Warren v. State

382 So. 2d 636, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1211
Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama·Decided April 1, 1980·No. 6 Div. 172·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

LEIGH M. CLARK, Retired Circuit Judge.

A jury found appellant guilty under an indictment charging him with buying, receiving, concealing or aiding in concealing a ’74 model Chevrolet Impala automobile of the value of $2,550.00, knowing that it was stolen, or having reasonable grounds for believing that it was stolen, and not having the intent to restore it to the owner. The court fixed his punishment at five years imprisonment and sentenced him accordingly-

The owner of the automobile was Michael Beams. His wife, Mrs. Clara Beams, testified that on the morning of June 12, 1978, she drove the automobile to a downtown bank where she worked, left the automobile and its key in the custody of a parking lot attendant and then went to her work for which she was late. About 4:00 that afternoon she went for her automobile and found that it was not at the lot. It seems to be undisputed that the automobile was stolen from the parking lot between about 11:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. that day.

Michael William Beams, son of the owner of the automobile and his wife, testified that on the afternoon of June 30, 1978, his father sent him to a grocery store on Sky-land Boulevard to purchase some items. He went in his father’s truck, and, as he was in the process of placing the items in the back of the truck, he “looked over and saw a brown car that looked like” the stolen automobile. According to his further testimony, he left the grocery store area for a short time, asked someone to call the police, and returned to the place where he saw the automobile and waited for the police to arrive. While waiting on the police, he saw appellant approach the automobile, go to the trunk thereof as if “to put his groceries in,” and he had his key in his hand. He further said:

“I went over and asked him if it was his car and he said no, it was his little brother’s, that he had borrowed it to come buy groceries and I told him I had called the police to come pick up the car, that it was stolen and for them not to go anywhere.”

Appellant stayed as directed by young Beams until the police arrived within about five minutes. A police officer testified that he answered the call and was informed by defendant that he did not own the automobile but that he had borrowed it from his little brother.

The testimony narrated above constitutes all of the testimony directly bearing on the matter of the theft of the automobile on June 12, and as to what occurred and what was said by defendant as to his custody or possession of the automobile while in the vicinity of the grocery store on June 30.

The only issues expressly presented on appeal are based primarily on matters arising during the testimony of appellant’s “lit-[638]*638tie brother” and the testimony of Officer Harold Jones,1 both witnesses called by the State.

Larry Warren, defendant’s “little brother,” sixteen years of age at the time of the alleged crime and seventeen years of age at the time of the trial, testified in part as follows:

“Q. All right, and how did you become acquainted with this vehicle?
“A. Well, I bought it.
“Q. You bought it?
“A. Yeah.
“Q. What did you pay for it?
“A. Six hundred and fifty dollars.
“Q. Six hundred and fifty dollars? All right, sir, do you have a job?
“A. No, sir.
“Q. Where did you get the six hundred and fifty dollars?
“A. I get Social Security from my dad. “Q. Social Security?
“A. Yeah.
“Q. How much do you get a month? “A. Eighty-nine.
“Q. Eighty-nine dollars and you used that money to buy the car?
“A. Yes, sir.
“Q. How many cars have you had in the past?
“A. Four.
“Q. Four? Did you buy all those cars? “A. Yes, sir.
“Q. And did your brother help you get one of those cars?
“A. One.
“Q. One. What kind of car was it? “A. Chevrolet. •
“Q. What model?
“A. Seventy-two.”

The witness further testified that he bought the automobile described in the indictment at a club from a person he did not know, who had the car at a parking lot with a for sale sign on it. He said he didn’t know “the dude’s name” but that he was, “Tall and had black hair and he was white.”

According to further testimony of Larry:

“Q. Did you keep it at your home? “A. Yeah.
“Q. And you kept it in your possession for two weeks?
“A. For a week.
“Q. For a week. Okay. At the end of that week, what did you do with it? “A. I left my brother drive it.
“Q. You let your brother drive it?
“A. Yeah.
“Q. And which brother are you talking about?
“A. Dan.
“Q. Okay. How long did Dan have the car?
“A. He had it for a week.
“Q. He had it for a week?
“A. Yeah.
“Q. Did he keep it at his house?
“A. I don’t know where he kept it at. “Q. You didn’t see it for that whole week?
“A. That is right.
“Q. What happened at the end of that week?
“A. I got it back and he said he wanted to borrow it to go to the grocery store. “Q. Now isn’t it a fact, Mr. Warren, that you told the police and you told me yesterday that you gave the car, you kept the car about a week and gave it to your brother to use and just told him to keep it?
“A. Yeah, I told him — you asked him did I tell him he could have it.
“Q. Didn’t you tell him to keep the car and use it?
“A. Yeah.
“Q. All right. And you didn’t say anything to us about him bringing it back that day did you, either time when you were talking to the police or me?”

Promptly after the last question, defendant’s counsel objected, and the court said, “You may refresh his recollection.” Thereafter, counsel for the State continued to question the witness as to what he had previously stated, and defendant’s counsel [639]*639renewed his objection, and the court ruled that State’s counsel could refresh the recollection of the witness as to what he had previously stated with reference to the stolen automobile that he had let his brother, the defendant, have. Thereupon, counsel for defendant asked the witness about some keys to another automobile that “were taken from you by the police officer.” The testimony of the witness continued as follows:

“Q. What were those keys to?

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Warren v. State, 382 So. 2d 636, 1980 Ala. Crim. App. LEXIS 1211 (Ala. Ct. App. 1980).

382 So. 2d 636 (Warren v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Thompson v. State
503 So. 2d 871 (Court of Criminal Appeals of Alabama, 1986)