Patterson v. State

845 So. 2d 861, 2002 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 84, 2002 WL 732362
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedApril 26, 2002
DocketCR-00-2603
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 845 So. 2d 861 (Patterson 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
Patterson v. State, 845 So. 2d 861, 2002 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 84, 2002 WL 732362 (Ala. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

COBB, Judge.

On July 13, 2001, Richard Patterson was convicted of criminal possession of explosives, a violation of § 13A-7-44, Ala.Code 1975, and of conspiracy to commit murder, a violation of § 13A-4-3 and § 13A-6-2, Ala.Code 1975. On August 24, 2001, the trial court sentenced him to serve 10 years in prison for the possession-of-explosives conviction and to life imprisonment for the conspiracy-to-commit-murder conviction. On September 10, 2001, Patterson filed a motion for a new trial, and the trial court denied his motion on October 1, 2001. Patterson gave timely notice of appeal.

In December 1999, David Lively, an acquaintance and former coworker of Patterson’s, contacted the Jefferson County SherifFs Department and informed it that Patterson had told him that he wanted to make a bomb to kill his ex-wife. The police began taping Lively’s conversations with Patterson. Lively met with Patterson a few more times, and wore a “wire” to the meetings. The police provided Lively with two military-style blasting caps and other items that could be used to make a bomb, and on December 21, 1999, Lively took those items to a meeting with Patterson. Patterson paid Lively for the items, and the police arrested him at the scene.

I.

First, Patterson argues that the trial court erroneously denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal because, he contends, the State did not prove certain material elements of each offense charged. Specifically, Patterson claims that the State failed to pi;ove (1) the existence of a conspiracy, and (2) that the items in question were explosives as defined by statute.1 We disagree.

The Alabama Supreme Court addressed the appellate court’s role in reviewing the sufficiency of the evidence in criminal cases in Ex parte Woodall, 730 So.2d 652 (Ala.1998):

“ ‘In determining the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction, a reviewing court must accept as true all evidence introduced by the State, accord the State all legitimate inferences therefrom, and consider all evidence in a light most favorable to the prosecution. Faircloth v. State, 471 So.2d 485 (Ala.Cr.App.1984), aff'd, 471 So.2d 493 (Ala.1985).’ Powe v. State, 597 So.2d 721, 724 (Ala.1991). It is not the function of this Court to decide whether the evidence is believable beyond a reasonable doubt, Pennington v. State, 421 So.2d [864]*8641361 (Ala.Cr.App.1982); rather, the function of this Court is to determine whether there is legal evidence from which a rational finder of fact could have, by fair inference, found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Davis v. State, 598 So.2d 1054 (Ala.Cr.App.1992). Thus, ‘[t]he role of appellate courts is not to say what the facts are. [Their role] is to judge whether the evidence is legally sufficient to allow submission of an issue for decision [by] the jury.’ Ex parte Bankston, 358 So.2d 1040, 1042 (Ala.1978) (emphasis original).”

730 So.2d at 658.

A.

Patterson contends that the trial court erroneously denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charge “because one cannot conspire with a police officer and/or agent who does not have the specific intent to commit the crime; to wit: the intent to kill.” (Patterson’s brief, p 3.) We disagree.

Section 13A-4-3, Ala.Code 1975, provides, in relevant part:

“(a) A person is guilty of criminal conspiracy if, with the intent that conduct constituting an offense be performed, he agrees with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of such conduct, and any one or more of such persons does an overt act to effect an objective of the agreement.
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“(d) It is no defense to a prosecution for criminal conspiracy that:
“(1) The person, or persons, with whom defendant is alleged to have conspired has been acquitted, has not been prosecuted or convicted, has been convicted of a different offense or is immune from prosecution, or
“(2) The person, or persons, with whom defendant conspired could not be guilty of the conspiracy or the object crime because of lack of mental responsibility or culpability or other legal incapacity or defense.”

We note that all of the cases relied on by Patterson in his brief are either based on federal statutes or the laws of other states, and thus do not apply to the statutory construction and interpretation of the Alabama statute. Also of importance is that the Alabama statute allows one person to be guilty of conspiracy even if the other person is not culpable.

In Zumbado v. State, 615 So.2d 1223 (Ala.Crim.App.1993), this Court stated:

“ ‘The elements of conspiracy are: first, the specific intent that a crime be performed; second, an agreement with another person to engage in or cause that crime to be performed; and third, the commission of an overt act by one of the conspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy.’ Greer v. State, 563 So.2d 39, 40 (Ala.Cr.App.1990).”

615 So.2d at 1242.

Based on § 13A-4-3(d)(l), Ala. Code 1975, it is not a defense to Patterson that Lively, acting as an informant for the police, was immune from prosecution. Similarly, § 13A-4-3(d)(2), Ala.Code 1975, provides that it is not a defense that Lively did not have the intent to actually kill Patterson’s ex-wife. In Ingle v. State, 405 So.2d 56 (Ala.Crim.App.1981), this Court held:

“Subsection (d)(2) of [§ 13A-4-3, Ala. Code 1975] provides the answer to appellant’s argument that he could not be guilty of conspiracy with [the informant] because the latter was an informer without criminal intent. The statute specifically rejects the notion that it is a defense to a conspiracy charge that the [865]*865person with whom the defendant agreed had no mental culpability.”

405 So.2d at 58.

The State presented evidence indicating that Patterson: (1) intended to kill his ex-wife; (2) entered into an agreement with Lively to obtain explosive devices suitable for lulling her; and (3) did in fact take delivery of explosives and other materials from Lively and pay Lively for those items.

Thus, based on the legal principles set forth above, the State presented evidence, if believed by the jury, legally sufficient for the jury to find Patterson guilty of conspiracy. The trial court did not err in denying Patterson’s motion for a judgment of acquittal on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder.

B.

Patterson argues that the trial court erroneously denied his motion for a judgment of acquittal on the charge of criminal possession of explosives on the grounds that the State failed to prove that the items he possessed were explosives. Specifically, Patterson contends that the blasting caps and timer were merely detonators, not explosives. We disagree.

Section 13A-7-40(2), Ala.Code 1975, defines explosives as follows:

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Related

Knight v. State
907 So. 2d 470 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2005)

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Bluebook (online)
845 So. 2d 861, 2002 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 84, 2002 WL 732362, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/patterson-v-state-alacrimapp-2002.