Murray v. State

588 So. 2d 919, 1991 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 179, 1991 WL 44539
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 1, 1991
DocketCR 89-1529
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 588 So. 2d 919 (Murray 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
Murray v. State, 588 So. 2d 919, 1991 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 179, 1991 WL 44539 (Ala. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

TYSON, Judge.

Tony Murray was indicted for capital murder. § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. The jury found the appellant guilty of felony murder. He was sentenced as a habitual felony offender to life imprisonment. His motion for a new trial was overruled.

Herman Ford III was working as a security officer at Bowlo-Mac bowling lanes in Birmingham on March 20, 1989. At approximately 10:45 p.m., Mr. Ford came to the front desk, saying that he had been shot. The assistant manager of Bowlo-Mac, Carl Underwood, testified that he asked the victim who shot him. The victim’s response was, “a boy in red with jewelry.” Mr. Underwood also noticed that the victim no longer had his gun.

Andy Hudson, a mechanic for Bowlo-Mac, testified that he was working on the night of the shooting. Mr. Hudson testified that as the victim told Mr. Underwood he had been shot, he fell backwards. Mr. Hudson testified that another person asked the victim who shot him, and the victim responded by saying a black male dressed in red wearing gold chains. Mr. Hudson then testified that he had seen the appellant at the bowling lanes dressed in a red suit and gold chains.

A group of four men, Jermaine Cren-shaw, Jermaine Snow, Dewayne Boyd and Antonio Thomas, went with the appellant to the Bowlo-Mac on March 20, 1989. The appellant drove. The appellant picked up [921]*921one friend, Antonio Thomas, who had a .32 caliber automatic pistol. The pistol was placed in the trunk of the appellant’s automobile.

The group went to Bowlo-Mac. Three members of the group testified that the appellant had on a red jogging suit. Jermaine Snow testified that the appellant told him to go get the gun. Jermaine Snow took the gun to the appellant in the bathroom. The appellant then told Snow to take the car around the corner. Snow gathered the group, drove around the corner and waited in the car for the appellant. After five minutes the appellant came to the car.

Jermaine Crenshaw testified that the appellant said he had gotten the security guard’s gun and had shot him. Then the appellant said, “Don’t tell anybody.” They then drove to appellant’s mother’s house.

Antonio Thomas testified that appellant gave him his gun back. The appellant told Antonio he had one now. Jermaine Snow also testified that he saw appellant give Antonio his gun back. Thomas subsequently gave the pistol to Jermaine Underwood.

Police Officers Tim Craig and Mary Little Murphy were on patrol in the Norwood Collegeville area of Birmingham on the night of the incident. They saw three or four black males. One of them, Jermaine Underwood, had a silver, shiny object in his waist belt. The gun was a .32 caliber automatic pistol. Underwood was placed under arrest. Underwood told the officers he had gotten the gun from Antonio Thomas.

Firearms expert David L. Higgins testified that he received a bullet (State’s Exhibit 26) from Dr. Simmons with the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office. Mr. Higgins also received a pistol (State’s Exhibit 22A) that had been test-fired by Sergeant Harrison of the Birmingham Police Department. In his opinion State’s Exhibit 26 had been fired through the barrel of State’s Exhibit 22A.

Dr. Travis Foster testified that the gunshot wound created numerous problems for the victim including the inability to breathe. The victim was placed on a ventilator and was never removed from the surgical intensive care unit during the six weeks before he died.

Dr. Gary Simmons performed an autopsy on the body of the victim and determined that he had died from complications secondary to the gunshot wound to the abdomen.

I

The appellant’s first contention is that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a continuance in order to seek and secure the testimony of an absent exculpatory witness.

Before trial, a continuance hearing was held. The appellant explained that a crucial witness could not be located. The appellant’s attorney said he had spoken with the witness earlier. The substance of the witness’s statement was that a boy named Dewayne told him that the appellant had been framed. The boy said, "That Snow, Little Tony, and some more guys had set him up.” The trial court denied the motion for continuance, but offered its services in conjunction with the sheriff’s office to try to effect service on the witness.

At the end of the State’s case, the witness showed up at court. He talked with the appellant’s counsel and told them he was afraid to testify. The court said the witness knew he was to be in court the next day at 9:00 a.m. for the defense. The appellant’s counsel moved for a mistrial in the event the witness did not show up on time the next day to testify. The court denied the motion. The following day the witness did not show up to testify at the appointed time.

This court has stated the rule to be:

“ ‘In general, motions for continuance in criminal cases are matters within the discretion of the trial court.... The measure of impropriety which must be shown by an appellant to hold the court in error for denial of a motion for continuance of a criminal trial is gross abuse.’ Richardson v. State, 476 So.2d 1247 [at 1248] (Ala. Crim.App.1985) (citation omitted).’
[922]*922“Frazier v. State, 528 So.2d 1144 (Ala. Cr.App.1986). See also Beauregard v. State, 372 So.2d 37 (Ala.Cr.App.), cert. denied, 372 So.2d 44 (Ala.1979). ‘A reversal of a conviction because of the trial court's refusal to grant a continuance requires “a positive demonstration of abuse of judicial discretion.” ’ Young v. State, 469 So.2d 683, 687 (Ala.Cr.App. 1985). That above rule ‘clearly applies to cases where the continuance is sought due to an absent witness.’ Id., at 687, citing Bailey v. State, 398 So.2d 406 (Ala. Cr.App.1981); Weaver v. State, 401 So.2d 344 (Ala.Cr.App.1981); and Pritchett v. State, 445 So.2d 984 (Ala.Cr.App.1984).”

In Anderson v. State, 542 So.2d 292, 297-98 (Ala.Cr.App.1987), cert. quashed, 542 So.2d 307 (Ala.1989), this court further explained the rule as to an absent witness:

“The general rule is that ‘[a] movant [for a continuance] must show that due diligence has been exercised to obtain the attendance of the witness, that substantial favorable testimony would be tendered by the witness, that the witness is available and willing to testify, and that the denial of a continuance would materially prejudice the defendant.’ United States v. Uptain, 531 F.2d 1281, 1287 (5th Cir.1976).”
“Goodwin v. State, 516 So.2d 818 (Ala. Cr.App.1986).”

In the present cause the witness showed up in chambers, but was afraid to testify. The witness did not show up the following day when he was scheduled to testify. The fact that the witness was not willing to testify was beyond the trial court’s control. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for continuance.

II

The appellant next contends that the trial court committed reversible error in failing to detain and confine an exculpatory witness after a specific request to do so was made by the appellant. The appellant further contends the court erred by not granting a mistrial for failing to confine the witness.

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Related

Nelson v. State
623 So. 2d 432 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1993)
Murray v. State
588 So. 2d 924 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
588 So. 2d 919, 1991 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 179, 1991 WL 44539, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/murray-v-state-alacrimapp-1991.