Raley v. State

351 So. 2d 642, 1977 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1632
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJuly 26, 1977
Docket4 Div. 512
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 351 So. 2d 642 (Raley 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
Raley v. State, 351 So. 2d 642, 1977 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1632 (Ala. Ct. App. 1977).

Opinion

TYSON, Presiding Judge.

The appellants, Jimmy Tate Raley and Janet McLain Flowers, were indicted along with George G. Miller for first degree murder. The jury found Raley guilty of first degree murder and fixed punishment at life imprisonment. The jury found. Flowers guilty of murder in the second degree and fixed punishment at twenty years imprisonment. The trial court then entered judgment which set sentences in accordance with these verdicts.

Mr. Gene Hendley of the United States Corps of Engineers testified that on September 8, 1976, he discovered the body of Charlie Leroy Brown. The body was located in a slue, fifteen or twenty feet from the bank of a lake in Henry County. There were four concrete blocks attached to the body with rope.

Mr. Richard Dale Carter of the Alabama Department of Toxicology testified that the rope removed from the deceased was identical to some rope found in appellant Raley’s home.

Dr. G. R. McCahan, Jr., of the Alabama Department of Toxicology and Criminal Investigation stated that on September 8, 1976, he performed a post-mortem examination of the deceased (Brown). Dr. McCahan testified that the cause of death resulted from ligature strangulation. Death occurred, according to Dr. McCahan, before the body was placed in the lake.

George Miller was also indicted for first degree murder along with Raley and Flowers. Miller testified that he had known Charlie Brown for two or three years. Miller stated that Raley and Flowers lived together at Holiday Shores in Henry County, Alabama. Miller testified that on September 3, 1976, Raley and Flowers came to his home around 4:00 p. m. According to Miller, the three of them drank gin for about an hour and then drove to the State Store where they purchased another half gallon of gin. Miller testified that the three of them also purchased some rifle cartridges and “stuff” at the Minit-Market to make a deer stew (R. 56). Around 5:00 or 5:30 p. m., according to Miller, the three of them (Miller, Flowers, and Raley) went to Raley’s home at Holiday Shores. On the way, Miller stated, they purchased some more gin. After arriving at Raley’s home, Miller testified, Raley and Miller shot cans in the back of Raley’s home on the lake. Around 9:00 p. m., Deputy Sheriff Horace Hancock arrived at Raley’s home. Sheriff Hancock told Raley and Miller that he had received complaints concerning the shooting and told them to stop firing their rifles. Miller testified that after Hancock left, Ra-ley told him to go pick up Brown and bring him back to Raley’s home. When Miller asked Raley why he wanted to see Brown, Raley replied that Brown had been “running his mouth” about dope, whiskey, and raping Flowers (R. 60). Miller stated that Brown came back to Raley’s house with him voluntarily. Brown got out of Miller’s car, according to Miller, and Raley knocked him to the ground, then asked him if he tried to rape Flowers. Brown, Miller testified, denied doing so, whereupon Flowers hit him with a drink bottle across the face. Raley, Miller testified, kicked Brown in the side several times while he was on the ground. Miller testified that he tried to stop Raley, but Raley told him to shut his mouth and go inside the house.

Miller stated that he went inside Raley’s house for about ten minutes and that when he came back outside, Brown was on the ground in an unconscious state. Raley, according to Miller, made him help carry Brown’s body to a small boat on the lake behind Raley’s house. Miller testified that Raley made him lay on his stomach in the boat and told him to keep his head down and his eyes closed. Then, according to Miller, Flowers, Raley and himself drove out to the interior of the lake and then back to Raley’s house. When the three of them returned to shore, Miller stated, Brown was [644]*644not in the boat. Raley, Miller testified, said he would kill Miller if he told anyone what happened.

Raley testified that Brown owed Miller some money. On September 3, 1976, according to Raley, Miller left his home around 10:00 p. m. and returned around 10:30 p. m. with Brown and someone called Carl. Raley indicated that Miller and Brown began arguing over the debt. Raley stated that he asked both to leave after they began fighting. Raley testified that they left, and the next morning when he awoke he discovered Miller sleeping on his couch. Miller, according to Raley, told him not to tell anyone that he had been with Brown that night.

Flowers testified basically as to the same set of facts as Raley. Flowers testified that Miller admitted killing Brown to her while he was in the Headland jail.

Cecil Brown, deceased’s thirteen year old son, testified that on September 2, 1976, he had seen Miller and Raley on the street. Miller, Cecil stated, told him that he and Raley were going to kill his father and throw him in the lake.

Bobby Earl Dansby testified that Miller and Raley came to his house on September 3,1976. Dansby stated that Miller told him that he and Raley were going to beat up Charlie Brown.

Lorene Turner testified that she shared a cell at the Henry County Jail with Flowers in the fall of 1976. Turner stated that Flowers admitted killing Brown while with Raley, despite Miller’s efforts to stop them.

I

Appellants contend that the trial court erred in its denial of appellants’ motions for change of venue where the court had made a prior judicial determination that the safety of one of the appellants (Flowers) was in peril in the county in which the case was to be tried and where the court entered an order directing the sheriff to transport the appellant (Flowers) out of the county for her safekeeping. In connection with this, the appellants claim error in not being informed of the court’s order directing the sheriff to transport the appellant out of the county for safekeeping.

On September 16, 1976, Judge Jerry M. White, Henry County Circuit Court, entered an order directing the sheriff of Henry County to transport the appellant (Flowers) to Julia Tutwiler Corrections Institution for Women until her trial, pursuant to Title 15, Section 268, Code of Alabama 1940. The grounds for removal in said order were (R. 415):

“1. That the above named defendant is the only female prisoner in the Henry County Jail at the present time.
“2. That the only cell available to separate her from male prisoners is directly in front of a window leading to the outside. “3. That law enforcement officers in the county have been informed of threats and ill will toward prisoner and fear for her safety.
“4. That the Sheriff of Henry County feels adequate protection and security cannot be provided for the prisoner in the Henry County Jail.”

The order was never executed and therefore appellant Flowers remained in the Henry County Jail until after her trial.

On October 7, 1976, the appellants filed their respective motions for a change of venue. On October 21,1976, the appellants’ motion for a change of venue was heard before the Honorable Jerry M. White, Circuit Judge, Henry County. At the hearing, Sheriff J. F. Welcher testified that the Henry County Jail did not have the facilities to accommodate a female prisoner. Sheriff Welcher stated that the only way to isolate Flowers from the male prisoners was to place her in a cell having a plexiglass (non-bullet proof) window. The interior of this cell is visible to anyone outside the jail.

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Related

Bracewell v. State
447 So. 2d 815 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1983)

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Bluebook (online)
351 So. 2d 642, 1977 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1632, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/raley-v-state-alacrimapp-1977.