Lambert v. State

358 So. 2d 773, 1978 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1225
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 7, 1978
Docket3 Div. 799
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 358 So. 2d 773 (Lambert 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
Lambert v. State, 358 So. 2d 773, 1978 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1225 (Ala. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

HARRIS, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was convicted of murder in the second degree and the jury fixed his punishment at twenty years imprisonment in the penitentiary. He was represented by retained counsel and at arraignment pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. After sentence was imposed he gave notice of appeal and petitioned the Court for a free transcript. He was found to be indigent and he was furnished a free transcript. New counsel was appointed to represent appellant on this appeal.

Omitting the formal parts the indictment reads as follows:

“The Grand Jury of said County charge that, before the finding of this indictment,
ROBERT WINSTON LAMBERT, alias
BOB BAMBERT, alias
ROBERT W. LAMBERT, alias
WINSTON LAMBERT, alias
ROBERT LAMBERT,
whose name is to the Grand Jury otherwise unknown, unlawfully, and with malice aforethought, killed Alma Jean Weaver, otherwise known as Alma Jean Lambert, by hitting her with his hands, or by hitting her with his fists, or by hitting her with a baseball bat, against the peace and dignity of the State of Alabama.”

At the close of the State’s case appellant made a motion to exclude the evidence only as to murder in the first degree alleging the State failed to prove the element of premeditation. This motion was overruled. We will summarize the evidence.

James Larry Gothard testified that the deceased, Alma Jean Lambert, was his mother. He said that she was married to Winston Weaver but they were never divorced. She had lived with appellant approximately four years; that during this period of time Gothard lived with his mother and appellant for about two weeks but moved out because “there was too much fighting and fussing going on to get to sleep at night.” He further stated that appellant kept a baseball bat beside his bed or somewhere handy. He admitted that his mother and appellant often drank to excess and both would get drunk.

Joseph Lambert testified that appellant was his brother and that on Monday, November 15, 1976 he arrived at appellant’s trailer around six o’clock that morning; that a few minutes later appellant left to go to his place of employment. He said that he and Alma Jean Lambert started drinking gin and beer and drank together until eight or nine o’clock that night. He stated the reason he went to the trailer that morning was to tell his brother that he was moving back to his rented room on East Second Street in Oak Park.

He further testified that when it got dark he told Alma Jean that he was going [775]*775home and she asked him to take her to her son’s home on Cherry Street. He drove her to Cherry Street but she didn’t know the number of her son’s home. He then drove to East Second Street and went to his room. Alma Jean spent the night in the bedroom with his landlady. On Tuesday night appellant came to the house on Second Street and shouted to Joseph Lambert through the window. He told appellant he did not want any trouble with him and appellant left but returned shortly and entered the house. He and appellant “tangled” and appellant kept saying he knew Alma Jean was in the house. He said the second time appellant came to the house he had a baseball bat in his hand. He told appellant that he had called the police twice and he had better leave. Appellant and Alma Jean left together and this was the last time he saw Alma Jean. He stated that appellant was drinking but he was not drunk.

William L. Gardener testified that he was employed by the Montgomery Fire Department as a medic; that around 5:00 a. m. on November 18, 1976 he and his partner answered a call at the home of appellant. He stated that appellant let them in the trailer and showed them the body of Alma Jean Lambert lying half on and half off the bed. He stated that he examined the body and that rigor mortis had set in and that she was cold and stiff. He said appellant was highly nervous and appeared to have been drinking.

James R. Brown, Jr., employed by the Montgomery Fire Department Rescue Unit, testified that he had occasion to go to the trailer home of appellant on November 18, 1976 where he found the deceased in the bedroom. He asked appellant if his wife had been sick and he replied, “No, I beat her.” Appellant then explained that he found his brother with his wife and he beat him up and then beat his wife and drug her in the house. Brown stated he could not tell whether appellant had been drinking but appellant told him that he had been drinking.

Police Officer B. W. Knighten testified that he and his partner went to appellant’s trailer home on November 18, 1976, and in the back bedroom they found a white female lying on the bed apparently dead. He believed this was a homicide and called the Homicide Unit.

Clifford 0. Bolden, an evidence technician with the Montgomery Police Department, stated that on November 18, 1976, he arrived at the scene of the alleged homicide and made numerous photographs of the homicide scene and collected physical evidence from Officer Tom Totty. He photographed the bedroom where the victim was found and adjoining rooms where there were clothes and a softball bat. He identified State’s Exhibit 2 as an accurate portrayal of the bathroom where the bat was located. This Exhibit was introduced into evidence without objection. This witness also identified State’s Exhibit 4 as the baseball bat found at the scene and Exhibits 5-7 as items of clothing found at the scene. All of these items were given to Officer Totty who personally delivered them to the Toxicologist.

Police Officer Totty testified that he received State’s Exhibits 4-7 from Detective Bolden and kept them in his exclusive possession until he delivered them to the Toxicologist the following day. Totty also identified State’s Exhibit 9 as a piece of evidence collected from appellant’s automobile. He observed blood on the passenger side of the dashboard, the front seat backrest and on the front seat between the driver’s side and the passenger side. He obtained samples of this blood and delivered them to the Toxicologist. State’s Exhibit 8, another blood sample, was admitted into evidence without objection.

Dr. Richard Roper, the Toxicologist in charge of the Montgomery Laboratory, whose qualifications were admitted by defense counsel, performed a postmortem examination on the body of the victim on November 18, 1976. He made numerous photographs of the nude body of Alma Jean Lambert which revealed cuts, bruises and lacerations over her entire body. Over appellant’s objection he was permitted to illustrate his autopsy findings with the use of [776]*776these photographs and slides on a screen to the jury.

Dr. Roper stated that based on his autopsy examination and findings it was his opinion that death occurred as the result of a traumatic intracranial hemorrhage though the skull was not fractured. He said the hemorrhage was the result of some violent force applied to the body and to the head area, causing the hemorrhage to be of a slow nature. He further testified that this would have resulted from being beaten about the face.

Ms. Mary Wisdom, a Toxicologist, whose qualifications were admitted, testified that the blood samples submitted to her revealed that Alma Jean Lambert’s blood type was Group 0.

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Related

Glenn v. State
395 So. 2d 102 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1980)
Chastang v. State
366 So. 2d 367 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
358 So. 2d 773, 1978 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1225, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lambert-v-state-alacrimapp-1978.