Turner v. State

584 So. 2d 864, 1990 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1563, 1990 WL 187036
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 21, 1990
DocketCR 89-220
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 584 So. 2d 864 (Turner 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
Turner v. State, 584 So. 2d 864, 1990 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1563, 1990 WL 187036 (Ala. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinions

TAYLOR, Presiding Judge.

The appellant, Danny Wayne Turner, was convicted of three counts of vehicular homicide, in violation of § 32-5A-192, Code of Alabama 1975, and one count of leaving the scene of an accident, in violation of § 32-10-1, Code of Alabama 1975. He was sentenced to 3 terms of 5 years and 1 term of 10 years to be served consecutively in the state penitentiary.

The evidence tended to show that on October 27, 1988, the appellant, while driving a loaded tractor trailer truck, ran a red light at the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Bryan Road in Sumiton, Alabama. This traffic violation resulted in the appellant’s truck colliding with a small automobile, killing the three occupants inside. After the collision, the appellant stopped his truck, got out, and went to check on the occupants of the car. What he saw inside sent him into a state of shock.

Thurman Sheffield, the appellant’s uncle, found the appellant wandering down Highway 78. He eventually took the appellant, who remained in a state of shock, to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo, Mississippi. Dr. Ken Lippincott, a psychiatrist at the medical center, diagnosed the appellant as suffering from psychogenic amnesia and dissociative withdrawal or shock. The appellant remained hospitalized for five days.

I

During the presentation of the appellant’s case, the State elicited the following testimony from Edith Pannell, the appellant’s ex-girlfriend, regarding the use of over-the-counter diet pills:

“Q Have you ever taken any of those?
“A Yes, I have.
“Q And drove?
“A I can’t take diet pills, much. I might would take even a fourth of one.
“Q They speed up your metabolism, don’t they?
“A That’s why I can’t take them.
[866]*866“Q And some people, they make nervous and jerky?
“MR. TATUM: Your Honor, Ms. Pan-nell. is not being tried here on whether she takes pills or not, and it’s really not relevant to that in this case.
“THE COURT: Overruled. Proceed.
“Q Did y’all ever do the pills together?
“A No.
“Q Did you ever do the pills and drink?
“A No.
“Q Have you ever done those kind of pills that we’ve talked about and put in liquor or—
“A No.
“Q —beer on top of them?
“A No.
“MR. TATUM: Your Honor, I would renew my objection. It’s irrelevant whether Ms. Pannell takes the pills or not. She is not on trial here.
“THE COURT: Overruled.
“Q So, you told us that these kind of pills have an adverse effect on you? That they have a bad effect on you?
“A Yes, they do.
“Q How do they effect you?
“Q What few — what little bit that I have tried to take, it wasn’t actually to keep me awake. It was to lose some weight actually.
“Q How did they affect you psychologically?
“A They make me nervous.
“Q Made you nervous.
“Q When you get nervous, do you tend to make more mistakes than you would otherwise?
“MR. TATUM: Your Honor, I object. Again, Ms. Pannell’s tendency to make mistakes or to get nervous is not relevant.
“MR. BAKER: She says she took the same kind of pills he took.
“THE COURT: Now, Mr. Tatum, she’s your witness. This is cross examination. The question is proper. These continued objections on the same grounds are only going to be overruled at the time.
“MR. TATUM: Your Honor, for the record, can I give a continuing objection?
“THE COURT: You may.
“Q These pills that you take that you say make you nervous, do they affect your judgment?
“A I don’t think they do mine, because I didn’t take that much of a pill.
“Q When you took them, did they affect your judgment?
“A No, sir.
“Q Did they affect your ability to drive a car?
“A No, sir.
“Q What kind, outside of being nervous, what else did they do to you?
“A Probably just made me sick at my stomach. I’m talking about me.
“Q Did they keep you awake, for long periods of time?
“A I wouldn’t take enough for the sleep, [sic]
“Q Would one of the effects of it be that it tended to keep you awake?
“A One may, but I don’t take one. I wouldn’t take one.
“Q The one that you took, ma’am, did they tend to keep you awake?
“A No, not on me. They just made me sick.”

There was evidence presented at trial that the appellant occasionally took diet pills while he was driving his truck. The State argued that Ms. Pannell’s testimony was relevant in that since diet pills made her nervous, one could infer that they made everybody nervous. He further argued that being nervous would impair one’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. Therefore, he contends, this testimony was an integral part of the State’s case in proving whether the appellant had violated a statute by running a red light.

This court must reject the State’s argument. In our opinion, it is not reasonable to infer that because diet pills make Ms. Pannell nervous, they make everybody nervous. Ms. Pannell is not an expert witness and was not qualified to testify as to the effects of diet pills on the average person. Patterson v. State, 518 So.2d 809 (Ala.Cr.App.1987).

[867]*867Thus, Ms. Pannell’s testimony is irrelevant because it neither proves nor disproves the main inquiry of the case. Jennings v. State, 513 So.2d 91 (Ala.Cr.App. 1987). Moreover, we are of the opinion that her testimony was unduly inflammatory in that it interjected the issue of driving under the influence of drugs into the trial even though the appellant was not charged in the indictment with that offense. Minshew v. State, 542 So.2d 307 (Ala.Cr.App. 1988). Therefore, the trial court erred by allowing the State to illicit testimony from Ms. Pannell regarding the use of over-the-counter diet pills.

II

The appellant also contends that the trial court erred when it refused to give his requested jury charges concerning the requisite intent and mental state for the offense of leaving the scene of the accident. The court refused the charges based on its holding that § 32-10-1, Code of Alabama 1975, is a strict liability crime and no intent or mental state is required.

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Related

Dake v. State
675 So. 2d 1365 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1995)

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Bluebook (online)
584 So. 2d 864, 1990 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1563, 1990 WL 187036, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/turner-v-state-alacrimapp-1990.