 37 Ala.App. 335, 338, 68 So.2d 850, cert. denied, 260 Ala. 698, 68 So.2d 853 (1953), recognizing that “under strict interpretation, the term ‘larceny’ might not be held to be a crime of violence.”

Even if a conviction for grand larceny be considered an act or quality inconsistent with the deceased’s good general reputation for peace and quiet, we find no cause for reversal in this record. The error, if any, was harmless. See Baldwin v. State, 282 Ala. 653, 213 So.2d 819 (1968). Rule 45, A.R.A.P. The only question defense counsel was not allowed to ask witness Williams was whether Williams’ opinion of the deceased would be the same if he had heard that the deceased had served time in prison on three or four occasions for grand larceny. The grand larceny convictions were relatively insignificant considering the other specific acts of violence with which defense counsel had cross examined Williams, especially the conviction for assault with intent to murder, the fighting, the prior assault upon the defendant and the incident when the deceased hit and severely injured a small child. Additionally, we note that the form of defense counsel’s questions was improper for being phrased as “do you know” rather than “have you heard” and as not limiting the rumors to what the witness had heard prior to the charged offense. Veith v. State, 48 Ala.App. 688, 697, 267 So.2d 480 (1972).

Ill

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Related

Napue v. Illinois
360 U.S. 264 (Supreme Court, 1959)
Baldwin v. State
213 So. 2d 819 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1968)
Jackson v. State
68 So. 2d 853 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1953)
Jackson v. State
68 So. 2d 850 (Alabama Court of Appeals, 1953)
King v. State
355 So. 2d 1148 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1978)
Veith v. State
267 So. 2d 480 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1972)
DeArman v. State
71 Ala. 351 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1882)
Dooley v. State
437 So. 2d 1385 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
470 So. 2d 1333, 1985 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 4894, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-state-alacrimapp-1985.