Medlar v. State

384 So. 2d 1152, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1151
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 26, 1980
Docket5 Div. 459
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 384 So. 2d 1152 (Medlar 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
Medlar v. State, 384 So. 2d 1152, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1151 (Ala. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

HARRIS, Presiding Judge.

Appellant was convicted of robbery and sentenced to fifty years in the penitentiary. He was represented by court-appointed counsel and at arraignment pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Prior to trial appellant withdrew his special plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. After sentence was imposed appellant gave notice of appeal and was furnished a free transcript. Trial counsel was appointed to represent appellant on this, appeal.

The evidence presented by the State made out a clear case of robbery. There was no motion to exclude the State’s evidence and no request for the affirmative charge. There was a motion for a new trial questioning the sufficiency of the evidence among other issues pertaining to rulings of the trial court. No testimony was adduced at this hearing and the motion was overruled and denied.

On November 27, 1978, Robert Alley was employed by the Cedars Truck Stop located approximately six miles from Opelika, Lee County, Alabama, on Highway 280 and 431 between Opelika and Columbus, Georgia. A cafe and service station were joined together in one building. The service station had plate glass windows all around the building, and there was a door leading into the cafe from the station.

Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon of November 27,1978, Robert Alley saw two men standing inside the service station while he [1153]*1153was servicing an automobile at the gasoline pumps. These two men appeared to be whispering to each other. One of the two men was later identified as the appellant. When Mr. Alley entered the service station to ring up the sale of the gasoline he had just sold in the cash register the men went through the door into the cafe. While Mr. Alley was still putting money in the cash register appellant returned and pulled a pistol demanding money. Mr. Alley gave him all the currency from the cash register. Appellant then walked out and got in an automobile which was parked about four feet from the service station, and the car sped away. Mr. Alley got a good description of the automobile and the tag number. He entered the cafe and told the waitress about the robbery and called the local office of the State Troopers giving them a description of the car and the tag number. He told the officers that the car was white over blue and had a Florida tag number with the letters “DSE” before the numbers. Someone interrupted him while he was talking to the Trooper’s Office and he gave them the wrong number.

State Trooper Charles R. Minor, testified that on the day of the robbery he was between Opelika and Phenix City. He was on duty in a marked patrol car and was in uniform. He received a radio dispatch concerning the robbery at Cedars Truck Stop which described the vehicle involved and that it was headed toward Phenix City. Trooper Minor drove to Opelika and met the suspect automobile in a line of traffic and he turned around and got behind the suspect car. He pursued the car for some distance and finally turned on his blue light but the car kept going. He then turned on his siren but the car did not slow down for a good distance. It finally pulled off on the side of the road.

The trooper saw the heads of three men in the stopped car and he ordered the occupants of the car to get out and put their hands on top of the car. A few seconds later the driver got out and put his hands on top of the car. The officer then ordered the other two men to get out and they came out of the passenger side of the car. Appellant was the last of the trio to exit the automobile and he came toward the rear of the car in a crouched position, dropped to his knees, and fired a pistol at the trooper. The trooper attempted to return the fire but his gun misfired and appellant started running from the car into an open field. Trooper Minor fired at the fleeing felon again and this shot hit appellant and he fell. The trooper radioed his post, related what had transpired, and called for an ambulance and a backup unit. He then patted down the other two men and put handcuffs on them. He found a wad of money in the front pocket of one suspect. Upon searching the car for other weapons he did not find any nor did he find any whiskey bottles or beer cans. With the help of a man living nearby they walked into the field and picked up appellant and walked him back to the patrol car and laid him on the side of the road to wait for the arrival of the ambulance. He did not smell the odor of alcohol on appellant nor did he smell the odor of alcohol on the other two men that he apprehended and handcuffed.

Kenneth R. McCall, who lived nearby, testified that he observed the suspect car pull over in response to the trooper's siren, get out and put his hands on top of the car. He also saw the door on the passenger side open and the occupant who got out fire a shot in the direction of the State Trooper and then start running across the field. He identified the person who shot at the trooper as the appellant.

The ambulance arrived and transported appellant to the Lee County Hospital for treatment of the gunshot wound he received when he was shot in trying to escape from the State Trooper.

Appellant testified that Doyle Fricks, Mark Kuzenska,1 and he had been steadily and constantly drinking since the morning [1154]*1154of November 27, 1978 (the day of the robbery). Appellant stated that he remembered stopping at a truck stop and Mark Kuzenska telling him to rob the man in the store and if they got arrested and appellant said anything to get Kuzenska hurt or put away, he would kill appellant; that the next thing he recalled was waking up in the hospital. He also remembered hearing a shot and finding himself lying in the middle of a field. Appellant said he was intoxicated when he arrived at the truck stop and did not ever form a judgment as to whether it was right or wrong to rob the truck stop. However, appellant admitted that he was not under the influence of alcohol right after he was shot. He also testified that he was 17 years of age at the time of the robbery.

On cross-examination appellant stated that he remembered Kuzenska telling him to shoot the State Trooper. He further said that he recalled Captain Abbett reading him the waiver of rights form and also reading it himself. He said he told Captain Abbett that he wanted to speak to an attorney.

Captain Nick Abbett testified that he interviewed appellant at the Lee County Hospital on the evening of November 28, 1978, and that before he asked him any questions he advised him of his constitutional rights by reading him his Miranda rights and warnings. He asked appellant if he understood his rights and he responded affirmatively and stated that he could read and write. Captain Abbett and appellant both read the waiver of rights form. Captain Abbett asked appellant if he wanted to make a statement and at first appellant said he wanted an attorney. Captain Ab-bett started to leave the room and appellant called him back and stated he had changed his mind and was willing to make a statement. No one offered appellant any reward or the hope of any reward, no promises were made to him, and he was not threatened or coerced in any manner to induce him to make a statement. Captain Abbett reduced to writing appellant’s oral statement and appellant read and signed each page of the confessory statement.

A hearing was held out of the presence and hearing of the jury to determine if the confession was freely, knowingly and voluntarily made.

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Related

McCurry v. State
763 So. 2d 989 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2000)
State v. Goodmon
290 S.E.2d 260 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 1981)
Franklin v. State
405 So. 2d 963 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1981)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
384 So. 2d 1152, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1151, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/medlar-v-state-alacrimapp-1980.