Phelps v. State

878 So. 2d 1202, 2002 WL 1397880
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJune 28, 2002
DocketCR-01-0186
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 878 So. 2d 1202 (Phelps 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
Phelps v. State, 878 So. 2d 1202, 2002 WL 1397880 (Ala. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

878 So.2d 1202 (2002)

David Lee PHELPS
v.
STATE of Alabama.

CR-01-0186.

Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama.

June 28, 2002.

*1203 John Paul Weber, Tuscaloosa, for appellant.

William H. Pryor, Jr., atty. gen., and Marc A. Starrett, asst. atty. gen., for appellee.

PER CURIAM.

On June 14, 2001, David Lee Phelps was convicted of unlawful distribution of a controlled substance, a violation of § 13A-12-211, Ala.Code 1975, and unlawful possession of a controlled substance, a violation of § 13A-12-212, Ala.Code 1975. The trial court sentenced him, as an habitual offender, to 15 years' imprisonment in each case; those sentences were to run concurrently. See §§ 13A-5-9(a)(1) and (2), Ala.Code 1975. Those sentences were split, and Phelps was ordered to serve three years' imprisonment and eight years' probation. In each case, the trial court ordered Phelps to pay a $50 Victims Compensation Assessment, a $1,000 Demand Reduction Assessment, $100 to the Alabama Forensic Trust Fund, and other fines and court costs. Phelps made an oral motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which the trial court summarily denied. This appeal followed.

Officers of the West Alabama Narcotics Task Force ("WANS") received information from a confidential informant, Lisa Weaver,[1] that Phelps was selling the controlled substance Lortab. Weaver had acted as an informant for WANS officers on at least three previous occasions. WANS conducted a sting operation by having Weaver purchase 10 Lortab tablets from Phelps. The police recorded the transaction with the use of audio surveillance equipment and then arrested Phelps.

On appeal, Phelps makes two arguments: (1) that the trial judge erroneously prevented him from introducing defendant's exhibits 1-6, independent evidence *1204 other than a certified copy of a prior criminal conviction that attacked Weaver's credibility by showing her bias, prejudice, or interest in the verdict in the case; and (2) that the trial court improperly limited his cross-examination of Weaver. We disagree.

The evidence at trial revealed the following. Agent Joseph Fleenor is a special agent with WANS. Agent Fleenor testified about his extensive experience with confidential informants. Agent Fleenor testified that some people become informants for money, but that most people who act as informants do so because WANS has previously made a case against them, and that by acting as informants, they hope to receive favorable consideration in their cases. Agent Fleenor testified that in May 1999, he and another officer, Sergeant Snyder, investigated a case against Weaver. Weaver was suspected of forging a prescription to obtain controlled narcotics from a pharmacy. Weaver contacted Agent Fleenor and offered to work as a confidential informant to avoid being charged in the forgery. Agent Fleenor testified that he knew Weaver, and that he had previously allowed her to work on some cases involving the sale of narcotics. Agent Fleenor said that he told Weaver that if she cooperated, her case might be dismissed. Weaver assisted in three cases for Agent Fleenor and in cases for two other agents.

In addition to Agent Fleenor's testimony about Weaver's forgery charge, Weaver admitted that she contacted Agent Fleenor because, approximately a month before Phelps's arrest, she "had forged a prescription and [she] didn't need another charge on [her]." (R. 85.) Weaver testified that she had worked with WANS to get out of trouble two or three times before this instance. She testified that, at the time of her testimony in Phelps's trial, she was serving a sentence for a conviction of third-degree robbery, but that she had been on probation before that charge, and that her probation had been revoked when she was charged with the robbery.

At trial, Phelps offered six documents that he claimed showed specific instances where Weaver had received favorable treatment or had avoided criminal liability, by assisting WANS in cases. Defense exhibit 1 was a certified copy of a case action summary sheet from Weaver's conviction for third-degree robbery. The case action summary sheet also contained notes of plea negotiations and other pending charges. The trial judge admitted as defense exhibit 1-A, a redacted version of the exhibit showing Weaver's guilty plea to the robbery charge. Defense exhibit 2 was a motion to dismiss a charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance. Apparently the motion indicated that the charge was to be dismissed at the request of a WANS officer. The prosecutor argued that Weaver had testified that she had previously assisted WANS and that she had received favorable treatment in previous cases, but that defense exhibit 2 did not indicate the disposition of that case. Defense exhibit 3 was an indictment for unlawful possession of a controlled substance in the same case against Weaver as exhibit 2. Defense exhibit 4 was a motion to dismiss a charge of second-degree theft based on information provided by a WANS officer. The prosecutor argued that the note from the WANS officer attached to the motion to dismiss also set out facts indicating that Weaver was not guilty of that charge and that that was the reason the theft charge was dismissed. Defense exhibit 5 was an indictment in the theft case referenced in exhibit 4. Defense exhibit 6 was a parole officer's probation delinquency report that indicted that Weaver was charged with obstructing governmental operations by posing as a *1205 WANS officer, that Weaver had committed several offenses of theft, and that she had relapsed on narcotics and was committing thefts. The prosecutor argued that the report was not a certified copy of a conviction, and that a lesser burden of proof was required in a probation revocation. The trial judge disallowed all but the redacted version of exhibit 1, admitted as exhibit 1-A.

In Stevenson v. State, 794 So.2d 453 (Ala.Crim.App.2001), this Court stated:

"It is well settled that '"a determination of admissibility of evidence rests within the sound discretion of the trial court and will not be disturbed on appeal absent a clear showing of an abuse of discretion."' State v. Mason, 675 So.2d 1, 3 (Ala.Crim.App.1993)(quoting Jennings v. State, 513 So.2d 91, 95 (Ala.Crim.App.1987)). Charles W. Gamble, McElroy's Alabama Evidence § 21.01(6)(5th ed.1996) provides:
"`Whether evidence is to be excluded ... lies within the sound discretion of the trial judge ... This is where such power should lie because, unless some discretion is vested in the trial judge, every ruling upon the admissibility of a particular fact, of a kind above-mentioned, becomes a law unto itself. If any particular rule of evidence runs into numerous borderline cases, we must either give the trial court some discretion in applying it or admit that the rule is not workable at all.'"

794 So.2d at 456. In Reeves v. State, 807 So.2d 18 (Ala.Crim.App.2000), this Court stated:

"It is well settled that `[a] party is entitled to a thorough and sifting cross-examination of the witnesses against him,' McMillian v. State, 594 So.2d 1253, 1261 (Ala.Crim.App.1991), remanded on other grounds, 594 So.2d 1288 (Ala.1992), opinion after remand, 616 So.2d 933 (Ala.Crim.App.1993), citing Perry v. Brakefield,

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Related

Hall v. State
223 So. 3d 977 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 2016)
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Bluebook (online)
878 So. 2d 1202, 2002 WL 1397880, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/phelps-v-state-alacrimapp-2002.