Jones v. State

915 So. 2d 78, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 121, 2005 WL 1252756
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided May 27, 2005·No. CR-03-1179·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

On Application for Rehearing

COBB, Judge.

The opinion of January 28, 2005, is withdrawn and the following opinion is substituted therefor.

On February 25, 2004, Derrick Wayne Jones was convicted of stalking, a violation of § 13A-6-90(a), Ala.Code 1975. On April 13, 2004, the trial court sentenced Jones to 10 years in prison. On that same date, Jones filed a motion for a new trial, which the trial court denied on April 20, 2004. This appeal followed.

The evidence adduced at trial indicated the following: The victim, K.T., was 16 years old when she and Jones began dating. Jones was between 19 and 20 years old. K.T. became pregnant by Jones. Jones and his family encouraged K.T. to have an abortion, but she refused and said she would take care of the baby herself. The child was born on August 2, 1999. Jones became physically abusive toward K.T. during her pregnancy, telling her that he “was going to make [her] lose the baby.” (R. 23.) Nonetheless, K.T. decided to live with Jones, and the two moved into her grandmother’s house to await the arrival of their baby.

On March 31, 2000, approximately six to seven months after K.T. had the baby, a boy, she and Jones had an argument. During the argument, Jones took the keys to KT.’s automobile, intending to leave her with no transportation. As Jones started to drive away in his truck, K.T. jumped in the bed of the truck and began “beating on the cab of the truck.” (R. 25.) Jones continued to drive at “about fifty” miles per hour (R. 27), swerving and “trying to sling [her] out.” (R. 25.) K.T. was eventually thrown out of the truck, and her “head hit the concrete.” (R. 27.) K.T. was badly skinned up as a result of the fall from the truck. Jones took K.T. to her mother’s house. He sat her in a kitchen chair, told her mother that he thought he had run over her, and left. KT.’s mother took K.T. to the hospital, where she stayed for 24 hours.

[80]*80After K.T. was released from the hospital, she, Jones, and the baby moved in with Jones’s mother. Over the next few months, according to K.T., her relationship with Jones “gradually got worse and worse.” (R. 30.) On June 30, 2000, K.T. and Jones were house-sitting for a member of KT.’s family when an argument ensued. K.T. told Jones that she was leaving him, went into the house, and locked the door, leaving Jones outside. Jones broke down the door and, in the ensuing melee, the child was injured. In September 2000, K.T. moved in with her mother and the child.1

On September 19, 2000, K.T. was preparing to leave her mother’s house. Jones had parked his truck in the backyard of K.T.’s mother’s house, but K.T. did not see him. Johnny T., who was not yet KT.’s husband, arrived at the mother’s house. Johnny and his mother had come to pick up K.T. Jones came “out from behind the bushes around [the] house.” (R. 34.) Jones ran to Johnny’s car to ask Johnny what he was doing. Johnny told him that he was there to pick up K.T. K.T. ran to the car to see what was going on. Jones turned and “slapped [her] to the ground.” (R. 36.) K.T. was knocked unconscious; when K.T. awoke she found Johnny and Jones were fighting. There was no telephone at the residence. Johnny, his mother, and K.T. left the scene in Johnny’s automobile and went to Johnny’s mother’s house to telephone the police. Jones was convicted of criminal trespass and domestic violence as a result of the September 19, 2000, incident.

On March 21, 2002, K.T.’s mother found some strange objects in her mailbox, in-eluding a Father’s Day card that had been given to Jones, a postcard to Jones with a note from the child, and a photograph of Jones, K.T., and the baby; Jones’s face was scratched through in the photograph and written on the back was “ ‘I’ll always be watching.’ ” (R. 43.) The postcard had also been defaced; the words “Tuesday,” “Derrick,” and “Papa” were crossed out and the word “God” was circled. That evening, K.T. left the house to visit a friend who had recently had a baby. At this time, K.T. and Johnny were married and had a child, and Johnny stayed home to babysit. As K.T. was crossing a highway in her vehicle, she saw Jones’s car coming toward her. Jones “turned in behind [her].” (R. 46.) K.T. “drove through Pinsonf,] trying to lose him,” but she could not. (R. 46.) Jones followed her in an “extremely close” fashion. (R. 47.) Jones then rammed into the back of KT.’s vehicle until he ran her vehicle off the road. K.T. got out of the car and tried to run away. Jones caught her and “hit [her] over the head with something.” (R. 48.) K.T. was rendered unconscious. When she awoke, she “had marks all around [her] neck, all over [her] head.” (R. 48.) She ran to a nearby mobile home, and the woman living there telephoned KT.’s mother, who came to get her. Jones was prosecuted for the incident and was convicted of third-degree domestic violence.

On July 13, 2003, K.T., Johnny, and a Mend named Jay had just dropped off KT.’s children at KT.’s mother’s house. The three were going fishing. Jay was driving his own truck. The three drove past Jones’s house.2 Jones saw them pass his house and followed them in his truck. [81]*81The three were stopped at a stop sign at a very busy intersection when Jones “rammed the back of the truck” in which the three were riding. It was “a big impact.” (R. 53.) K.T. recognized Jones as the driver of the truck. Jones put the truck in reverse and retreated approximately five feet. His truck was smoking. Jones drove away. The police were telephoned, and the events of that day formed the basis of the stalking case, for which an indictment was returned against Jones on December 5, 2003.

Several months later, on December 24, 2003, K.T., her mother, Johnny, and her and Johnny’s two-year-old daughter were going shopping at the Dollar General discount store for candy and toys to put in Christmas stockings. Johnny decided to stay in the truck with their daughter who was sleeping, while K.T. and her mother went into the store. As K.T. was getting out of the truck, she saw Jones. K.T. told her mother to stay in the truck until Jones was gone. On his way to his truck, Jones “stopped at the side of [Johnny’s] truck and just stared at [K.T. and her family].” (R. 59.) Jones got into his truck and left the parking lot. K.T. and her mother then went into the store. While the two women were shopping, Jones returned in his truck, pulled up behind Johnny’s truck in the parking lot, “spun his tires” (R. 96), and flashed his headlights. Johnny ran out into the middle of the parking lot to lead Jones away from the truck where his daughter was sleeping. Jones “did a little doughnut and took off back around the building and left.” (R. 97.) Johnny retrieved his daughter and took her into the store so she could stay with the two women irntil Johnny could make sure that Jones had left the parking lot. Johnny returned to the parking lot, and Jones was no longer in the area.

Jones raises three arguments on appeal. We address each in turn. .

I.

First, Jones argues that the trial court erred by allowing detailed testimony regarding the basis of Jones’s prior convictions when he stipulated to the fact that he had, in fact, been convicted of those crimes. The gist of this argument is that the trial court should have been satisfied to allow proof of his convictions in the form of certified copies and should not have allowed testimony regarding the details underlying those prior convictions.

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Jones v. State, 915 So. 2d 78, 2005 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 121, 2005 WL 1252756 (Ala. Ct. App. 2005).

915 So. 2d 78 (Jones v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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