Veith v. State

267 So. 2d 480, 48 Ala. App. 688, 1972 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 961
CourtCourt of Criminal Appeals of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 12, 1972
Docket6 Div. 173
StatusPublished
Cited by40 cases

This text of 267 So. 2d 480 (Veith 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
Veith v. State, 267 So. 2d 480, 48 Ala. App. 688, 1972 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 961 (Ala. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinions

TYSON, Judge.

The indictment charged the appellant with first degree murder of one Clarence-E. Thomas. The jury’s verdict and judgment set punishment at ten years and one day imprisonment in the penitentiary.

The State presented the testimony of Larry Thomas, who testified that he lived with his father, Clarence E. Thomas, at the Wagon Wheel cafe and gas station on the Montgomery Highway in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. He testified that on Monday evening, March 17, 1970, his father had fixed supper for him in the back room of the cafe, and that soon thereafter Donna Veith, the wife of the appellant, came by the cafe with her sister. Each of the-women had a young child with her, and they stayed an hour or so drinking beer. Shortly after 8:00 in the evening, the sister and fter two-year old child left, leaving his father and Donna Veith drinking beer at the Wagon Wheel, accompanied by her three-year old son. A party by the name of Larry had come by and taken his father over to Bill Hargrove’s place to get some more beer, and they came back shortly before 9:00 p. m. His father then counted [692]*692his money, closed the gas pumps, and shortly thereafter told young Larry Thomas that he was leaving to drive to town to take the other people home. This was shortly before 10:00 in the evening. At about 2:00 a. m., on Tuesday morning, his father returned with Donna Veith and her three-year old son. Larry Thomas stated he remained awake about thirty minutes and that his father and Donna Veith were in the back part of the store at this time. He stated that in the back of the bedroom in the rear of the building, there were two beds. He stated that a little after 2:30 a. m. his father laid down on the bed with him and that Donna Veith and her child laid down on the other bed and went to sleep; that he later heard the little Veith boy crying and that he waked up and saw Donna Veith trying to comfort the child; that his father was still lying on the bed with him. He stated that he was suddenly awakened about 5 :00 in the morning by the sound of a shot; that he shook his father, who was lying on the bed with him, and his father got up and started walking toward the door where Donna Veith was .■struggling with her husband, who had a shotgun in his hand; that the appellant pushed Donna Veith over on the bed and fired a second shot, and that his father fell over and slumped on the floor; that he heard the appellant say something about '“Get away fi-om my wife”; that Mr. Veith .told him to go call for an ambulance.

The State presented the testimony of Rufus Strickland, Coroner of Tuscaloosa County, who testified that he investigated an incident at the Wagon Wheel cafe or •service station on March 18, 1970; that in the rear bedroom of the building he found the body of the deceased, one Clarence E. Thomas, lying on the floor on his knees, face down, in a crouched position. The ■deceased had on a white tee shirt, underwear, shoes and socks. His pants were zipped up. The body contained a gunshot wound under the right arm in the armpit area being one and a half inches in diameter ■which had gone through the lung, out the bottom of the heart causing massive hemorrhaging on the body and on the floor. The cause of death was attributed to the gunshot wound in the chest. Mr. Strickland further testified that he saw no indication of sexual intercourse on the clothing or on the person of the deceased.

John Cork testified that he was a police officer of the Tuscaloosa Police Department, and on the early morning of March 18, 1970, he received a call to go to investigate a shooting down at the Wagon Wheel cafe on U. S. Highway 82 toward Montgomery. He stated that he arrived at the scene with Detective Harless. He testified that he went into the back room of the building, which was the living quarters, and saw the body of one Clarence E. Thomas slumped over with his head between the knees, face down, in a pool of blood. He stated that he found two empty twelveguage shotgun hulls about two inches apart lying in front of the counter, and that there was a twelve-gauge pump shotgun lying directly across the room on top of the counter. He stated that he observed a hole in a deep freeze and the wall in a corner of the room about two feet above the floor, the hole being about two inches in diameter. He stated that about this time Officer Thrasher came in the room, picked up the shotgun, ejected a shell from the chamber and gave the live shell to him. He stated that he took possession of the shotgun, the live shell, and the two empty shells, and that they had been in his exclusive custody and control since that morning. The shells and shotgun were then offered in evidence, and the shells were shown to be No. 6 shot. Officer Cork testified that the hole in the deep freeze and wall contained shot from a shotgun shell. Mr. Cork further stated that the only people at the cafe when he arrived were Donna Veith, her three-year old son, and the appellant; that he had arrived there shortly after 6:00 in the morning. He testified that three other officers also came up to help assist at the investigation, Sgt. Kerney and Officers Clark and Thrasher.

[693]*693Police Officer Marshall Thrasher of the Tuscaloosa Police Department testified that on March 18, 1970, he went to the Wagon Wheel cafe on the Montgomery Highway about 6:00 in the morning in response to a police radio dispatch. He stated that the dispatch did not include any information as to what had happened at the Wagon Wheel. Following the laying of a "pre-Miranda Predicate,” the officer stated that he walked up with fellow Officer Clark and asked, “Who got shot?” He stated that both Mr. and Mrs. Veith were standing outside the building near a car; that Mr. Veith stated, motioning inside the building, “I caught him shacking up with my wife, and I shot him.” Officer Thrasher stated that at this point his only information had been from the police radio that a shooting had taken place at the Wagon Wheel, and that he had no information as to who had been involved or what the circumstances were. He stated that he went inside the building after Detective Cork arrived and saw the deceased lying on the floor with his head between his knees in a pool of blood, and that he picked up the shotgun from the counter in the presence of Detective Cork and ejected one shell from it; that there were two empty shells lying on the floor in the room and he saw Detective Cork pick up these; that Detective Cork had arrived some ten minutes after he did. He stated that neither he nor any of the other officers attempted to question either the appellant or Mrs. Veith at the scene; that one of the officers took Mrs. Veith and the child back to the trailer where they lived, approximately one quarter of a mile from the Wagon Wheel, and that Mrs. Veith was fully dressed. Officer Clark corroborated the other officers’ testimony.

The appellant had entered pleas of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. In support of these pleas, appellant testified as to having come to this country from Germany soon after World War II, and had lived and worked with his aunt and uncle in New York City for twenty-two months before returning to Germany. After a visit there to his parents, he returned to the United States again upon finding out of the availability of a job in Jacksonville, Florida. It was while living and working there that he met his wife and married. There were four children born of this union. He gave a lengthy discussion of his twelve years of marriage, including several incidents involving marital difficulties wherein he caught his wife with other men.

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Bluebook (online)
267 So. 2d 480, 48 Ala. App. 688, 1972 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 961, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/veith-v-state-alacrimapp-1972.